Crowdsourcing – a term coined in 2006 – is typically used in conjunction with open innovation and idea exchange. Daniel Stieger et al. propose a very practical company-internal-application of crowdsourcing as a means to democratise strategy. They successfully applied this approach in an Austrian medium-sized technology company.
The objectives of internal crowdsourcing are five-fold:
- Energising: every single employee in the company has a voice and can participate in the discussion on equal footing;
- Listening: Listening to employees and harbour reservoirs of information;
- Talking: Employees can participate in stimulating conversations to understand each others’ point of view;
- Supporting: Employees can get acquainted with employees of other departments and support each other;
- Embracing: Identify engaged employees with outstanding understanding of problems or with innovative ideas.
In this Austrian research project the focus was on using a technology to facilitate these five-fold objectives. However, it turned out using crowdsourcing really facilitated democratising the strategy in this company.
How far is your company in democratising its strategy?
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