Content 2 :Crowdsourcing Fundamentals Notes included 5 platforms PDF

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According to Howe (2006), the act of a company or institutiontaking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in a form of an open call. This can take the form of peer- production (when the job is performed collaboratively), but...

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According to Howe (2006), the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in a form of an open call. This can take the form of peerproduction (when the job is performed collaboratively), but is also often undertaken by sole individuals. The crucial prerequisite is the use of the open call format and the wide network of potential labourers. Howe, J., 2008. The Rise of Crowdsourcing, Wired Magazine, Issue 14.

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R.Hirschheim. Information Systems Outsourcing: Myths, Metaphors and Realities, Lousiana State University, 2012

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1st wave: Outsourcing Outsourcing was not formally identified as a business strategy until 1989. At that time, most organizations were not totally self-sufficient; they outsourced those functions for which they had no competency internally. Publishers, for example, have often purchased composition, printing, and fulfilment services. The use of external suppliers for these were essential but ancillary services might be termed the baseline stage in the evolution of outsourcing. Outsourcing support services is the next focus. In the 1990s, as organizations began to focus more on cost saving measures, they started to outsource those functions necessary to run a company but not related specifically to the core business. Since then, outsourcing has experienced tremendous growth and as acceptable way to meet a company’s needs by both large and small companies. R.Hirschheim. Information Systems Outsourcing: Myths, Metaphors and Realities, Lousiana State University, 2012

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2nd wave: Offshoring From outsourcing it evolved to offshoring which involves the relocation of a business process from one country to another country typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Many business organization and governments employ offshoring to generally low cost labour country for economic efficiency and improve corporate profitability. China has emerged as a prominent destination for production offshoring, while India has been the leading country in software and information system industry. R.Hirschheim. Information Systems Outsourcing: Myths, Metaphors and Realities, Lousiana State University, 2012

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3rd wave: Open Sourcing The latest trend of outsourcing recently is to use Internet as the main sourcing platform. Examples of these online sourcing platforms (OSPs) include vWorker (former RentACoder), E-lance, Guru.com, TopCoder, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform (AMT), and InnoCentive. Previous trends of outsourcing, are often regarded as very expensive and involve long-term contract commitment between organizations. However, this new trend of outsourcing is characterized by relatively small and more manageable contracts. There are researchers who name the method as microsourcing while others name it as crowdsourcing. Indeed, crowdsourcing has become a new society paradigm that might change the outsourcing landscape in the future R.Hirschheim. Information Systems Outsourcing: Myths, Metaphors and Realities, Lousiana State University, 2012

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Chesbrough, H., Ahern, S., Finn, M. and Guerraz, S., 2006, “Business models for technology in the developing world: The role of non-governmental organizations,” California Management Review, 48, pp. 48-61.

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Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by designated agents (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally the wide network of potential labourers in the form of an open call. This can be in the form of peer production (when the job is performed collaboratively), or by sole individuals. ‘Crowdsourcing’- The term was coined by Jeff Howe in the article ‘The Rise of Crowdsourcing’ published in Wired Magazine in 2006

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• For business organizations, crowdsourcing has become a cost effective way for companies to hire individuals outside of the companies who have specific skills needed. Companies pay people based on the amount of hours of work, and save millions of ringgits by doing so. Crowdsourcing also allows companies to employ a large group of skilled people to handle projects within a specific time frame for a fixed price. This means they do not need to hire full time people. This is particularly important for start-ups or when organizations are trying new ventures that may or may not succeed. Companies also will be able to tap into a large pool of talents, allowing these talents to choose what work suits them best. • Crowdsourcing also allows faster execution of tasks especially tedious tasks. For example, translation, data validation, image tagging, research, writing, editing, categorisation, and data entry. Tasks can be done either online or offline. Normally, crowdsourcing involves large projects that are broken down into micro tasks. • In distributed innovation, where organizations are looking for highly match the need and solutions specific insights and solutions, a large proportion of the winning ideas come from people who already had a good idea of the answer. The ideas needed probably already exist, and crowdsourcing act as the mechanism to access them.

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• Crowdsourcing tasks can be either digital or non digital tasks which can be completed under flexible circumstances of digital worker’s own time and location. Digital workers who are equipped with various technological advances such as mobile phones, laptops, and computers with internet access, and converged mobile devices (CMDs) should take these opportunity to work and facilitate this non-traditional working arrangement. Digital workers are able to acquire more benefits when engaged with crowdsourcing since they will have flexible working hours, location, and duration of their own choices. • On a global scale, crowdsourcing offer opportunity for workers to earn additional income that complement existing income or make crowdsourcing as their main source of income including to the low income community. Through crowdsourcing, people, especially those from low income community will be able to increase their income and savings, as well as increase their skills and knowledge in computer, typing, technical, communication, self-confidence, and leadership skills. • Apart from that, the crowdsourcing also has impacted workers including workers from low income community in helping them to increase their aspirations, selfesteem, goals, and their experience in work that are provided to them. Through

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crowdsourcing, the community is also able to increase their social and professional networks and boost their community reputation and broaden their perspectives on knowledge and working.

