As we discussed in this chapter, social loafing is one potential downside of working in groups. Regardless of the type of task—from games of Tug of War to working on a group projects—research suggests that when working in a group, most individuals contribute less than if they were working on their own. Sometimes, these people are labeled shirkers, because they don’t fulfill their responsibilities as group members. Other times, social loafing is overlooked, and the industrious employees do the work alone to meet the group’s performance goals. Either way, social loafing is an ethical dilemma. Whether in class projects or in jobs we’ve held, most of us have experienced social loafing, or shirking, in groups. And there may have even been times when we were guilty of social loafing ourselves. We discussed earlier in this chapter some ways of discouraging social loafing, such as limiting group size, holding individuals responsible for their contributions, setting group goals, and providing “hybrid” incentives that reward both individual and group performance. Although these strategies might help to reduce the occurrence of social loafing, in many cases, it seems that people just try to work around shirkers rather than motivate them to perform at higher levels. Managers and employees must decide the ethics of social loafing acceptance. Managers must determine what level of social loafing for groups and for individual employees will be tolerated in terms of time wasted in nonproductive meetings, performance expectations, and counterproductive work behaviors. Employees must decide what limits to social loafing they will impose on themselves and what tolerance they have for social loafers in their work groups. 1. Do group members have an ethical responsibility to report shirkers to leadership? If you were working on a group project for a class and a group member was social loafing, would you communicate this information to the instructor? Why or why not? 2. Do you think social loafing is always shirking (failing to live up to your responsibilities)? Are there times when shirking is ethical or even justified? 3. Social loafing has been found to be higher in Western, more individualist, nations than in other countries. Do you think this means we should tolerate shirking on the part of U.S. students and workers to a greater degree than if it occurred with someone from Asia?
> What is a positive organizational culture?
> How can an ethical culture be created?
> What is authentic leadership? Why do ethics and trust matter to leadership?
> How is culture transmitted to employees?
> What are the characteristics of a virtual organization?
> What is a matrix organization?
> What is a bureaucracy, and how does it differ from a simple structure?
> What are the behavioral implications of different organizational designs?
> Why do organizational structures differ, and what is the difference between a mechanistic structure and an organic structure?
> How can managers create a culture for change?
> How can managers create a boundaryless organization?
> What are the three types of conflict and the three loci of conflict?
> What are the differences between the traditional and interactionist views of conflict?
> How do charismatic and transformational leadership compare and contrast? Are they valid?
> What are the roles and functions of third-party negotiations?
> How do individual differences influence negotiations?
> What are the differences between distributive and integrative bargaining?
> What are the steps of the conflict process?
> What are the similarities and differences among the five bases of power?
> What is power? How is leadership different from power?
> What are some examples of impression management techniques?
> What is Fiedler’s contingency model? Has it been supported in research?
> What are the main limitations of behavioral theories of leadership?
> What are the differences among downward, upward, and lateral communication?
> What are the key parts of the communication process, and how do you distinguish formal and informal communication?
> What are the primary functions of the communication process in organizations?
> What unique problems underlie cross-cultural communication?
> What are some common barriers to effective communication?
> What are the four main approaches to managing organizational change?
> What is the difference between automatic and controlled processing of persuasive messages?
> What are the methods of oral, written, and nonverbal communication?
> What are the differences between formal small group networks and the grapevine?
> What is the difference between planned and unplanned change?
> What is the difference between a group and a team?
> How do you explain the growing popularity of teams in organizations?
> When is work performed by individuals preferred over work performed by teams?
> How can organizations create team players?
> What conditions or context factors determine whether teams are effective?
> What are the five types of teams?
> What are the causes and consequences of political behavior?
> What are the five stages of group development?
> Define group. What are the different types of groups?
> How effective are interacting, brainstorming, nominal, and electronic meeting groups?
> What are the strengths and weaknesses of group (versus individual) decision making?
> What are the individual and organizational approaches to managing stress?
> What are the advantages and limitations of cohesive groups?
> How does group size affect performance?
> How do group norms and status influence an individual’s behavior?
> Do role requirements change in different situations? If so, how?
> What are the nine most often identified power or influence tactics and their contingencies?
> What forces act as sources of resistance to change?
> What are the characteristics of a spiritual culture?
> How might documents be altered?
> What remedies are available through the civil and criminal justice systems?
> How do witness interviewing and interrogation differ?
> What is meant by invigilation?
> What are the different types of commercial damages?
> Is earnings management considered fraud?
> How is materiality determined?
> What are the similarities and differences between analytical and accounting anomalies?
> What is meant by behavioral red flags?
> A scientist has an unlimited water supply and two buckets, one holds 4 gallons and the other holds 9 gallons. By using nothing but the buckets and water, how can he accurately measure 7 gallons of water?
> What are the factors that affect the decision to prosecute an entity?
> What must an injured party prove to be successful in a claim for damages?
> What is meant by demonstrative evidence? Give examples.
> How do pay-and-return schemes work?
> What are some non-verbal clues to deception?
> What are some of the verbal clues to deception?
> Why is it advisable to obtain a written confession from the subject of an investigation?
> What is the “expectations gap”?
> What constitutes “good cause” in the discharge of an employee?
> What are the various categories and calculations used in ratio analysis?
> Why are introductory questions so important to an interview’s success?
> What are the three types of evidence that may be offered at trial?
> What are the challenges associated with proving intent on the part of a fraudster?
> How is the threshold for predication determined?
> Where may fraud examiners and forensic accountants find data?
> When is it appropriate to use an indirect method for income reconstruction?
> What is a kickback scheme and how is it committed?
> What are some ways that may be used to hide assets?
> Generally, how is the problem of management override and collusion addressed?
> What are the primary responsibilities of management?
> How can conflicts of interest be prevented and detected?
> What are the main components of the fraud risk assessment process?
> How did the Sarbanes-Oxley Act address corporate governance and public accounting responsibilities?
> What are the three major types of negotiated remedies and how do they differ?
> What is the discovery process and how does it work?
> A scientist has an unlimited water supply and two buckets, one holds 4 gallons and the other holds 5 gallons. By using nothing but the buckets and water, how can he accurately measure 3 gallons of water?
> What is meant by “hacking?”
> What methods are used by insiders to commit computer fraud? What red flags might indicate that insider computer fraud is occurring?
> Which types of economic damages are related to computer crimes?
> What is included as an expert’s work product?
> What is the difference between computer fraud and computer crime?
> How are computers used in cyber-crime?
> Which federal law enforcement agencies investigate domestic Internet crimes?
> What is a shell company and how is it formed?
> Why is Internet fraud particularly difficult to police?
> What are some indicators that a computer has been infected?
> List and describe various types of computer viruses.
> How do computer viruses work?
