The Free-Rider Dilemma at B-Schools
‘Free-rider’ - this is one word all B-schoolers are familiar with. If we go by definition, ‘free-riders’ are people who benefit out of something without paying for it. Whether you hate them or are indifferent, you cannot deny the fact that their presence (or should we say absence!) in your groups does lead to a lot many critical changes in things like division of work, number of hours that you spend on your project/case etc. The primary reason behind free-riding can be attributed to a phenomenon called ‘Social Loafing’ according to which the efficiency of individuals decreases when they work in a group as the onus does not lie completely on them. Although, most free-riders show the same behaviour in terms of not turning up for meetings/discussions, not replying to messages, not picking up phones etc., the ways in which they do it is unique to every individual. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some common types of free-riders that we encounter in daily life.
