A Typology for Engaging Individuals in Crowdsourcing

Abstract

Abstract Crowdsourcing is an open innovation mechanism by which organizations (seekers) tap into large groups of external individuals (solvers) to generate innovative ideas and solutions. To date, relatively little is known about open innovation at a more micro level than the firm, providing scarce insights into the role individuals (outside an organization) play in crowdsourcing. Yet, successful crowdsourcing depends on the activities and inputs of such individuals. This chapter consolidates the different ways individual solvers can contribute to open innovation in both corporate and social crowdsourcing contexts, and explains how seekers can tap into individuals to produce various open innovation outcomes. Based on this, a typology for engaging individuals in crowdsourcing is developed, unpacking four categories of crowdsourcing strategies that allow firms to design aligned models, based on the type of solver expertise required (for technical problem-solving and for ideation) and different levels of solver interactions (in innovation contests and online communities). Opportunities are outlined for future research to further examine how best to enable and harness solver engagement that will yield valuable contributions to theory and practice.