Crowd Innovation: Hype or Help?

Platforms • Contests • Conflict Management • Open Strategy • Social Innovation • NASA Interview

In this issue we explore different types of crowdsourcing – from microtasking to collaborative innovation. We discuss success factors in different contexts and for problems from product innovation to social innovation or even strategy. We investigate why consumers are willing to share their expertise, often for free, but also factors that may upset a crowd and make participants act against a company. Further we learn from NASA’s extensive crowdsourcing experience in amazing innovation challenges and how the Swiss soft drink company Rivella worked with a crowd to create new flavors.

Guest editor
Kurt Matzler, Professor of Strategic Management, University of Innsbruck, Austria

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Article overview

2020-05

Solutions to some of the most challenging problems have always come from people that are neither specialists nor experts in the focal field.

2020-05

Crowdsourced tasks are very diverse – and so are platform types. They fall into four categories, each demanding different governance …

2020-05

Crowds can be very effective, but that is not always the case. To actually render the usage of crowds effective, several factors need to …

2020-05

The gains from crowdsourcing can be high, but so can the risks. Contests may become a nightmare for the sponsoring …

2020-05

While innovation contests have become very popular, the inclusion of crowds in the strategy process is less common.

2020-05

Social innovations, just as any other form of innovation, can benefit from crowd engagement. However, the enthusiasm for crowdsourcing …

2020-05

NASA’s record of innovations is truly awesome. Every child knows about the first man on the moon and the space shuttle program, or marvels …

2020-05

The development of new beverage concepts in close cooperation with consumers via crowdsourcing was a great success for Rivella AG overall, …

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