ICE is a non-profit organization that runs awareness campaigns and research programs that provide data to initiate the process of legislative changes on various aspects of the environment like forest cover, nuclear fuel, endangered species and others
. The ICE operates through networks of grass-root level researchers who are grouped into flexible project teams whose roles and duties change with each new project. The ICE believes its employees to be like family, and an informal environment pervades its functioning without any compromises being made in the efficiency. Recently, the project manager of the rainwater harvesting pilot project in the suburbs has been informed of two delays in the project. When the third extension request came to him, he looked into the matter by speaking individually with the five team members. Which of the following complaints by the team members, if true, would indicate the presence of social loafing in the team?
A) A team member complained that the residents of the suburb in which they were working were uncooperative and did not accept their most cordial requests for helping in data collection.
B) Nancy, one of the new team members, reported that she felt the team was not cohesive enough.
C) Two of the most experienced employees on the team reported having to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the current workload and asked for an internal transfer.
D) The scarcity of funds was one of the major concerns that all the team members mentioned.
E) The team members were dissatisfied with the compensation package as they felt they were putting in a lot of work and being paid relatively less.
C
Explanation: C) The fact that a team member complained that the residents of the suburb in which they were working were uncooperative hints at an external cause for lack of performance and does not indicate social loafing. The fact that one of the new team members reported that she felt the team was not cohesive enough does not indicate social loafing; social loafing is typically a product of excessive cohesiveness. The fact that two of the most experienced employees on the team reported having to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the current workload does indicate the presence of social loafing. One explanation for social loafing is the dispersion of responsibility. Because group results cannot be attributed to any single person, the relationship between an individual's input and the group's output is clouded. Individuals may then be tempted to become free riders and coast on the group's efforts. The scarcity of funds for the project is an external factor and cannot directly explain their bad performance. The fact that the team members were dissatisfied with the compensation package does not indicate the presence of loafing, especially since two employees have been working hard.