Exploring the Application of Blockchain Technology to Combat the Effects of Social Loafing in Cross Functional Group Projects

Kevin O’Leary, Philip O'Reilly, Joseph Feller, Rob Gleasure, Shanping Li, Jerry Cristoforo

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Today, many multi-national organisations operate in a dispersed geographical environment. Teams consisting of members from around the globe can be assembled on an asneeded basis. However, this can prove to be a complex managerial task. Individuals, who believe that their efforts are not being effectively monitored by upper management, lose their motivation to fully contribute to the best of their abilities as they do not believe there is any correlation between the effort they exert and the reward they receive. With low levels of intrinsic involvement among employees, a lack of task visibility from upper management and limited social interaction among group members, many organisations struggle to combat the issue of social loafing in cross functional working groups. Blockchain technology, widely acknowledged as enabling openness, can facilitate the development of an immutable, transparent, secure and verifiable application for capturing individuals Intellectual Property as they work. This would motivate employees to more openly contribute to group work, safe in the knowledge that their contribution will be recognised, enabling management to maintain a high level of task visibility over their employees work without requiring their physical presence.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Open Collaboration, OpenSym 2017 : OpenSym
Number of pages8
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Publication date2017
Article number13
ISBN (Print)9781450351874
ISBN (Electronic)9781450351874
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes
Event13th International Symposium on Open Collaboration. OpenSym 2017 - National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
Duration: 23 Aug 201725 Aug 2017
Conference number: 13
https://opensym.org/os2017/

Conference

Conference13th International Symposium on Open Collaboration. OpenSym 2017
Number13
LocationNational University of Ireland
Country/TerritoryIreland
CityGalway
Period23/08/201725/08/2017
Internet address

Keywords

  • Blockchain
  • Social loafing
  • Intellectual property
  • Design science
  • Intrinsic involvement
  • Task visibility
  • Social comparison
  • Dispersed groups

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