{
  "title": "Continue or stop a project: what past expenditure cannot justify",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/poursuivre-ou-arreter-un-projet-le-poids-des-couts-irrecuperables-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-07-24",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "A project has already absorbed time and money: should it receive another allocation of resources? Research distinguishes reasons to continue from the need to justify what has already been committed.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Decision-making",
  "place": {
    "name": "Fribourg",
    "region": "Fribourg",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Hal R."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Responsibility can reinforce commitment",
      "point": "Barry M."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The overly hasty conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that every disappointing project should be stopped, or that its initiator should no longer make the decision."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the evidence cannot settle",
      "point": "These classic studies identify a risk to judgement; they do not provide a universal stopping threshold for an industrial or scientific project."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Fribourg",
      "point": "Within SHR's « Prise de décision » programme, an exercise applicable in Fribourg would examine forthcoming requests for additional funding for an agri-food project, a bilingual industrial company or a university collaboration."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Blumer",
      "year": "1985",
      "source": "Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Staw",
      "year": "1976",
      "source": "Organizational Behavior and Human Performance"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 407,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-07-24-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/poursuivre-ou-arreter-un-projet-le-poids-des-couts-irrecuperables",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/poursuivre-ou-arreter-un-projet-le-poids-des-couts-irrecuperables-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/poursuivre-ou-arreter-un-projet-le-poids-des-couts-irrecuperables-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/poursuivre-ou-arreter-un-projet-le-poids-des-couts-irrecuperables-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/prise-de-decision/fribourg",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/fribourg",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}