Crowdsourcing: a systematic review of the literature using text mining

Abstract

PurposeThis study is a systematic literature review of crowdsourcing that aims to present the research evidence so far regarding the extent to which it can contribute to organisational performance and produce innovations and provide insights on how organisations can operationalise it successfully.Design/methodology/approachThe systematic literature review revolved around a text mining methodology analysing 106 papers.FindingsThe themes identified are performance, innovation, operational aspects and motivations. The review revealed a few potential directions for future research in each of the themes considered.Practical implicationsThis study helps researchers to consider the recent themes on crowdsourcing and identify potential areas for research. At the same time, it provides practitioners with an understanding of the usefulness and process of crowdsourcing and insights on what the critical elements are in order to organise a successful crowdsourcing project.Originality/valueThis study employed quantitative content analysis in order to identify the main research themes with higher reliability and validity. It is also the first review on crowdsourcing that incorporates the relevant literature on crowdfunding as a value-creation tool.

Crowdsourcing Artificial Intelligence in Africa: Findings from a Machine Learning Contest

“…Contestants (e.g., designers or programmers) submit solutions on the platform and the requester chooses the best solution (possibly more than one) and awards the prize' (Segev, 2020, p.241). Crowdsourcing platforms 'act as intermediaries between organisations and the crowd' (Pavlidou et al, 2020(Pavlidou et al, , p.2052.…”

“…Communication about the contest and its requirements and how it will be evaluated are important steps in crowdsourcing innovations. In this regard Pavlidou et al (2020Pavlidou et al ( , p.2053) stated that 'Following planning, a project announces an open call for participation. A precise description with timeline, requirements and expected goal makes it easy for an individual to assess whether they are interested and suitable for the project.'…”

“…The present contest was announced and open on 1 July 2020 and ran until 13 September 2020 -thus for 75 days. The announcement (See Figure 1) provided precise information, an important requirement as stressed by Pavlidou et al (2020), and contained a description, the rules, the prizes, and the timeline. On the competition website contestants could also find the data, a discussion board, as well as a leader-board, which tracked progress as the competition progressed.…”

“…The broader literature on crowdsourcing has established that 'domain relevant skills' and education that is 'at least partially related to the project' were characteristics of contestants who submitted effective (winning) solutions (Pavlidou et al, 2020(Pavlidou et al, , p.2050. Therefore, the first section of our questionnaire collected data on the skills profile of participants.…”

“…The scholarly literature has generally, in the case of crowdsourcing of innovation recognised both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for people to take part (Tauchert et al, 2020). Pavlidou et al (2020Pavlidou et al ( , p.2054Pavlidou et al ( -2056 surveys the literature on the motivation to participate in crowdsourcing of innovation activities, noting financial, career-related, individual-level, community-interaction, and altruistic motivations. In our own survey, we therefore included questions that relate to intrinsic motivations (e.g., it is an intellectual challenge, or a good way of gaining experience) and extrinsic motivations (e.g., earning income and finding employment or promoting a career).…”