At large, innovation is a key factor for the success and persistence of organizations in today's business. In order to develop successful innovation, information of two kinds is needed; information based on customers' and the market's needs, as well as information on how to transform the gained knowledge into corresponding products (Diener and Piller, 2011). The paradigm of Crowdsourcing can be applied to obtain both kinds of essential information enabled through direct interaction with customers and takers, providing an enhanced inflow of intelligence.
The work at hand deals with Crowdsourcing and particularly crowd-based product innovation. Crowdsourcing is a relatively new conceptualized paradigm, which is why the literature does not offer countless research papers on the topic and the market is not overloaded with companies applying the concept, although the theory is very promising. Nonetheless, not all companies who have ventured the step towards Crowdsourcing have experienced positive outcomes: on the contrary, some encountered rants from the crowd, as well as image losses (Papsdorf and Voß, 2009).
The first purpose of this work is to illustrate how broad the term Crowdsourcing is and what opportunities it offers for businesses by providing an overview of the common forms. a further purpose is to depict where, in what form and how those activities take place. The cornerstones for a successful outcome are already set at the beginning of a project, whereby this paper describes single decisions to make along a Crowdsourcing process and their influence on the project's course, in order to understand how and why each decision during the process can be determining. thus marking a third purpose. The focus of this third purpose is on Crowd Innovation leading to the primarily purpose, namely to identify and name essential factors for the success of a crowd product innovation project in Web 2.0. These factors will demonstrate which steps and rules have to be followed by a company to implement prosperous Crowdsourcing activities in this field.
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction to the Problem
1.2 Purpose
1.3 Methodological Construction
2 PRINCIPLES OF CROWDSOURCING
2.1 What is Crowdsourcing?
2.1.1 Definition
2.1.2 Benefits of Crowdsourcing
2.1.3 Correlation with Open Innovation, Open Source and Outsourcing
2.1.4 The requirement of Web 2.0
2.2 Types of Crowdsourcing
2.2.1 Crowd Innovation
2.2.1.1 Crowd Contest & Challenge
2.2.1.2 Crowd Collaborative Communities
2.2.1.3 Crowd Complementors
2.2.2 Crowd Creativity
2.2.3 Crowd Funding
2.2.4 Crowd Collective Knowledge
2.2.5 Microworking
2.2.6 Crowd Voting
2.3 Hosting Platforms of Crowdsourcing
2.3.1 Intermediate Platforms
2.3.1.1 R & D Platforms
2.3.1.2 Marketing & Design
2.3.1.3 Freelance Platform
2.3.1.4 Idea – Platform
2.3.2 In-House platforms
2.3.3 Free solution-seeking communities
2.3.4 Idea trading platforms
2.4 The Crowdsourcing – Process
2.4.1 Phase 1: Preparation
2.4.2 Phase 2: Initiation
2.4.3 Phase 3: Execution
2.4.4 Phase 4: Analysis
2.4.5 Phase 5: Application
2.5 Product Innovation in the context
2.6 Factor of success
3 CROWDSOURCED PRODUCT INNOVATION IN PRACTICE
3.1 Tchibo-ideas.de – Participate. Have a say. Shape.
3.1.1 Basic Information
3.1.2 Clustered Breakdown
3.2 McDonald’s “My Burger – from you, for you“
3.2.1 Basic Information
3.2.2 Clustered Breakdown
3.3 The Netflix Prize
3.3.1 Basic Information
3.3.2 Clustered Breakdown
3.4 Sun Night Solar via InnoCentive
3.4.1 Basic Information
3.4.2 Clustered Breakdown
3.5 Determination of Essential Factors for Success
3.5.1 Concept related decisions & Objective
3.5.2 Motivators & Drivers
3.5.3 Interaction with the Crowd
3.5.4 Communication with Crowd
3.5.5 Transparency of the activity
3.6 “Do's” & “Don'ts” in Crowdsourcing product innovation
4 CONCLUSION
Objectives and Core Topics
The primary objective of this thesis is to illustrate the breadth of the term "Crowdsourcing" and its diverse business opportunities. The work focuses on identifying and defining the essential factors that determine the success of crowd-based product innovation projects within the Web 2.0 environment, providing a framework of best practices for organizations.
