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On the other hand, free riding may be an involuntary reaction of some students who feel that they are not competent enough to be equal contributors to the group. This problem is also prevalent in education according to the article by Hall and Buzwell (2012), many students that make significant contributions to the group project feel frustration when they receive the same mark as their fellow team members that did practically nothing. In economics, this is called a “free-rider problem” – people that benefit from the resources to which they did not make any contribution (Vander Ark, 2016). Therefore, group projects assigned, for example, at college, prepare students for the future work in a corporate environment where collaboration, effective communication, and reaching of the set objectives will be motivated by an incentive.ĭespite the fact that a group project implies the collaboration among team members and their equal contribution to the process, there are many cases when one individual wants to get rewarded for nothing. What is also similar is that group assignments teach individuals to work as a part of a team that has a common goal to reach. However, the idea that if a group collaborates, establishes effective communication, and distributes the assignments correctly will be given a reward of some sort (either monetary or not) is what makes group projects and group incentive plans very similarly. While group incentive plans are associated with financial rewards given to employees to boost and sustain their productivity (Marshall, 2013), successful completion of the group project is not rewarded financially.
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#Free rider example professional
Group assignments given either in educational or professional settings are targeted at encouraging individuals to work together as a team in order to reach a particular objective, for example, successfully getting a deal with a company’s new partner or completing a presentation on a topic studied in class.
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