blocked, the final decision may not be made and acted upon. A decision that goes against existing rules and processes may also reach resistance even with support from those within the organization. Individuals and groups that are directly employed due to a project, have financial stake in it may provide enough opposition to prevent changes from being made as well. They feel personally responsible for the parts they've worked on and can also feel that they too are being replaced or terminated. Escalation of commitment can then occur in any of these situations. External groups can play an even larger part in escalating commitment if their power is greater than that of the group taking action and they use that power to directly lead and influence. With a larger number of decision makers included, groups have the opportunity for greater productivity than single individuals, but they also have the opportunity for greater losses and escalation. Members can eliminate some of the escalation potential if they come to a better decision earlier on in the process and avoid the need to change course dramatically. Yet they can also hold onto a larger base of support for their initial actions to the point where escalation potential is increased. In this case, groupthink assists in keeping with the original decision and pressures towards conformity rather than dividing the group with other options. Also, a group whose members are not cohesive can have decreased escalation potential due to conflicts and varying levels of inclusion in the process. Organizations that are family businesses are especially prone to escalation of commitment due to the added level of going through the family structure in addition to the business structure, allowing for further conflicts between the two. Business reputation, customer and share loss, and financial loss become risks. Examples SoftBank Group's spending billions in an investment rescue package for troubled company WeWork during 2019. The dollar auction is a thought exercise demonstrating the concept. After a heated and aggressive bidding war, property developer Robert Campeau ended up buying Bloomingdale's for an estimated $600 million more than it was worth. In 1992, The Wall Street Journal wrote regarding the bidding war that "we're not dealing in price anymore but egos." Campeau was forced to declare bankruptcy soon afterwards, in what was then the costliest personal bankruptcy in the US. Certain fraud schemes exploit this behaviour, such as the Nigerian