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Inventory for Globally Distributed Software Teams

By Dr. Harry CD

Contact: harrycd2011@gmail.com

The below inventory was used to ascertain the personal opinions of globally distributed

employees across 30 countries on the research topic “Organizational Citizenship

Behavior of Distributed Teams: A Study on the mediating effect of Organizational

Justice in Software Organizations”. Employees who are parts of distributed (onsite) and

collocated (offshore) teams took part in the survey. Members were asked to tick their

response using the following scale: Score 1 for never or rarely, 2 for occasionally, 3 for

sometimes, 4 for frequently, 5 for always or very frequently feeling the same way as the

statement. The reliability coefficient for the inventory was (alpha) .92.

There are two sets of inventory given below

First set is an inventory used by authors to measure the relevant constructs. All these

instruments have reported reliabilities over .70 for each dimension.

Second set is a fully developed version of the inventory used for the purpose of the

study mentioned above and have reported reliability coefficient over.90

1st Set

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (Podsakoff & MacKenzie,1989)

Altruism

1. I help my team members when they have to stretch into extended hours of

work

2. I help my team members even though they join us late into the team

3. I help team members if they struggle with lack of domain or technical

knowledge

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4. I feel new members joining in every now and then create chaos in the team

(Reverse Coded)

Conscientiousness

5. As a member of the project team, my opinion is sought.

6. I respect the rights of my project team members and consider their opinion for

making decision

7. I take steps to prevent fear of unknown affecting my team members

8. I consider it important to inform my team members of my important decisions

which may affect them.

Sportsmanship

9. I often complain about lack of onsite rotation policy in my organization

(Reverse Coded)

10. I feel managers have the buying mentality while hiring employees (Reverse

Coded)

11. I feel lack of social life causes high burn out in the team (Reverse Coded)

12. I feel assertive leadership in my organization is looked at as a shortcut route

to promotion (Reverse Coded)

General Compliance

13. I support the reasonable demands of my project team

14. Never take long leaves that affect workflow and productivity of my team

members

15. I update my team members regularly on the status of the project

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16. Obey company rules and regulations even when I am away from corporate

Civic Virtue

17. I keep abreast of the requirement changes in the project team

18. Even though late night or delayed calls, I attend meetings in spite of personal

inconvenience

19. Attend all client relationship meetings even though they don’t impact business

20. My organization updates the company trends

Organizational Justice (Colquitt, 2001)

Procedural Justice

1. My organization considers my views on the procedures of work shared between

team members

2. I am able to influence the outcomes of the procedure applied to my team

3. My organization is consistent in applying procedures for selection of onsite

employees

4. My organization procedure does not discriminate (is not biased) between onsite

and offshore employees

5. Resources exchange procedures in my organization are well defined

6. Discontentment on the processes affecting my assignment can be appealed

7. My organizational procedures upheld ethical standards of employees both onsite

and offshore

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Distributive Justice

8. I do not get credit for my work (Reverse Coded)

9. My assignment gave me relatively Inadequate Compensation (Reverse Coded)

10. The amount of work that I do, does not reflect my pay (Reverse Coded)

11. A typical job role for long years deprives me of a promotion (Reverse Coded)

Interactional Justice

12. I am treated in a polite manner irrespective whether I am at onsite or offshore

13. I am treated with respect in my place of work

14. My organization treats me with dignity in spite of my work / employment status

15. Employees in my organization face more harassment

Informational Justice

16. My roles and responsibilities as a distributed member have been explained

thoroughly

17. Explanation about procedures adopted for distributing team members is

reasonable

18. My role in my team is communicated to me

19. The communication I get, at onsite or offshore, satisfies my personal and specific

needs

20. Talking to my bosses’ boss was perceived as a threat by the immediate boss.

(Reverse Coded)

Perceived Organizational Support (Moorman, Blakely, Niehoff,1998)

1. My organization values my contribution to its Well-being.

2. My organization shows a great deal of concern for me.

3. My organization cares about my opinions.

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4. My organization cares about my general satisfaction at work.

5. In my organization good work done is appreciated

6. My organization takes pride in my accomplishments at work.

7. My organization appreciates any extra effort from me.

8. My organization is willing to extend itself in order to help me perform my job to

the best of my ability.

9. My organization is willing to help me when I need a favor.

10. My organization tries to make my job as interesting as possible.

11. My organization regards my best interests when it makes decisions that affect

me.

12. My organization really cares about my well-being.

13. Help is available from my organization when I have a problem.

14. Even if given the opportunity my organization would never take advantage of me.

15. My organization strongly considers my goals and values.

16. My organization would not ignore any complaint from me. (Reverse Coded)

Role Efficacy (Uday Pareek,1980)

We have chosen a set of statements from each dimension amounting 10 sets as against proposed 20 sets.

1. ___________a. My role is very important in this organization, I feel central here

__________ b. I am doing a useful and fairly important work

__________ c. Very little importance is given to my role in this organization; I feel peripheral

here.

