The paradox of success: An archival and a laboratory study of strategic persistence following radical environmental change

An archival study of the airline and trucking industries over a ten-year pe riod and a laboratory study revealed that greater past success led to great er strategic persistence after a radical environmental change, and such per sistence induced performance declines. The laboratory study also demonstrat ed that dysfunctional persistence is due to greater satisfaction with past performance, more confidence in the correctness of current strategies, high er goals and self-efficacy, and less seeking of information from critics.