Decision-making is constant in the workplace, both individually and in a group setting. At some point during a professional career an employee will be involved in the decision-making process. Decision-making on the individual level often occurs daily, such as deciding the order by which work tasks will be completed. There are several issues associated with the decision-making process on both the individual and group level. Of these issues are biases and errors in decision-making. Research has proven several biases and errors, two of which include confirmation bias and escalation of commitment (Robbins & Judge, 2009, p. 150-151). Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias is defined as “the tendency to acquire or process new information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions and avoids contradiction with prior beliefs” (Allahverdyan & Galstyan, 2014, p. 1). This definition asserts that while employees are expected to make decisions based on information that was gathered rationally and impartially, …show more content…
Escalation of commitment creates issues in the decision-making process, because employees would rather remain steadfast in their plan than concede to failure (Robbins & Judge, 2009, p. 151). Escalation of commitment involves the employee’s unwillingness to accept the fact that their initial decision was not the best, even after receiving evidence to that fact. According to Robbins and Judge (2009) organizations have “suffered large losses because a manager was determined to prove his original decision was right by continuing to commit resources to what was a lost cause from the beginning” (p. 152). It is essential for employees to be open to a change in direction if the decision that was made has proven to be flawed or incorrect, without this, an organization could face many