Question

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) 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.
B) Nancy, one of the new team members, reported that she felt the team was not cohesive enough.
C) The scarcity of funds was one of the major concerns that all the team members mentioned.
D) 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.
E) 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.

Answer 1

If team members complain about the workload being unequally distributed and two experienced employees request a transfer due to shouldering a disproportionate workload, it would indicate the presence of social loafing in the team.

Step-by-step explanation:

Social loafing refers to a situation where individuals in a group project contribute less effort because their individual contributions are not evaluated.

In the context of the rainwater harvesting pilot project, if team members complain about the workload being unequally distributed and two experienced employees request a transfer due to shouldering a disproportionate workload, it would indicate the presence of social loafing in the team.

Answer 2

Answer: D. 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.

Step-by-step explanation:

Social loafing means when an individual exerts less effort in order to achieve a particular goal when the individual is part of a group but when the individual works alone , he or she works harder and exerts more effort.

Based on the information given, the presence of social loafing in the team will be that "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".

Here, there's dispersion of responsibility as the results in he group group can't be attributed to a particular employee. In such case, the employees may be tempted to wanting to work alone.