“…Indeed, there is a substantial literature providing evidence of individuals' (including innovation managers [Patzelt & Shepherd, 2008]) and organizations' persisting with losing courses of action and even escalating commitment to it (Brockner, 1992;Staw, 1981Staw, , 1997Staw, Barsade, & Koput, 1997). Biases toward persistence, especially as it relates to stage gates, mean that decision makers are likely to lower the hurdle of a particular gate (i.e., exercise the condition of a conditional gate) in their mind, for example, to recoup a return on the time, effort, and money already invested in the entrepreneurial project (i.e., a sunk cost effect) (e.g., Pierce, Kostova, & Dirks, 2001;Wagner, Parker, & Christiansen, 2003). Alternatively, they justify the previous decision to start the project, pass it through previous gates, and invest additional resources in its development (i.e., norms for consistency) (Staw, 1981).…”