2. ___________a. My training and expertise are not fully utilized in my present role

__________ b. My training and knowledge are not used in my present role

__________ c. I am able to use my knowledge and training very well here

3. __________ a. I have little freedom in my role; I am only an errand person

__________ b. I operate according to the directions given to me

__________ c. I can take initiative and act on my own in my role

4. __________ a. I am doing usual routine work in my role

__________ b. In my role I am able to use my creativity and do something new

__________ c. I have no time for creative work in my role

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5. __________ a. No one in the organization responds to my ideas and suggestions

__________ b. I work in close collaboration with some other colleagues

__________ c. I am alone and have almost no one to consult in my role

6. ___________a. When I need some help, none is available

__________ b. Whenever I have a problem, others help me.

__________ c. I get very hostile responses when I ask for help

7. __________ a. I regret that I do not have opportunity to contribute to society in my role

__________ b. What I am doing in my role is likely to help other organizations or society.

__________ c. I have the opportunity to have some effect on the larger society in my role.

8. __________ a. I contribute to some decisions

__________ b. I have no power here

__________ c. My advice is accepted by my seniors

9. __________ a. Some of what I do contribute to my learning

__________ b. I am slowly forgetting all that I learnt (my professional knowledge)

__________ c. I have tremendous opportunities for professional growth in my role

10. _________ a. I dislike being bothered with my problems.

_________ b. When a subordinate brings a problem to me, I help to find a solution

_________ c. I refer the problem to my boss or some other person

Satisfaction with Outcomes (Chidambaram,1996)

1. Overall, I am personally satisfied with the outcomes of our team

2. My team has produced effective and valuable results.

3. I agree with the final decision of the team even if I am not present

4. Overall, the quality of the outcomes was high at onsite and offshore

5. Frequent change in my role disturbs my life

6. I feel rewarded when I am deputed to onsite frequently

7. I feel lack of focus as I keep attending to client requirements (Reverse Coded)

8. I am behind my peers when it comes to technology (Reverse Coded)

9. My organization adopts employee friendly policies for employee’s post-onsite

assignment.

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10. My organization is an equal opportunity employer in spite of where an employee

is posted

Personal Data

Please complete the following demographic information, giving your exact answers.

Your answers will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used by the researcher for

statistical purposes.

I. Gender: _____Male _____Female

II. Highest level of education _____Graduation b._____ Post Graduation c.

_____Doctoral

III. My designation is: ______________________

IV. My total experience is _____years _____months

V. My experience can be divided into

a. ___________ Distributed years (Onsite)

b. ________ Collocated years (Offshore)

VI. My current location is within India____________ outside India (country deputed)

______________________. (Put a tick)

VII. My company is into __________________ business. (Consulting and Services (A)

or Product Development (B) Business Process Outsourcing (C))

VIII. I am employed in my current organization as__________ employee. (Consultant

(A) Contract (B) Permanent (C) Part time (D)

IX. My current role is _____________________ (Technical Developer (A) or coordinator

(B) or project management(C) or others (D)

X. My company is a ________________(A) An Indian Company, (B) MNC Company,

(C) A joint venture, (D) A subsidiary -captive center or (E) others ________

XI. My current project team size is __________ and _______ members are work at

onsite ___________ members work at offshore.

XII. Number of team members in the same location (collocated) :________________ (*)

XIII. Number of members in different geographically locations: __________ Where are

they located?____________________ (*)(Name the countries if more than one)

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2nd Set

1. General procedure followed in my company for promoting a resource to a higher

band is biased to an onsite employee

2. My company follows independent promotion and salary process for onsite and

offshore teams

3. There is no relationship between the career path followed at offshore and the one

followed onsite

4. People who came back from onsite were expected to resume their old offshore

roles with the same old salary

5. Onsite teams often discuss the in-competencies of offshore developers, the

pressures from the client and the amount of stretching they had to do.

6. Sudden deployment of an onsite employee disturbs a well structured team in

offshore

7. I am deprived of a promotion because I worked at onsite and did not have a team

to report to

8. My onsite assignment is not taken into account for promotion at offshore

9. My organization’s lack of transparency in the existing systems and processes

creates imbalances between onsite and offshore teams.

10. Exit system is not fair when it comes to onsite versus offshore

11. Women employees face more harassment at offshore than in onsite

12. I feel being in a project for a long time is making me redundant and unattractive

13. Being at onsite for a long term is making me low value person for future

competencies

14. Being associated with a project for a long term develops inherent stress

associated with it

15. I am allowed to learn what I want to learn in this organization.

16. I am given growth opportunities as per my capabilities and expectation.

17. I am given projects of similar nature (mundane and repeat) work

18. The compensation given to me was below average

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19. I could not hire top talents as the compensation structure does not allow.

