Attention to ideas! Exploring idea survival in internal crowdsourcing

Abstract

Purpose -This paper analyzes how the distribution and structure of employees' attention influence idea survival in an organizational internal crowdsourcing session. Design/methodology/approach -Data from an online internal crowdsourcing session carried out within a multinational company with headquarters in Sweden were used to explore how idea attention influenced idea survival.Findings -Our findings indicate that the positive relationship between attention allocation and idea survival is mediated by idea appreciation, i.e. positive comments and suggestions that employees provide in response to ideas. In addition, we find that competition for attention negatively moderates the relationship between idea attention and positive comments. Finally, our results indicate that ideas are more likely to survive if they are submitted earlier in the crowdsourcing process and when the elapsed time since previously posted ideas in the session is longer. Practical implications -This study provides organizers of internal crowdsourcing sessions with new insights about factors influencing idea survival and about potential systematic biases in idea selection due to timing and competition between ideas. Originality/value -This paper contributes to the literature highlighting the relevance of attention-based theory in the context of crowd-based creativity and innovation management.

Employee behaviours beyond innovators in internal crowdsourcing: What do employees do in internal crowdsourcing, if not innovating, and why?

“…Moreover, the interactive character of crowdsourcing opens up opportunities for firms to involve the wider crowd of employees in decision‐making activities (Di Vincenzo et al, 2020). Through a voting system, employees can participate in the selection of ideas, signalling their endorsement and support toward promising ones (Malhotra et al, 2017).…”

Exploring the effects of problem- and solution-related knowledge sharing in internal crowdsourcing

“…Comment amount: Comment amount refers to the overall attention that idea has created around itself (Di Vincenzo et al , 2021; Schemmann et al , 2016). It has been argued as a factor that affects the acceptance of ideas (Chen et al , 2020; Di Vincenzo et al , 2021). Thus, the number of comments per idea is added as a control variable.…”

“…Author response, in the form of feedback given by an idea creator, has been argued to be one of the most important factors for idea survival (Chen et al, 2020;Di Vincenzo et al, 2021). Furthermore, research on knowledge sharing on ideas shows that knowledge j JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT j exchange primarily blossoms if it is bidirectional with author responses (Dahlander and Piezunka, 2014;Zhu et al, 2019).…”

The Relationship Between Persuasion Cues and Idea Adoption in Virtual Crowdsourcing Communities

“…Similarly, Yan et al (2018) applied CLT to study the interaction of individuals in VCCs and showed that knowledge and information sharing between collaborators and product users has a significant impact on the idea crowdsourcing process. Di Vincenzo et al (2020) applied attention theory (Ocasio, 2011) to investigate how idea appreciation (i.e., positive feedback and comments posted on ideas) and idea attention (i.e., the number of contributors involved in the crowdsourcing process) are positively related to idea adoption in VCCs. The Actor network theory (ANT) and service logic were also applied to examine the relationship between user network proximity and idea adoption (Akman et al, 2019).…”

“…Typically, members in VCCs can freely join to view the community status of other members, their contribution level to the community, and the rewards they receive from the community. Thus, higher levels of recognition and appreciation can in part increase the influence of users and the positive role they play in the co-innovation and value creation process (Di Vincenzo et al, 2020;Jabr, Mookerjee, Tan, & Mookerjee, 2014).…”