THE OMBUDSMAN - MANAGEMENT FOLKLORE AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE - ON PORTFOLIO PLANNING, ESCALATION BIAS, AND SUCH

Management folklore sometimes leads to unprofitable decision making. T hus, studies of the value of such folklore should be of interest to ma nagers, especially when they identify unprofitable procedures. I revie wed empirical research on scientific publishing and concluded that stu dies supporting management folklore are likely to be favorably reviewe d for publication and to be cited. However, researchers who obtain fin dings that refute folklore are likely to encounter resistance in publi cation and are less likely to be cited. My experience with papers on p ortfolio planning methods and escalation bias illustrates the problem. To encourage the publication of papers that challenge management folk lore, editors should use results-blind reviews and, in some cases, con strain, reduce, or eliminate peer review.