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Crowdsourcing: A new way of employing non-employees?

Author

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  • Ford, Robert C.
  • Richard, Brendan
  • Ciuchta, Michael P.

Abstract

Interest in and enthusiasm for crowdsourcing is growing tremendously. But should organizations contemplating the use of crowdsourcing view it as simply another means of outsourcing to non-employees, or as something unique that has special requirements for success? This article addresses that issue. After reviewing the various ways organizations employ non-employees to overcome human resource limitations, we suggest areas in which they are similar and areas in which they are different. We then focus on crowdsourcing as a novel source of external labor. Presenting key questions that every organization considering the use of crowdsourcing must address, we offer specific recommendations for those organizations that choose to employ a crowd to meet their needs. These recommendations are based on an extensive review of both the research literature and the practitioner literature, and include additional insights gleaned from transcripts of sales calls with prospective customers conducted by a large crowdsourcing intermediary.

Suggested Citation

  • Ford, Robert C. & Richard, Brendan & Ciuchta, Michael P., 2015. "Crowdsourcing: A new way of employing non-employees?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 377-388.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:58:y:2015:i:4:p:377-388
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2015.03.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Josh Lerner & Jean Tirole, 2002. "Some Simple Economics of Open Source," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 197-234, June.
    2. West, Joel, 2003. "How open is open enough?: Melding proprietary and open source platform strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1259-1285, July.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Aaron F. McKenny & Thomas H. Allison & David J. Ketchen Jr. & Jeremy C. Short & R. Duane Ireland, 2017. "How Should Crowdfunding Research Evolve? A Survey of the Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Editorial Board," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 291-304, March.
    2. Shih-Wei Chou, 2021. "Understanding crowdsourcing adoption based on IT managers’ decision," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 245-263, December.
    3. Prasetyo, Eko Heru, 2024. "Digital platforms’ strategies in Indonesia: Navigating between technology and informal economy," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Yiwei Gong, 0. "Estimating participants for knowledge-intensive tasks in a network of crowdsourcing marketplaces," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-19.
    5. Yiwei Gong, 2017. "Estimating participants for knowledge-intensive tasks in a network of crowdsourcing marketplaces," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 301-319, April.
    6. Ha Ta & Terry L. Esper & Travis Tokar, 2021. "Appealing to the Crowd: Motivation Message Framing and Crowdsourcing Performance in Retail Operations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(9), pages 3192-3212, September.
    7. Xuefeng Zhang & Bengang Gong & Yaqin Cao & Yi Ding & Jiafu Su, 2022. "Investigating participants’ attributes for participant estimation in knowledge-intensive crowdsourcing: a fuzzy DEMATEL based approach," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 811-842, September.
    8. Francesco Cappa & Federica Rosso & Darren Hayes, 2019. "Monetary and Social Rewards for Crowdsourcing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Cappa, Francesco & Oriani, Raffaele & Pinelli, Michele & De Massis, Alfredo, 2019. "When does crowdsourcing benefit firm stock market performance?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    10. Schmidt, Gordon B. & Jettinghoff, William M., 2016. "Using Amazon Mechanical Turk and other compensated crowdsourcing sites," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 391-400.
    11. Fedorenko, Ivan & Berthon, Pierre & Rabinovich, Tamara, 2017. "Crowded identity: Managing crowdsourcing initiatives to maximize value for participants through identity creation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 155-165.
    12. Katarzyna Cieslik & Roland Banya & Bhaskar Vira, 2022. "Offline contexts of online jobs: Platform drivers, decent work, and informality in Lagos, Nigeria," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(4), July.

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