众包系统中企业众包能力评价指标体系研究

根据开放式创新原理和长尾理论,阐述众包系统的运作机理,提出了众包系统能力概念,从发包方、网络平台及社会大众3个方面构建了众包能力三螺旋模型。构建了企业层面的众包能力评价指标体系,从企业搜索获取能力、吸收同化能力、商业化能力、研发投入能力、创新生产能力及创新管理能力6个方面进行了评价指标选取,给出了测度众包系统能力的模糊积分评价方法与步骤。     

服装设计“众包”案例分析及其启示

本文以美国在线T恤厂商www.threadless.com的T恤衫设计"众包"为例,并结合中国SWS创意社www.swser.com的相关发展,在介绍"众包"的概念、发展和特点的基础上,着重分析"众包"模式给服装设计和产品推广带来的新变化,并探究和构想在"众包"影响下服装这个传统行业出现的新的公司组织模式、新型商业模式及其带来的启示。     

共享经济中的嵌入理性:众包社区嵌入性对创意领地行为影响机制研究

如何实现知识、创意等资源共享是目前社会价值创新网络体系构建的瓶颈问题。尽管众包社区作为创意资源共享解决方案的有效性得到了学界广泛认可，但关于作为网络节点嵌入众包社区之中的创客个体如何参与共享经济的探讨较少。围绕创客如何参与众创的过程“黑箱”，从众包社区嵌入性视角出发，基于S（刺激）-O（有机体）-R（反应）研究范式，探索众包创客创意领地性分配行为产生机制，以诠释共享经济中的“嵌入理性”。结果显示：①众包社区嵌入性（结构嵌入、关系嵌入、认知嵌入）对心理所有权有负向作用；②心理所有权对创意领地行为有正向作用；③心理所有权在众包社区结构嵌入、认知嵌入对创意领地行为的影响中起完全中介作用，在关系嵌入对创意领地行为的影响中起部分中介作用。     

Uncovering crowdsourcing in tourism apps: A grounded theory study

Even though crowdsourcing emerges as a new business principle of many successful tourism apps, its underlying mechanism in tourism remains unexplored. This research note explores this topic with a qualitative design through interviews with stakeholders involved in a crowdsourcing tourism app, Gold Medal Tour Guide. Applying the grounded theory, researchers propose a framework of crowdsourcing in tourism apps consisting of six themes and 15 subthemes. The framework identifies the drive of crowdsourcing and discusses the complexities and contradictions in multi-stakeholder collaboration. The contextual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the crowdsourcing phenomenon are also examined. The findings provide practical implications for tourism destinations to take advantage of the crowdsourcing mechanism for sustainable operation and development.     

Innovation problems and search for solutions in crowdsourcing platforms – A simulation approach

Crowdsourcing initiatives are increasingly spreading among organisations aiming at outsourcing the development of solutions to internal innovation problems to external problem solvers. However, while knowledge about crowdsourcing is growing, a complete understanding of the underlying dynamics of these initiatives is still lacking. This study aims at elucidating this topic by investigating the influence exerted by the interplay between the characteristics of innovation problems, individuals developing solutions (problem solvers), and crowdsourcing platforms on the related problem solving performance. Specifically, we use NK fitness landscapes to simulate the search for solutions conducted by problem solvers in several scenarios, depending on the decomposability and accuracy of delineation of the innovation problems, the degree of bounded rationality of the solvers, and the cooperation policies of the crowdsourcing platforms. Our findings contribute to the development of the theory on search for solutions in crowdsourcing initiatives, by revealing the characteristics of problem solvers and the types of platforms that maximise the performance of the problem solving process, as the quality of the best solution provided and the time required to elaborate on it, according to specific innovation problems. Furthermore, our findings promote the formulation of guidelines for organisations using crowdsourcing to solve their innovation problems, and for the crowdsourcing platforms’ managers.     

