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Crowdsourcing is an organisational model in which a single person orbusiness obtains access to goods and services, including ideas andmoney, from a large, open and often rapidly-changing group of people,usually via the internet. By dividing work between disparateparticipants, significant results can be achieved.
Many businesses would probably not consider crowdsourcing a viableoption, yet if implemented correctly, it can be beneficial for a numberof reasons.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is probably the most known form of crowdsourcing, whichinvolves raising funds through the public via websites such as,Kickstarter or Indiegogo, instead of investors. The business receivesfunds and backers of the project receive specific rewards depending onhow much they invested.
Competitions
Crowd contests get the public involved by challenging them to complete aparticular task, such as designing a logo, writing a blog or coming upwith a company name, users typically are then rewarded in return.
In recent years, there have been many successful crowdsourcingcampaigns, one of them being Lego. Lego allows users to submit theirproduct designs through their website, which are then voted for by otherusers. The idea with the most votes gets created, and the creatorreceives 1% royalty of the revenue. This way of crowdsourcing isbeneficial to both users and Lego themselves. Users are rewarded fortheir ideas, while at the same time excitement is generated within thefanbase and Lego receive a product idea that they know already hasdemand within the community.
Sole support
Some businesses have taken this a step further by using crowdsourcing astheir primary business feature. An example of this is the mobileapplication Waze. Waze is a GPS, maps, and traffic navigation mobileapplication that relies on the community to provide real-time data, suchas accidents, road hazards, traffic jams, etc. This data then getsrelayed to all users in the vicinity. This technology allows Waze toprovide their users with genuinely useful information and distinguishesthemselves as a maps application from their competitors.
Downsides
That said, with anything, if the necessary steps are not planned out,then it could backfire and negatively impact the business. One of themost famous crowdsourcing mishaps in recent years was by the NationalEnvironmental Research Council (NERC). In 2016, NERC conducted aninternet poll to decide the name of their new £200 million polarresearch vessel. The name that received the most votes was “RRS BoatyMcBoatface.” Unfortunately, NERC was not impressed by the results anddecided to choose the fifth place “RRS Sir David Attenborough” as thewinner, while the name Boaty McBoatface was given to the ship’s hightech remotely operated sub-sea vehicle instead.
Whether crowdfunding is a viable organisational method for your businessis down to the goals you are looking to achieve, and what resources arecurrently at hand. It’s certainly something worth considering if thecircumstances are right.
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