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Suggested Answers: 1. Crowdsourcing is the distribution of well-defined tasks to an anonymous large group of external networked users (digital workers) in the form of an open call through the internet specific application (platform). 2. The terms open innovation and crowdsourcing are related as both of these concepts are based on an “open” approach which leverages internal and external source of labour for ideas and input. 3. For job provider • Cost Effective - allows companies to employ a large group of skilled people to handle projects within a specific time frame for a fixed price. • Faster execution of tasks especially for tedious and micro tasks for example data validation . • Match the needs and solutions For digital workforce • Flexible circumstances of working hours, locations and duration of their own choices. • Earn additional income especially those from low income community who can increase their income, savings, skills and knowledge in computer, typing, technical and others.

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Recognition – sense of accomplishment among peers Increase self-esteem, goals and experiences among digital worker

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Example of some organisations that normally involve in crowdsourcing is McDonalds which crowdsources task on online marketer traffic counter.

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With today’s advanced technology, workers will not be bound by the timetable of a particular work. Yet, they are also not necessarily a permanent worker in an organization. They are free to become permanent or part-time worker. Based on this concept, crowdsourcing is seen as a method to complete work even if an organization does not have permanent worker. This is done by sending work to the platform and then the platform will divide the work to smaller parts and subsequently distribute the work to be executed by digital workers registered with crowdsourcing.

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The task delegation process on the crowdsourcing platform is described: The cycle starts when the job provider sends a job. For example translation to the crowdsourcing platform to be completed. These tasks are given to crowdsourcing platforms to be advertised to digital workers. The platform will divide the work into smaller tasks in advance. Then the platform will advertise the tasks to digital workers who have registered with them. Once a task is advertised on a platform, digital workers will pull the tasks based on their interests and ready to accept and complete it in a specified period given. Tasks that have been completed will be sent back to the platform together with proof of the completed tasks to the platform. The tasks are then verified as completed by the platform. Then the platform will integrate these tasks into a single perfect work before being brought forward to the job provider. Once the job provider is satisfied with the work, the job provider will pay the

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platform. Then, the platform will pay to digital workers through various payment mechanisms available.

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Suggested Answers: 1. Basically the ecosystem comprises of four components of role players which are: • Platform - Platform is a system that becomes mediator and will divide work to digital workers • Digital Workers - Digital Worker is a group of workers who has registered with the crowdsourcing platform to carry out the tasks given by the platform • Job Providers - Job provider is business organization, individual or government who have certain works or tasks to offer to digital workers • Enablers - Enablers are body or government that can help to enhance the capability and capacity of job provider, platform and digital worker 2. The cycle: 1) Job provider submit task to the platform 2) Digital worker will select task according to their skills and pull the task form the platform 3) After the task has been completed, digital worker will upload the completed task into the platform 4) Job provider will check and approve the task completed 5) If the job provider are satisfied with the task completes, they will pay the

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digital worker through the platform

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Examples: Tag photos and handle non-textual data, find business information, assistance with writing and edition, application development etc. http:www.erezeki.com.my. The eRezeki program by MDEC focuses specifically on this type of crowdsourcing which it considers “everyone as a service” and assumes every connected individual is or can potentially become a service provider.

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Example: Mostly used by artists, charities, & start-ups to raise money for humanitarian cultural, arts and welfare projects such as filming a documentary, manufacturing the iPod watch, cancer research, or seed money. http://pitchin.my/ is a crowd funding Malaysia based company that provides two types of crowdfunding services which are: • Reward crowdfunding- wheres ideas and projects are pitched to the public for funds. In exchange, those who support the idea (via pledges) will get rewards from project owners. • Equity crowdfunding is an online mechanism for private companies to raise money from investors in exchange for equity (shares) in the company.

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Example: Getting input from public on certain product design or advertisement or getting ideas on prediction market. Or get creative consumers to propose new T-Shirt ideas for sale on the site. https://www.innocentive.com/ is the open innovation and crowdsourcing pioneer that enables organizations to solve their key problems by connecting them to diverse sources of innovation including employees, customers, partners, and the world's largest problem solving marketplace.