Seeking funding in order to sell: Crowdfunding as a marketing tool

Websites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter have attracted much attention for their ability to enable organizations and individuals to raise funds from ordinary people who contribute for a number of reasons. This phenomenon is called crowdfunding. Crowdfunding permits organizations and individuals to obtain investments they otherwise might not receive from more traditional sources such as banks, angel investors, and stock markets. A number of now well-known startups had their origins in crowdfunding. More recently, established organizations have begun to use crowdfunding websites not only as a source of finance, but also as marketing platforms. In this way, they have been able to ensure a ready market for their new offerings, with full sales pipelines, and to use the platforms as vehicles to boost brand image and gain support for brand-related causes. This adaptation of crowdfunding for marketing purposes is not without its problems, however, and organizations would be well advised to consider not only the opportunities these platforms provide, but also their limitations and risks.     

Click here to agree: Managing intellectual property when crowdsourcing solutions

Tapping into the creativity of a crowd can provide a highly efficient and effective means of acquiring ideas, work, and content to solve problems. But crowdsourcing solutions can also come with risks, including the legal risks associated with intellectual property. Therefore, we raise and address a two-part question: Why—and how—should organizations deal with intellectual property issues when engaging in the crowdsourcing of solutions? The answers lie in understanding the approaches for acquiring sufficient intellectual property from a crowd and limiting the risks of using that intellectual property. Herein, we discuss the hazards of not considering these legal issues and explain how managers can use appropriate terms and conditions to balance and mitigate the risks associated with soliciting solutions from a crowd. Based on differences in how organizations acquire intellectual property and limit associated risks, we identify and illustrate with examples four approaches for managing intellectual property (passive, possessive, persuasive, and prudent) when crowdsourcing solutions. We conclude with recommendations for how organizations should use and tailor the approaches in our framework to source intellectual property from a crowd.     

Crowdsourcing urban sustainability. Data,people and technologies in participatory governance

The aim of this paper is to prefigure the future of urban sustainability governance by implementing crowdsourcing-based solutions for governance processes.We explore the convergence between recent research in urban sustainability governance and crowdsourcing. This is done by reviewing the literature in order to acquire important evidence to support the inductive process of theory building, and to highlight the upcoming trends in participatory research and policy-making that exploit ICT and Web 2.0 social software.Our analysis indicates that a transformative relationship between data and people creates new forms of distant search for solutions and decision making. We argue that interest in crowdsourcing has expanded from computing researches to social and environmental applications. This new practical dimension unlocks the futures of integration of crowdsourcing into best practices in the governance of sustainability in an urban context.Building on evidence that implementing crowdsourcing into the forthcoming governance of urban sustainability is increasingly recognised as a common priority, the paper suggests policy makers to devote more resources to ensure openness, transparency, interoperability and adaptability of crowdsourcing platforms.     

Choose wisely: Crowdfunding through the stages of the startup life cycle

Crowdfunding is attractive to startups as an alternative funding source and offers nonmonetary resources through organizational learning. It encompasses the outsourcing of an organizational function, through IT, to a strategically defined network of actors (i.e., the crowd) in the form of an open call—specifically, requesting monetary contributions toward a commercial or social business goal. Nonetheless, many startups are hesitant to consider crowdfunding because little guidance exists on how the various types of crowdfunding add value in different life cycle stages and which type is best suited for which stage. In response to this gap, this article introduces a typology of crowdfunding, the benefits it offers, and how specific benefits relate to the identified crowdfunding types. On this basis, we present a framework for choosing the right crowdfunding type for each stage in the startup life cycle, in addition to providing practical advice on crowdfunding best practices. The best practices outlined have shown demonstrable contributions toward achieving funding goals and are likely to prove valuable for startups.     

Customers' participation in product development through crowdsourcing: Issues and implications

This paper focuses on customers' participation in a product development process through crowdsourcing practices. Results from five case studies of consumer goods companies suggest that the implementation of crowdsourcing operations affects the components of an existing business model and requires rethinking the marketing function. Moreover, despite some organizational constraints and fears, crowdsourcing generates a win–win relationship, creating value for both firms and customers. However, the findings reveal two negative consumer reactions to crowdsourcing practices, i.e., feelings of exploitation and being cheated, that may jeopardize their success. The results suggest the need to establish an open business model based on crowdsourcing.