- Theoretical foundation of Crowdsourcing, its various forms, and operational platforms.
- Comprehensive analysis of the standardized Crowdsourcing process in five phases.
- Case studies of four successful real-world projects (Tchibo, McDonald's, Netflix, Sun Night Solar).
- Extraction of key success factors, including communication strategies, transparency, and motivator design.
- Development of a practical "Do's and Don'ts" guide for companies engaging in Crowdsourcing.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Tchibo-ideas.de – Participate. Have a say. Shape.
Tchibo ideas (TCI) is a crowdsourcing platform in Web 2.0, where users a) used to share daily life problems and voted for the most relevant problem in a monthly contest, b) can submit theoretical fully developed product ideas into a contest or ask for exclusive collaborative production and c) participate in product testing, surveys and workshops. TCI started in 2008 and is a company-owned platform operated by the Tchibo corporation. The corporation operates in the non-food-industry and is specialized in the distribution of commodities of daily use, besides their main focus on coffee (Tchibo, 2009). In October 2013, the layout of the platform changed, whereby option a) was substituted by option c). Moreover, the Crowd Contests in category b) were also eliminated (Tchibo ideas.de, 2014). In the literature, the Tchibo-ideas.de platform is mentioned to be a best practice example for CS projects. However, the appointment refers to the platform before the alternation, which is why the original structure of the platform will be analyzed.
Summary of Chapters
1 INTRODUCTION: This chapter highlights the significance of innovation for organizational success and introduces Crowdsourcing as a strategic tool to overcome internal limitations and competitive pressure.
2 PRINCIPLES OF CROWDSOURCING: This section defines the core concepts of Crowdsourcing, outlines its benefits, distinguishes it from related models like Open Innovation, and details the various platform types and the five-phase implementation process.
3 CROWDSOURCED PRODUCT INNOVATION IN PRACTICE: This main body analyzes four extraordinary successful case studies (Tchibo, McDonald's, Netflix, Sun Night Solar) to derive critical success factors and synthesize them into actionable "Do's and Don'ts".
4 CONCLUSION: The final chapter summarizes the findings, confirms that success depends on a holistic organizational approach to planning and communication, and encourages the utilization of Crowdsourcing potential.
Keywords
Crowdsourcing, Product Innovation, Web 2.0, Open Innovation, Crowd Contest, Intermediate Platforms, In-House Platforms, Success Factors, Idea Generation, Crowd Wisdom, Crowd Voting, Business Strategy, Innovation Management, Collaborative Communities, Efficiency.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this bachelor thesis?
The work focuses on crowd-based product innovation and aims to extract essential factors that lead to successful outcomes in Crowdsourcing projects within the Web 2.0 landscape.
What are the central themes of the research?
The research addresses the theoretical definition of Crowdsourcing, the classification of different platform types (Intermediate vs. In-House), the process phases, and the practical application of these elements in successful industry projects.
What is the primary goal regarding the studied projects?
The goal is to determine why certain projects succeed by analyzing "Best Practice" cases and identifying the underlying managerial decisions and success factors.
Which research methodology does the author apply?
The author employs a functional benchmarking approach, systematically breaking down four successful real-world cases into analyzing clusters to derive generalized "Basic Rules".
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The main body (Chapter 3) provides detailed case studies of Tchibo ideas, McDonald's "My Burger", the Netflix Prize, and SunNight Solar, followed by a detailed comparative evaluation of success factors like motivation, communication, and transparency.
How would you characterize this thesis using key terms?
Key terms include Crowdsourcing, Open Innovation, Product Innovation, Success Factors, and Web 2.0 dynamics.
Why did the author choose the "Netflix Prize" as a case study?
The Netflix Prize is analyzed because it represents a large-scale, international R&D project that effectively used a clear, performance-oriented goal to drive innovation in recommendation engines.
What makes the "McDonald's My Burger" case unique in this research?
This case is highlighted for its successful use of "Burger Configurators" and social media integration to create high public engagement and collect massive market feedback without requiring special technical skills from the crowd.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Sultan Özge Yaldiz (Autor:in), 2014, Crowdsourcing. Essential Factors for successful Crowdsourcing in Product Innovation in Web 2.0, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/282322