20. Hiring for onsite assignment in my organization is a lengthy process

21. I feel onsite rotation policy is least followed in my organization

22. I feel onsite team is superior in technical expertise but lacked relationship skills

23. I feel onsite resources recruited and deployed at client site lack team spirit

24. It was not clear to me as to who owned the project- offshore PM or the onsite

coordinator

25. My manager takes a wired look at delegating authority and responsibility

26. I feel assertive leadership in my organization is looked at as a shortcut route to

promotion

27. I am always assigned with inexperienced / fresh set of resources

28. I experience arrogance and superiority complex of the onsite team makes

matters worse.

29. I feel talking to my bosses’ boss was perceived as a threat by the immediate

boss.

30. I feel maintaining a personal relationship with the client was perceived as a risk

by my organization

31. I feel promotions were virtually non-existent for onsite employees

32. Managers has the buying mentality while hiring employees

33. My managers have a favouring mentality while assigning an employee for an

onsite assignment

34. As I do not know the onsite team, I could not communicate freely with them

35. Fear of unknown has been a barrier for onsite and offshore team to interact

36. Fear was crippling us whenever there was a leadership change in my

organization

37. I have no budget for training onsite employees

38. As I am deputed to onsite, I don’t get ESOP from my companies

39. I feel new members joining in every now and then created chaos in offshore team

40. I feel lack of social life causes high burn out in the team

41. If I am not given onsite opportunity, I will be forced to quit.

42. Lack of resources and extended work builds high pressure for onsite team

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43. Onsite team thinks sharing knowledge is sin

44. Short term assignments keep me behave like a cat on a wall.

45. Changing clients and job security makes me keep moving with the opportunity

46. I feel my return to offshore from onsite was a mistake

47. I feel after my return to offshore, I did not get enough attention from my customer

/ organization

48. I feel my role has been reduced at onsite

49. Mediocrity has been problem at onsite

50. My manager rebukes me in front of the customer

51. As an onsite / offshore employee, I do not get credit for the work I did

52. My onsite assignment gave me relatively Inadequate Compensation

53. I did not have variety of type of work

54. I was worried about the lack of growth

55. I wanted to leave the high Pressure job

56. I experienced high dissatisfaction at my work load and lack of work-life balance

57. I am a powerless Manager in my offshore team

58. The work that I do is a maintenance work and is low end compared to product

consulting / development

59. I do not see any pride at work

60. My organization is expecting too much in very limited resources made available

61. It has been difficult for me to fulfill my family responsibilities because of late and

extended working

62. I have come home from work too tired (several times a month) to do the chores

which need to be done

63. I have arrived at work too tired to function well because of the household work I

had done

64. My marriage/relationship suffers because of my work

65. I feel that my work prevents me from being as good a parent as I would like to be

66. I find it difficult to “switch” off when I finish work

67. My work affects my enjoyment of my social life

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68. Our team depends on other team (onsite / offshore) for the completion of their

work

69. Our team owns responsibilities and they rarely have to check or work with others

70. Our team works closely with each other to do their work properly

71. When the company succeeds, both onsite and offshore teams are rewarded

72. Teams are rewarded to the extent that the company performs well

73. Our team shares the credit when the company performs well

74. Our team recognizes that they will be rewarded to the extent that all teams

succeed

75. Our team thinks that their contributions deserve the corresponding rewards

76. Onsite- offshore teams “swim or sink” together

77. Onsite-offshore teams want each other to succeed

78. Onsite-offshore teams seek compatible goals

79. The goals of onsite and offshore teams go together

80. When distributed teams work together, they usually have common goals

81. Understanding the need to cooperate on time-zone difference

82. I find it difficult to deal with bureaucracy / authority

83. I find it difficult to adopt to local accommodation

84. I always see things from local point of view

85. I see no value in living away from family members overseas / independently from

parents

86. My team members share information on project specific know-how

87. I seek information on competitive edge (USP)

88. Are you pushed hard to meet delivery targets?

89. Have your manager provided you the opportunity you deserve?

90. Do you feel what you do is not what you want to do?

91. Is the work you do fulfills your and organizations goals?

92. Have seen your manager chiding your colleagues?

93. Is there anyone in your team who is jobless for a longtime?

94. Do you feel your manager is fair in appraisals and incentives?

95. Does your manager listen to you fully before he reacts?

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96. Do you feel your manager accepts your participation in meetings?

97. Do you feel he takes longtime to respond to your queries?

98. Is your manager adamant on your extended hours of work?

99. Do you feel he is partial and preferential?

100. Is your manager generous to you on salary review?

101. Is your discussion with your manager goes beyond work?

102. Do you feel disturbed when you see your team member isolated?

103. My contributions are treated as innovative and appreciated

104. I feel left out if I do not participate in decisions

105. I feel I am a stranger to decisions if I don’t have a say

106. I want to see that my point of view is considered

107. I am part and parcel of the company and so I should be consulted

108. I don’t care about my point of view

109. I will be interested in the outcome and not the process

110. I believe in the management that they are always supportive

111. My manager postpones decisions in my absence

112. I support decisions even if it is taken in my absence

113. I get a justification of any decisions to which I don’t agree

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