Optimism bias in managing it project risks: A construal level theory perspective

Eliezer Shalev, Mark Keil, Jong Seok Lee, Yoav Ganzach

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Prior research has shown that people have a tendency to be overly optimistic about future events (i.e., optimism bias) in a variety of settings. In this study, we suggest that optimism bias has significant implications for IT project risk management, as it may cause people to become overly optimistic that they can easily manage project risks. Drawing upon construal level theory (CLT), we investigate optimism bias in managing IT project risks. Based on an experiment with IT professionals, we found that a high-level construal of a project risk leads individuals to have a more optimistic perception about successfully managing the project risk, causes them to focus more on benefits over costs in choosing a risk management plan, and leads them to identify more pros than cons associated with a risk management plan relative to a low-level construal. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationECIS 2014 Proceedings - 22nd European Conference on Information Systems
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems
ISBN (Print)9780991556700
StatePublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event22nd European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2014 - Tel Aviv, Israel
Duration: 9 Jun 201411 Jun 2014

Publication series

NameECIS 2014 Proceedings - 22nd European Conference on Information Systems

Conference

Conference22nd European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2014
Country/TerritoryIsrael
CityTel Aviv
Period9/06/1411/06/14

Keywords

  • Cognitive bias
  • Construal level theory
  • IT project risk management
  • Optimism bias
  • Project management

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