If candidates in the TV show “Who wants to be a Millionaire?“ no longer know what to do, they often seek help at the phone joker. In the supposed experts, most players see the best advisers. But only in 54 percent of cases the responses of the phone joker is correct. This is still more than a 50:50 joker. However the much better choice is the audience joker. This joker has an average success rate of about 90 percent regardless of the time of its use. Therefore it is the best joker of all by using the collective distributed knowledge of people. That demonstrates that the participation of the crowd usually leads to a better result because the average of many independent judgments is often very close to the truth.
Several years ago the sociologist James Surowiecki described this phenomenon in his international bestseller "The Wisdom of the Crowds" and demonstrated with many examples that a group can find better solutions and make more intelligent decisions than individuals. He justified this on one hand with the fact that individuals are often guided by feelings, on the other hand that they have limited information and consequently only a limited view. Because of self-organizing, statistical effects (e.g. law of large numbers) and the fact that the crowd is not limited to bureaucracy, administration, time or location the crowd can surpass every individual expert.
Crowdsourcing, the next step in the evolution of outsourcing can activate the wisdom of the crowd by using the collective intelligence of a large number of individuals from cognitively diverse perspectives. For instance the web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia, the web browser Firefox or the operating system Linux rely on the participation and collective knowledge of the crowd. On Wikipedia any internet user can write, use, edit and distribute articles free of charge and in accordance with some principles. After the publication, the article will be corrected, expanded and updated by the collective. The creation of open source software works in a similar way. The program is accessible to everyone and so the source code can be continuously processed by globally spreaded software developers. The idea is to use knowledge and skills from many people and make it accessible to all.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Motivation
1.2 Problem definition
1.3 Research question and objectives
1.4 Structure and methodology
2 Framework and theoretical background
2.1Crowdsourcing
2.1.1 Evolution
2.1.2 Term and definition
2.1.3 Concept
2.1.4 Delimitation from other terms
2.1.4.1 Open innovation
2.1.4.2 Open source
2.1.5 Process
2.1.6 Motivation of the crowd
2.1.7 Types
2.1.7.1 Intermediaries platforms
2.1.7.2 Company owned platforms
2.1.7.3 Collective Knowledge
2.1.7.4 Market places for own ideas
2.1.7.5 Public initiatives
2.1.8 Opportunities and Risks
2.1.8.1 Opportunities
2.1.8.2 Risks
2.1.9 Interim summary
2.2 Business plan
2.2.1 Definition and purpose
2.2.2 Evolution
2.2.3 Structure and content
2.2.3.1 Executive summary
2.2.3.2 Business model
2.2.3.3 Market and competitor analysis
2.2.3.4 Objectives and strategies
2.2.3.5 Service and product portfolio
2.2.3.6 Marketing and distribution
2.2.3.7 Management, Human Resources and organization
2.2.3.8 Opportunities and risks
2.2.3.9 Financial planning
2.2.4 Consultants, guides and tools
2.2.5 Critical review
2.2.6 Interim summary
3 Empirical Investigation
3.1 Method of data collection
3.2 Survey
3.2.1 Design of survey
3.2.2 Population and sample of the survey
3.2.3 Execution of the survey
3.2.4 Evaluation and presentation of data
3.3 Interpretation and results
4 Initial stages for implementation of crowdsourcing
4.1 Utility of established provider
4.2 Creating a new crowdsourcing platform
5 Conclusion
5.1 Summary
5.2 Answering the research question
5.3 Critical review
5.4 Recommendation for further research
5.5 Outlook
Objectives and Topics
The primary goal of this master's thesis is to evaluate whether the "Wisdom of the Crowd" can be effectively harnessed through crowdsourcing to assist entrepreneurs in the professional preparation of business plans. It addresses the common difficulties founders face in the planning process and explores how crowdsourcing might alleviate these challenges.
- Fundamentals of crowdsourcing, including evolution, concepts, and risks.
- Structural requirements and best practices for creating a comprehensive business plan.
