Leveraging the Collective Intelligence and Effort of Digital Crowds

October 31, 2015

Read The Full Prompt

In this module we have examined how firms can leverage digital technologies to harness the power of collective intelligence from the crowds to tackle a range of problems such as innovation problems and funding startups. For this assignment you have three options:

1 – Pick one industry where no firms have leveraged crowds, and come up with a crowd-based business model that may potentially transform the industry. Describe how you plan to create and capture value. Explain why the crowd will participate, and why your crowd-based model is better than the current model employed by the incumbents.

2 – Describe a company that is using crowds (external or internal) in an innovative manner. Describe how they incentivize participation and manage the crowd. What are the challenges? Describe how value creation and value capture occur, and the growth potential of this business.

3 – Companies often struggle with crowds as well. Describe failed crowdsourcing efforts and explain how and why the company failed. Given what you have learned in the course, what would you do differently?

Create an approximately 500-750 word post to make your contribution. Please create appropriate tags for your post. Please also respond to and comment on three other posts per module. Feel free to use graphics, data, videos and links to other sites to corroborate your points.

Please prepare a two minute pitch about your blog entry before the class.

Submitted (136)

Hearken helps newsrooms fuel public-powered journalism
moniguzman
Last modified on October 27, 2015 at 4:50 pm
Proven successful in a handful of public media outlets, Hearken's public-powered platform brings communities into news.
Summit Powder Mountain
Dani Johnson
Posted on November 1, 2015 at 9:44 pm
Summit Series has crowdfunded and crowdsourced a new resort and town plan for Powder Mountain in Eden Utah. The Question is to what end?
ExcelinEd: Crowdsourcing in Education
Jennifer B.
Posted on October 31, 2015 at 3:45 pm
The US public education system has a lot of room for improvement. One education organization is utilizing crowdsourcing to make a change, and bring creative ideas to the system.
Using the wisdom of the crowd to diagnose medical mysteries
Marissa Henry
Last modified on November 3, 2015 at 3:00 pm
CrowdMed aims to help those who suspect they have a rare disease, perhaps were misdiagnosed, or simply want a second opinion provide the story of their health problem to a community of experts.
Crowdfunding by Betabrand or how an $88 “Poo Emoji Button-Up Shirt” raised 1298% of its funding goal
mtv0302
Last modified on November 2, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Betabrand is successfully harnessing the power of the crowd to get and vet apparel ideas. But will its engaged, niche crowdbase stand in the way of further growth?
The Sharing Economy Applied to Insurance: Friends With Benefits
LMT
Last modified on November 2, 2015 at 8:12 pm
Today insurance customers are harnessing technology to form communities designed to share risks and reduce their insurance costs.
Intrade: Crowdsourced Wisdom?
Austin
Posted on November 1, 2015 at 11:03 pm
Intrade leveraged the wisdom of crowds by allowing users to bet on future world events and displaying shockingly accurate predictive power in the process.
giffgaff – the mobile network run by you
KP
Posted on October 30, 2015 at 2:49 pm
giffgaff's model is so customer centric, the customers do most of the work. So far this seems to be working, but is it enough? Can the company withstand change that is not predicted by its customers? Is it just a [...]
From drawings on a board to interactive apps – crowdsourced art
LC
Posted on October 31, 2015 at 4:53 pm
Collaborative art is not an entirely new concept but has become easier than ever with the advent of digital technology. Large installations such as ‘Unnumbered Sparks’ have brought crowds and technology together to allow large-scale art projects that were previously [...]
Waze – Crowdsourcing Maps and Traffic Information
S
Posted on December 6, 2015 at 8:59 pm
Waze is the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app which enables drivers to share real-time traffic and road info, saving other local drivers time and gas money on their commute. Like other GPS software, it learns from users’ driving [...]
Gogobot – The New Yelp?
DIGITite
Posted on October 30, 2015 at 6:19 pm
Gogobot is the go-to place for personalized recommendations for the best places to eat, sleep, drink or explore.  Have a few hours to kill in a new location and want to experience the best local spots? Gogobot may be your [...]
Crowded field of crowdsourcing recruiting platforms: how many will stay?
Angela Zhang
Posted on October 31, 2015 at 11:55 pm
What happens when there are lots of crowdsourcing platforms to choose from for a single task? Chris Russell recently posted a thoughtful piece on LinkedIn on the current players in crowdsourcing recruiters to help employers hire.  What was surprising to me was [...]
Deliv still short of viable business model.
vlad.hanzlik
Last modified on October 26, 2015 at 11:07 am
Deliv addressed many of the challenges of crowdshipping but will likely struggle proving its business model in the face of the tough economics of same-day delivery.
Crowdsourcing Construction
Jon Staff
Last modified on October 31, 2015 at 12:07 pm
Crowdsourcing construction could result in better homes built faster and more affordably.
“THE HUNT” BRIDGES GAP BETWEEN FASHION INSPIRATION AND FINAL PURCHASE
JP
Posted on October 31, 2015 at 9:15 pm
Ever have outfit envy while scrolling through Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr? The Hunt helps users track down items by empowering a community’s collective knowledge.
Not Quirky enough?
Jason Preston
Last modified on October 27, 2015 at 11:42 am
Quirky sought to use the crowd to generate product ideas that were implicitly in demand, and then produce those products. But it's hard to get something right on the first try.
1 … 4 5 6