Question

Crowdsourcing is a set of principles, processes, and platforms to get things done that includes putting out an open call to a group and managing the responses and output. Crowdsourcing can be like outsourcing in a bigger way because instead of contracting to one known entity, you are putting a call out to a bigger group, often a global online community, to either get many to participate or to find the person you need by casting a much wider net. There are crowdsourcing companies that perform specific types of work such as translations (Gengo, Smarting), transcription (CastingWords), even design and marketing work (99Designs, CrowdSpring). Each company operates differently. In the case of transcription or translation, you give work to a company like CastingWords or Gengo, and they, in turn, put the job out to their "crowd" of workers from around the world. They are like the middleman to helping you get the work done, and their distributed workforce can be less costly to them so they pass on their savings to your organization.

1. Check out a few of these crowdsourcing companies. What are your thoughts? Do you think they are effective? Why or why not?

2. Which type of leadership is most likely to include the use of crowdsourcing?

3. Can you think of other areas in businesses that can benefit from the use of crowdsourcing? What are they?

Answer 1

Solution i1). iFew iof ithese icrowdsourcing icompanies iare ias ifollows:

MyGengo, iTrada, iWikipedia iand i99Designs ietc, ithese iare ithe icompanies iwhich iprovide iservices isuch ias itranscription, ilanguage itranslation, ikeyword imarketing ietc iby isupport ifunctioning ito ivarious iorganization iin ithe imarket.

Yes, iI ithink icrowdsourcing icompanies iare ieffective iwhich ican ibe iexplained iin isome ipoints ithat ihave ibeen imentioned ibelow:

• It iis ia icost ieffective ifor ithe icompany ihence iit iminimize ithe ioverall icost.
• The iavailability iof ia ilarge inumber iof iefficient ipeople ito ido itasks iin icomparatively ireduced iprices
• It ihelp ithe icompany ito ifocus ion inecessary iactivities iwhich irelates ito ithe ibusinesses ioperations. i i

Solution i2). iParticipative ileadership iis imost ilikely ito iinclude ithe iuse iof icrowdsourcing ibecause icrowdsourcing irefers ithat iboth iintrinsic iand iextrinsic imotivations icause ipeople ito icontribute ito icrowdsourcing itasks iand ithese ifactors iinfluence idifferent itypes iof icontributors. iThe iparticipative ileadership istyle ican imotivate iemployees iand imake ithem iparticipate iin ithe iorganization's idecision imaking iwith ia isense iof iownership iby iworking ieffectively ithat ilead ito iachieve iorganizational igoal. iTherefore, crowdsourcingiis ia isourcing imodel iin iwhich iinvolvement iand iparticipation i(i.e., iobtain igoods iand iservices, iincluding iideas, ivoting, imicro-tasks iand ifinances ietc.) iof iindividuals ior iorganizations ineeded ito iachieve ispecific igoal. i

Solution i3). iThe iother iareas iin ibusinesses ithat ican ibenefit ifrom ithe iuse iof icrowdsourcing isuch ias:

• Increases iScalability i- iScaling iis ia idifficult iproblem ifor iany ibusiness ito isolve, iparticularly iwhen iit icomes ito iworking ion imassive iprojects iwith iinadequate iresources iat iyour idisposal. iHowever, icrowdsourcing iprovides ian ieasy isolution ifor iscaling iout iany iworkforce iby ifarming iout ismall iportions iof ia iproject ithat ican ibe icompleted iby iremote iworkers iat iany igiven itime ior iplace. iThis iflexibility iis ione iof ithe itop ireasons ibusinesses idevelop ian iinterest iin icrowdsourcing.
• Fills iKnowledge iGaps i- iUnless ia icompany iis ioperating ion ia imassive iscale, imost iof ithem idon't istaff iall iof ithe iresources ithey ineed iat iany igiven itime. iCrowdsourcing iprovides ithe iability ito iaccess ipeople iwho ihave iskill isets ithat iare iunavailable iwithin ithe icompany. iThis ican ibe iinvaluable ifor iprojects ior iproblems ithat irequire ispecialized iknowledge ior iskill isets ithat iare iscarce.
• Accelerates iProcesses of Business i- iCrowdsourcing iallows ibusinesses ito iperform itasks imore iquickly ithan ia isingle iemployee. iBreaking iup ia iproject iinto ia icollection iof ismaller ipieces iand iproviding ithose ipieces ito ia ilarger igroup iof iworkers iexpedites ithe icompletion iof iprojects. iOverall, icrowdsourcing ipresents ia imore iefficient iway ito ido iwork.
• Reduces iOperational iCosts i- iCrowdsourcing ioffers ia icheaper iway ito icomplete iprojects. iWhen ia igroup iof ipeople iunite idigitally ito icomplete ia itask, ibusinesses ican ibypass imost iof ithe icosts itypically iassociated iwith ioperations. iThis iincludes ithe ioverhead icosts iof ihousing iand ipaying iemployees ia ifull isalary, ias iwell ias ithe icosts ithat icould ibe iincurred ifrom ipaying ifor iemployees ito ilearn inew iskills iand imore. i