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Example: Getting crowd voting to identify the most popular website among Internet users. Or get crowd voting to decide which T-shirts to manufacture and sell on company web site. Crowd Voting leverages the community’s judgment to organize, filter and stack-rank content such as newspaper articles, music and movies. It is the one of the most popular form of crowdsourcing, which generates the highest levels of participation. Crowd voting is based on the 1:10:89 Rule, which states that out of 100 people: 1% will create something valuable 10% will vote and rate submissions 89% will consume creation For 10% that vote and rate content “the act of consumption was itself an act of creation.” (https://sites.google.com/site/crowdsourcewiki/home/forms-of-cs/crowd-voting, retrieved 13 February 2017)

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A popular Reality TV show "American Idol” is an example of Crowd Voting. Another example of crowd voting is Threadless.com who uses crowd voting to decide which T-shirts to manufacture and sell on its web site; it is thus able to gauge endconsumer demand for new products before making investment decisions on new products.

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Example of crowd content website is https://www.textbroker.com/. Textbroker is a platform that provides article and content writing services for crowds who need the service or crowds who can offer the service.

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Open innovation is “the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively.” Open innovation can be understood as the antithesis of the traditional vertical integration approach where internal R&D activities lead to internally developed products that are then distributed by the firm. There are two facets to open innovation. One is the “outside in” aspect, where external ideas and technologies are brought into the firm’s own innovation process. This is the most commonly recognized feature of open innovation. The other, less commonly recognized aspect is the “inside out” part, where un- and under-utilized ideas and technologies in the firm are allowed to go outside to be incorporated into others’ innovation processes. Henry Chesbrough, Open Innovation: The New Imperative (2003) Example is https://ideas.lego.com/ is an initiative based on a co-create open innovation model. In this online website, LEGO consumers can design their own LEGO sets either using LEGO bricks or computer 3D applications. Other users start to discuss the idea and vote for it, once the idea reaches a targeted vote, LEGO can consider it as a new product with giving a small part of the revenues to the creator of

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the set.

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https://www.crowdreviews.com/ is an online platform for reviewing and ranking software and technology services, has urged businesses to select reviewed companies before working with them. The platform has also invited users of email marketing solutions to leave reviews on software enlisted based on their experience.

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In 2012, the Rijksmuseum launched its new website, Rijksstudio, presenting 220,000 works of art in high resolution. However, each art work needs detailed descriptions to describe iconographic elements depicted on works of art. But the museum lacks manpower and knowledge to describe all details on each object in the collection. Crowdsourcing iconographic aspects of the collections is the only way to get this job done. Thus, the museum introduced a new platform called “accurator”. http://www.accurator.nl/#Intro the goal of the system is to develop new tools for crowdsourcing in the cultural heritage domain and to get people involved in annotating and enriching museums’ data with expertise that is not available internally. For example, academic researcher in the field of informatics and experts from non-profit organisations.

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Suggested Answers: 1. Any six: •crowd service processing •crowd funding •crowd creation •crowd voting •Crowd content • Open innovation • Crowd reviews • Collection knowledge 2. Crowd service processing is also known as the crowd service-based model which aims to incorporate the information, knowledge, and skills of the crowd to fulfil a range of tasks from simple to complex while crowd creation is category involves the use of sources outside the entity or group to generate, develop and implement ideas, suggestion or inputs. 3. Crowd funding is to raise funding (involves approaches to raise capital for new

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projects and businesses for the success of a project or businesses by soliciting contributions from a large number of stakeholders or crowd) Crowd voting is to raise vote (voting rely on large quantities of participant and being evaluated in a collective way)

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The “willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party”. Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman (1995, p. 712)

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Suggested Answers: 1. This is based on availability of organization to fulfil the requirements of crowdsourcing in terms of technology affordability, policies and procedures, innovation culture, strategies and visions, governance, as well as top management commitment. 2. Digital workers are required to have the appropriate skills, competency, functional expertise, positive attitudes and mindset, and the culture to adapt and adopt. Skills required includes computer skills, problem solving skills, time management skills, and others. 3. By having good linkage and trust towards crowdsourcing, digital workers will be motivated to involve and participate. This is because Trust has also been proposed in outsourcing literature as a key factor that influences the relationship between digital worker and platform.

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Kintsch,W.: Learning from text, levels of comprehension: Why anyone would read a story anyway. Poetics, 9, 87–89 (1980) Schraw, G., Lehman, S.: Situational interest: A review of the literature and directions for future research. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 23–53 (2001) Triparna, V., Nguyen, C., Vreede, G., Palmon, R.: A Theoretical Model of User Engagement in Crowdsourcing, In book: Collaboration and Technology, pp.94-109 (2013)

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The Cognitive Engagement Model is aimed at helping to visualize the relationship between active engagement and higher-order thinking among crowd. This model shows there are 4 types of crowd based on cognitive engagement. X axis is participation level and the Y is the level of thinking. (look at 4 quadrants) • Quadrant 1 refers to crowd that have low cognition with low participation. • Quadrant 2 refers to crowd with low cognition but has high level of participation. • Quadrant 3 refers to crowd with high level of cognition but low level of participation. • Quadrant 4 refers to crowd with high level of cognition with high level of participation. This is the most wanted group ...