- Empirical investigation of startup founders' needs and their attitudes toward using external crowd support.
- Analysis of existing crowdsourcing platforms for their applicability in the business planning process.
- Development of approaches for implementing crowdsourcing within the startup venture lifecycle.
Extract from the Book
2.0.1 Evolution
The first known example of application of crowdsourcing concept was found in Britain in the 18th century. The British Government offered a prize of £20,000 for a simple and practical method of calculating a ship’s longitude in 1714. It was finally awarded in 1765 to John Harrison for his chronometer. The other example of crowdsourcing initiative was in the same century in 1783 in France. The King Louis XVI of France offered a prize for producing alkali from sea salt and Nicholas Leblance won the prize in 1791. In the year of 1795, the French government offered a 12,000 franc prize to anyone who could devise a cheap and effective method of preserving large amounts of food.
This demonstrates the idea of crowdsourcing is nothing new even if Brabham represents another opinion. By the development of the Web 2.0, which enables fast and global networking of actors regardless of geographic location, the "wisdom of crowd" could fully bloom. The Web 2.0 has lowered the barriers to entry for Internet activities and has created new models for business, communication, personal relationships and learning in the way that it has enabled individuals to actively participate in the creation of web content rather than just passively consume it. The Web 2.0 represents a connective and collaborative technological environment that involves individuals in internet-mediated social participation, communication, and collaboration. The phenomenon of crowdsourcing is one of the new models of the Web 2.0 and the intellectual background was first described by Yoachi Benkler in his book “The Wealth of Networks”.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter defines the motivation behind the research, identifies the problem of creating business plans for startups, and outlines the methodology used.
2 Framework and theoretical background: This section provides a review of literature concerning crowdsourcing and the essential elements of a business plan.
3 Empirical Investigation: This chapter details the quantitative research design, including the survey methodology and data analysis conducted with startup founders.
4 Initial stages for implementation of crowdsourcing: This part explores practical ways to apply crowdsourcing to specific components of the business plan using existing platforms.
5 Conclusion: The final chapter summarizes the research findings, answers the central research question, and provides recommendations for further academic work.
Keywords
Crowdsourcing, Business Plan, Startup, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Web 2.0, Wisdom of the Crowd, Market Analysis, Financial Planning, Business Model, Empirical Research, Outsourcing, Collective Intelligence, Strategic Planning, Venture Creation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this master's thesis?
The thesis examines the utility of crowdsourcing as a supportive tool for entrepreneurs specifically during the business planning and venture creation process.
What are the key thematic areas covered?
The work covers the evolution and concepts of crowdsourcing, the standard structure of a business plan, the empirical needs of founders, and potential implementation strategies for crowdsourcing in the startup phase.
What is the primary research question?
The study investigates whether it is possible to use the "Wisdom of the Crowd" through crowdsourcing for the effective and efficient creation of parts of a professional business plan to assist the founder within the startup process.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The research uses a mix of literature review for the theoretical framework and a quantitative web-based survey for empirical data collection among German startup founders.
What does the main body of the work treat?
It provides a comprehensive review of crowdsourcing categories, business plan components, and an empirical analysis of founder challenges in areas like financial planning and market analysis.
How is the work characterized by keywords?
The work is characterized by terms like crowdsourcing, business plan, entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategic planning.
Which parts of a business plan are considered most challenging by founders?
According to the empirical findings, financial planning is cited as the most difficult aspect, followed by business management knowledge and marketing.
Are there existing crowdsourcing platforms suitable for business plan creation?
While the study finds no platform dedicated solely to business plans, it identifies several intermediaries that can support specific tasks, such as market analysis or generating creative ideas for business models.
What is the author's stance on using the crowd for a total business plan?
The author concludes that creating an entire business plan via the crowd makes little sense, as the founder should possess deep, personal insight into the core of their business and environment.
- Citar trabajo
- Martin Pruschkowski (Autor), 2016, Utility of crowdsourcing for the evaluation of business ideas and their market potential in the context of creation of a business plan, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/432967
