Compiled by Celeste
(March 2014)
The following slides are DIRECT QUOTE from
source: R. Kelly Rainer, Jr. & Hugh Watson,
(2012). Management Information Systems, John
Wiley & Son, MA; p. 151-152.
Crowdsourcing
• One type of collaboration
• Refers to outsourcing a task to an
undefined,
• Generally, large group of people in
form of an open call.
Examples of crowdsourcing on
college campuses (1)
• Crowdsourcing help desks :
• IT help desks are a necessary service on college campuses
because students depend on their computers and Internet access
to complete their school work and attend class online.
• At Indiana University at Bloomington, new IT help desks use
crowdsourcing to alleviate the cost and pressure of having to
answer so many calls.
• Students and professors post their IT problems on an online
forum, where other students and amateur answer them.
Examples of crowdsourcing on
college campuses (2)
• Recruitment :
• In 2010, Champlain college in Vermont instituted a Champlain For
Reel program, inviting students to share via YouTube videos their
experience at the school and how they benefited from their time
there.
• The YouTube channel serves to recruit prospective students and
even updates alumni on campus and community events.
• Scitable (www.nature.com/scitable) combines social
networking and academic collaboration.
• Through crowdsourcing, students, professors, and scientists
discuss problems, find solutions, and swap resources and journals.
It is a free site that lets each individual user turn to
crowdsourcing for answers even while helping others.
Examples of crowdsourcing on
college campuses (3)
• The Great Sunflower Project :
• Gretchen LeBuhn, an associate biology professor at San Francisco
State University, needed help with her studies of honeybees, but
she had limited grant money, so she contacted gardening groups
around the country.
• Through this crowdsourcing strategy, LeBuhn ultimately created a
network of more than 25,000 gardeners and schools to assist
with her reach.
• She then sent these participants seeds for plants that attract bees.
In return, the participants recored honeybee visits and activity for
her on her Web site
The following slides are DIRECT QUOTE from
source: Hildreth, Sue, 2014. URL:
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/feature/Can-crowdsourcing-ideasboost-customerexperience?asrc=EM_NLN_27567370&utm_medium=EM&utm_source=
NLN&utm_campaign=20140325_AT&T,%20KimberlyClark%20use%20crowdsourcing%20to%20boost%20customer%20exper
ience_mewebb&track=NL-1815&ad=892634. Accessed date:
26 March 2014.
Crowdsourcing
• “Gartner Inc. estimates that by 2017, more than half
of consumer goods manufacturers will get 75% of
product development capabilities from
crowdsourced methods by 2017.
• But it's also a powerful tool for boosting customer
loyalty and brand image, said experts.”
Kimberly-Clark's MomInspired
crowdsourcing program
• MomInspired crowdsourcing program
• “Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s Huggies invites parents to
submit ideas for baby products and offers help
developing them, such as guidance on writing a
business plan, as well as cash grants to develop
prototypes.”
AT&T efforts in crowdsourcing
• One Fortune 1,000 company, AT&T, has invested a
lot of time and money in crowdsourcing and has
developed programs for customers and employees.
• The Innovation Pipeline (TIP) is an online portal and
community where employees submit concepts and
assemble teams to develop them.