In recent years crowdsourcing has increased in popularity as a method for gathering ideas for new innovations and providing solutions to existing problems. This means that firms apply the wisdom of crowds to certain tasks and challenges. Various crowdsourcing initiatives and platforms seem to provide new channels and ways to enable this in practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine how business-to-business (B2B) firms can interact with different groups of contributors in order to receive new ideas, feedback and solutions for improving their products and services. Based on theoretical conceptualization, combined with empirical evidence, we propose a layered framework for approaching crowdsourcing in a B2B context. The empirical results of this paper reveal benefits but also practical challenges to overcome before crowdsourcing can be effectively utilized in the B2B sector.

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PurposeThis study aims to enhance understanding of using Web 2.0 technologies and social media in a global corporation.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study in a global corporation was conducted to illustrate the main uses of social media and to describe the related service portfolio.FindingsThe main uses of social media were identified and conceptualized based on the case company data. Internally, social media was used to for internal communication and knowledge transfer, to reach personnel and to conduct internal idea crowdsourcing. Externally, social media was used to enhance communications related to the company brand, to enable dialogue with customers, to build communities with various stakeholder groups and to engage external stakeholders in idea generation via a crowdsourcing platform. A categorization of social media uses for communication, collaboration and connecting vis‐à‐vis external and internal uses was created. Idea creation practices were further conceptualized as the main enactment of Web 2.0 social media technology.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is a single case study and thus the results cannot be generalized.Practical implicationsAs Web 2.0 technologies and social media have become a topic of interest for many companies, it is essential to understand how social media can be used in a business context. The classification of social media uses is deployed to highlight the possible implications for company operations, and the human factor is emphasized in system adoption and use. Challenges related to social media implementation are described.Originality/valueAs of to date, there is a lot of anecdotal evidence on uses of social media. This research is based on a case study, allowing an in‐depth insight into the phenomenon and related issues.

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