Social Loafing In Virtual Teams

Modern organizations are increasingly relying on teams to complete task by internet communication technologies. While allocation of resources can be more effective, communication can be more convenient, lots of problems can also be resulted. Specifically, social loafing, which has had a long history in traditional teams. When team members work in teams, instead of working alone, they tend to hold their effort in the team goal, in other words, loaf. Empirical studies have shown that this phenomenon is more evident in virtual teams. The underlying mechanism and influence factors, however, is still to be discovered.Recent years have witnessed the huge burst of the Internet, which make the revolution of corporate communication technologies to take place. Among these technologies, WIKI is one that should not be overlooked. As a new concept in knowledge production, a new interface for team cooperation, and a more effective communication tool, what role will WIKI play in influencing teamwork? More specifically, in the issue of social loafing, will WIKI be more convenient for social loafing, or be an angle in the communication and cooperation between people?By reviewing relevant literature in the field, based on social capital theory and individual motivation theory, this study builds a social loafing model in virtual teams, knowledge teams specifically. From the two aspects of individual intrinsic motivations and circumstantial conditions, the influence mechanism of social loafing is discussed. To avoid the disturbance of uninterested factors, the model is tested in a controlled quasi-laboratory environment using questionnaires. The experiment was taken among87undergraduate students of DLUT, dispersed in11teams. The participants were asked to complete a mobile Internet business plan on a team-specific WIKI platform, in10days. The conclusions are above:1) In virtual teams the cognitive capital of individual can decrease the tendency of social loafing2) In virtual teams the relational capital of individual can decrease the tendency of social loafing3) In virtual teams individual goal striving can decrease the tendency of social loafing4) In virtual teams social presence negatively moderate the relationship between individual structural capital and social loafing 5) In virtual teams reputation negatively moderate the relationship between individual cognitive capital and social loafingThe results have shown that the cognitive, structural and relational capital an individual in a team possesses can evidently decrease the tendency of social loafing. In the meanwhile, the interaction effect between social capital and reputation and social presence is proposed and tested. As an intrinsic motivation, individual goal striving’s negative influence on social loafing is also evidently supported. In the end of the paper, team management, design of communication technologies and future research are suggested.