On his blog Yann Gourvennec, with whom we share ideas and exchange posts regularly, has just published an excellent article about the actual goals of crowdsourcing.
Yann has rightly focused its effort to synthesize the concrete results reached through crowdsourcing.
All too often this technique using a more or less broad community results in relatively poor results. You probably remember the post we published on the MyStarbucksIdea.com experience that ultimately could doubt the strict sense economic profitability. Some scientific studies also confirm that crowdsourcing / open innovation initiatives lack positive effects. This only reinforces the interest of Yann’s post and the 3 concrete examples he gives.
I agree with Yann on one point. In the conclusion of his article he deplores the fact that crowdsourcing is mostly practiced by large companies. The resources, knowledge (especially as far as IT is concerned) to prepare such an initiative are indeed not available to any company, especially not SME ‘s which are most of the time fighting with daily issues rather than looking at the big picture and reflecting on their long-term strategy. Some examples however (like the French company Raidlight which we dealt with in an earlier post) show that engaging the community can provide a real competitive advantage, become a source of differentiation and boost loyalty.
Nevertheless, the efforts to achieve this are important and it would be totally unrealistic to think that crowdsourcing is a panacea. It is a way like another to diversify its marketing strategy and in particular to improve its strategic vision of the company. It is however still necessary for the entrepreneur to to understand the need to change and adapt his/her strategy continuously. And I think, in my humble opinion, that the real problem is here.
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Innovation.
