Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business - Softcover

Howe, Jeff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0307396215 ISBN 13: 9780307396211

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY), 2009

Synopsis

Why does Procter & Gamble repeatedly call on enthusiastic amateurs to solve scientific and technical challenges? How can companies as diverse as iStockphoto and Threadless employ just a handful of people, yet generate millions of dollars in revenue every year?

"Crowdsourcing" is how the power of the many can be leveraged to accomplish feats that were once the responsibility of a specialized few. Jeff Howe reveals that the crowd is more than wise-it's talented, creative, and stunningly productive. It's also a perfect meritocracy, where age, gender, race, education, and job history no longer matter; the quality of the work is all that counts. If you can perform the service, design the product, or solve the problem, you've got the job.

But crowdsourcing has also triggered a dramatic shift in the way work is organized, talent is employed, research is conducted, and products are made and marketed. As the crowd comes to supplant traditional forms of labor, pain and disruption are inevitable, and Howe delves into both the positive and negative consequences of this intriguing phenomenon. Through extensive reporting from the front lines of this workplace revolution, he employs a brilliant array of stories to look at the economic, cultural, business, and political implications of crowdsourcing.

About this title

Product Description

Language:Chinese.Paperback. Pub Date: 2009-9-1 Pages: 311 Publisher: Random House Why does Procter Gamble repeatedly call on enthusiasticamateurs to solve scientific and technical challenges How cancompanies as diverse as iStockphoto and Threadless employ just ahandful of people. yet generate millions of dollars in revenueevery year Crowdsourcing is how the power of the many can be leveraged toaccomplish feats that were once the responsibility of a specializedfew. Jeff Howe reveals that the crowd is more than wise-it'stalented. creative. and stunningly productive. It's also a perfectmeritocracy . where age. gender. race. education. and job history nolonger matter;.. the quality of the work is all that counts If youcan perform the service. design the product. or solve the problem. you've got the job But crowdsourcing has also triggered a dramatic shift in the waywork is organ...

Review

"An informed and enthusiastic guide to the new collaborative creativity."
--Times (London)

"A welcome and well-written corporate playbook for confusing times."
--BusinessWeek

"An engaging mix of business, sociology, organizational theory, and technology writing and fits the mold of Malcolm Gladwell's perennial bestseller, The Tipping Point."
--Newsweek

"While small groups have often been the foundation of great performance--think SWAT teams and Skunk Works--Jeff Howe has made the compelling case for the power of far larger communities of interest. He shows in Crowdsourcing--with rich illustrations from Google and InnoCentive to Threadless and Wikipedia--that the right community with the right incentives can often invent, write, and run research and business initiatives more effectively and less expensively than traditional enterprise."
--Michael Useem, professor of management and director of the Leadership Center at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author of The Go Point: When It's Time to Decide and The Leadership Moment

"Beyond the wisdom of crowds is the work of crowds, a powerful and transformative source of creativity and an economic engine that defies traditional rules. Jeff Howe's guide to crowdsourcing--to use his perfect coinage--is insightful, fun, and indispensable to those who want to understand, or participate in, this amazing phenomenon."
--Steven Levy, author of Hackers and The Perfect Thing

"Jeff Howe has captured a complex and vital change in the business landscape: in the next few years, your customers could become your collaborators, or your competitors. His ability to weave story and strategy together makes Crowdsourcing a readable and indispensable guide to this new world."
--Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0307396215
• ISBN 13: 9780307396211
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 336