Rutten, M E J; Dorée, A G and Halman, J I M (2014) Together on the path to construction innovation: Yet another example of escalation of commitment? Construction Management and Economics, 32(7-8), pp. 695-704. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
Collaborative innovation projects are projects in which firms join forces to cooperate in the development and commercialization of a new building product, system, or service. They represent an example of the type of inter-firm relationships that are said to enhance construction innovation. Organizational behaviour research, however, suggests that firms participating in such innovation projects run the risk of escalating commitment and may continue to invest for irrational reasons. It is therefore relevant to examine whether Dutch firms that invest, in collaboration with other firms, in the development and commercialization of a new building product, system, or service are susceptible to this escalation. Two escalation effects were investigated: the effect of expected loss of sunk costs, and the effect of perceived project stage. A survey was undertaken of 154 firms participating in 25 collaborative innovation projects. The results suggest that firms in the population under study are unlikely to fall victim to either of the two escalation effects. Rather, the negative association found between the expected loss of sunk costs and likelihood of continuing investment raises the question as to whether firms become more cautious when they have spent a lot.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | decision theory; innovation; inter-firm collaboration |
| Index terms: | commitment, organizational behaviour, inter-firm collaboration, construction innovation, population, survey, decision theory, collaboration |
| Subjects: | business, demography, data collection methods, building construction, management, psychology, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Urban Studies, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here