Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Justifications and Prevention Strategies Provided by Free Riders on Global Virtual Teams

Abstract

We investigate the causes of and ways to deal with free riding, that is, a lack of contribution to team effort, in global virtual teams (GVTs). In contrast with more commonly-studied accounts from active team members or project managers, this study is based on direct feedback from 77 documented "free-riders" themselves. Our data suggest that free riding occurs (1) in the early stages of team development, (2) frequently due to difficulty with communication methods/channels and poor coordination, (3) mostly by individuals who tend to blame external forces for their lack of participation, even when confronted with unimpeachable evidence to the contrary, and (4) much less frequently, if at all, by parties who fall victim to subtle cultural differences and forces. We use these findings to develop testable propositions and discuss potential free-riding prevention strategies.