Preventing the optimal Outcome - Free-Riding at Charles University

• Název práce v češtině: (Ne)efektivní fungování skupin: Free-riding na Karlově Univerzitě
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Preventing the optimal Outcome - Free-Riding at Charles University
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Free-riding, social loafing, motivational losses, group work, university
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2014/2015
• Typ práce: diplomová práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Institut ekonomických studií (23-IES)
• Vedoucí / školitel: PhDr. Václav Korbel, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 09.04.2015
• Datum zadání: 09.04.2015
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 14.09.2016 09:00
• Místo konání obhajoby: Jinonice - U Kříže 8, J3093, Jinonice - místn. č. 3093
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 29.07.2016
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 14.09.2016
• Oponenti: Mgr. Michal Paulus

Seznam odborné literatury

Albanese, R. and Van Fleet, D. D., 1985. Rational behavior in groups: The free-riding Tendency. Academy of Management Review, 10(2), pp. 244-255. doi:10.5465/AMR.1985.4278118

Fehr, E. and Gächter, S., 2000. Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments. The American Economic Review, 90(4), pp. 980-994.

He, J., 2012. Counteracting Free-Riding with Team Morale? An experimental Study. Project Management Journal, 43(3), pp. 62-75.

Karau, S. J. and Williams, K. D., 1993. Social Loafing: A meta-analytic Review and theoretical Integration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(4), pp. 681-706.

Jassawalla, A. R., Malshe, A. and Sashittal, H., 2008. Student Perceptions of Social Loafing in Undergraduate Business Classroom Teams. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 6(2), pp. 403-426.

Latané, B., Williams, K. and Harkins, S., 1979. Many Hands make light the Work: The Causes and Consequences of Social Loafing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(6), pp. 822-832.

Ohlert, J., 2009. Teamleistung - social loafing in der Vorbereitung auf eine Gruppenaufgabe. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac.

Olson, M.,1965. The logic of collective action. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Skorepa, M. (2011): Decision Making: A Behavioral Economic Approach. Basingstoke, Palgrave-Macmillan

Předběžná náplň práce

Working together in a team is common both in companies and in university courses. Working together has both advantages (specialization, and positive externalities from cooperation and competition) and disadvantages (free-riding, social loafing, and negative externalities from the feeling of exploitation in other members and high costs of compliance). In my master thesis, I would like to focus mainly on the two disadvantages which result in a reduced effort of one or several team members. What about a cost-benefit analysis? A similar phenomenon is the so-called “sucker-effect” which I, however, would like to mention in the theoretical part. The difference between free riding and social loafing is the underlying intention: If the behavior is deliberate, the person is a free-rider and if the person is withholding unconsciously, the person is a social loafer the question if perceived free-riding occurs and, if yes, how it changes the students’ behavior (as a group?) and attitudes. Working hypothesis number five is additionally based on an article written by Jassawalla, Malshe and Sishatta (2008) who analyzed student perceptions of social loafing in the United States. There is still one strand of theoretical consideration: that of the Rotten Child theorem of G. Becker) and incentives which can compensate for the misbehavior in one of the members. The idea is of treating the working group as a family where altruism of the team leader can bring the whole group to a functioning team.