Visibility Of Contributions Research Articles

The Prevalence and Magnitude of Social Loafing, and Biographical Influences, in a Team - Based Organizational Setting

This paper assesses the prevalence and magnitude of social loafing in a team-based organizational setting as social loafing has the potential to threaten and disrupt the effectiveness of teams. The presence of social loafing is evaluated in terms of perceived co -worker loafing, nature of tasks, visibility of contribution, group size, individual outcomes and rewards and, group cohesiveness. Biographical influences on perceptions of the factors having the potential to influence social loafing are also assessed. A consensus sample of 80 employees formed part of the sample. Data was collected using a self- developed, precoded questionnaire whose psychometric properties (validity and reliability) were assessed using Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha respectively. The results indicate that social loafing does exist in the organization and is sparked by various factors which in descending level are perceived co -worker loafing, visibility of contribution, nature of tasks, group size, individual outcomes and rewards and, group cohesiveness. Furthermore, social loafing is moderate in magnitude and is not influenced by biographical variables (gender, age, marital status, tenure) except for the influence of age on individual outcomes and rewards. Recommendations are presented, which when implemented, have the potential to reduce the prevalence and magnitude of social loafing in a work environment.

Caring Leadership: A Heideggerian Perspective

This paper develops the idea of caring leadership based on Heidegger’s philosophy of care. From this perspective, caring leadership is grounded in the practices of ‘leaping-in’ and ‘leaping-ahead’ as modes of intervention in the affairs of the world and the efforts of others. This involves gauging and taking responsibility for the ramifications of intervention, balancing the urge for certainty of outcome and visibility of contribution with the desire to encourage and enable others. Our analysis suggests several twists to contemporary leadership debates. We argue that the popular models of transactional and transformational leadership are to be critiqued not for their over-reliance but, rather, their under-reliance on agency. This is a different kind of agency to that of heroic or charismatic models. It involves tolerance of complexity and ambivalence; a rich sense of temporal trajectory; concern for one’s presence in the world; and crucially, the ability to resist the soothing normativity of ‘best practice’. From this position, we argue that the problem with the growing scholarly interest in an ethic of care is that it provides too tempting a recipe to follow. In a Heideggerian view, caring leadership has little to do with compassion, kindness or niceness; it involves and requires a fundamental organization and leadership of self.