Escalation of Commitment in Software Projects: A Neural Science Perspective
Ting‐Peng Liang, Nai‐Shing Yen, Yuwen Li, Shen‐Mou Hsu · Americas Conference on Information Systems · 2016
Escalation of commitment is a common problem in project management, especially in software projects, which has caused a substantial number of project failure. The purpose of this project was to examine two different theories that have been used for interpreting commitment escalation in software project development from the cognitive neuroscience perspective: self-responsibility and the framing effect. We used the function magnetic resonance instrument (fMRI) to capture brain images and use the neuroscience evidence to examine how different factors may play roles in commitment escalation under different contingencies. Our research questions were: (1) Whether self-responsibility and problem framing affect commitment escalation? (2) What are neural correlates associated with these two theories? We conducted a 2x2 experiment that includes self-responsibility and problem framing as two manipulation variables and conducted behavioral and fMRI experiments. Our preliminary results indicate that both manipulations were able to activate brain areas associated the self-referencing (such as superior and medial prefrontal gyri) and emotion processing (such as insula) areas. Significant interaction of these two factors exists. Our findings support that both theories at least partially explain the escalation of commitment in software project management.