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Risk, commitment, and project abandonment

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Abstract

This article deals briefly with the most loathsome of business topics — the admission of failure. Rather than actively encouraging project “Anti-champions”, many organizations experiencing financial duress inadverdently stifle opposing opinion. In some cases recognition is delayed until it is too late. This is unfortunate since failure can be managed like any other business situation. Companies with CEOs that foster open communications between finance and operations are more likely to avoid escalating commitment to failed projects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Accounting and Finance, South-East Missouri State University, 63701-4799, Cape Girardeau, MO, U.S.A.

    Mike Devaney

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  1. Mike Devaney
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“Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by incapacity.”

William Blake

Mike Devaney is Associate Professor of Finance at South-East Missouri State University. His primary research interest is real estate finance. He has published in the Journal of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, Journal of Real Estate Research, and The Appraisal Journal to name a few. He also enjoys writing on popular business myth and has published on this subject in Business and Society Review as well as others.

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Devaney, M. Risk, commitment, and project abandonment. J Bus Ethics 10, 157–159 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383619

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383619

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