Managing Information Technology Project Escalation and De-Escalation: An Approach-Avoidance Perspective

This paper presents an integrated theoretical process model for identifying , describing, and analyzing the complex escalation and de-escalation phenomena in software development projects. The approach-avoidance theory is used to integrate core elements of various escalation theories into a holistic, explanatory framework for the two phenomena. We use a process model to identify antecedent conditions, sequences of events, critical incidents, and...