All About Diversity: Crowdsourcing For Business

“Crowdsourcing is all about diversity” (Howe). Crowdsourcing has a very meaningful and true principle- innovation and creativity can come from anywhere. It is just like teamwork; with contributions from the public, the result will be amazing. Crowdsourcing has existed approximately since mid-19th century; today there are three things that contribute to crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is all around us, used by brands we use every day. Examples are everywhere and the requirements to using them are very simple. Although crowdsourcing has great outcomes for businesses, it also has its downside. Beyond all, crowdsourcing is very important because more heads are better than one.

The history of crowdsourcing is literally history. It was created in 1714,

Crowdfunding is a way to fund for money. “Crowdfunding is the process of funding your projects by a multitude of people contributing a small amount in order to attain a certain monetary goal” (Wikipedia). A well-known crowdfunding website is ‘Kickstarter’; it has raised over $100 million. I have not utilized crowdfunding, but two family members have. Their cause was to raise money for their trip to an outside University they are attending, and were able to get more than what they asked for. By posting your cause in social media websites, you are getting tons of attention and will get results. Another way of using crowdsourcing is for design. This method is used mostly if someone is in need of a logo. All you do is sponsor a contest, pay for it, and get result in couple of days. Crowd sourced design is efficient. “Because crowdsourcing relies on a crowd of designers, it must be efficient to work. Designers submit their work publicly for everyone to see, including fellow designers. Though there are strict rules about copying ideas” (Hyatt). This visibility, I believe, stimulates creativity. It also helps you get clear on what you like and do not like. Lastly, there is crowd wisdom or wisdom of the crowd. “The wisdom of the crowd is the process of taking into account the collective opinion of a group of individuals rather than a single expert to answer a

It makes a big difference. For starters, you make better decisions. When there are several people in a room, with different views and opinions, there is shoving that goes back and forth. One may think the issue lies in one place, while another may believe, that is not a problem and think another area is what needs our focus. When that discussion goes on, we explore deep into the bigger issues. When teamwork is pursued, different things are learned. “With the aim of animating individuals to make a contribution to the firms production process for free or significantly less than that contribution is worth to the firm” (Garrigos et al). Crowdsourcing encourages the audience to contribute their ideas. By encouraging the firms better their chances of getting better outcomes and the consumers will be satisfied. Companies utilize crowdsourcing not only in a research and development capacity, but also to simply get help from anyone for anything. Crowdsourcing, when offered a price, makes people contribute their ideas. Not only that, but they give it they all in order to win. “Reduce cost” (Inc). Hiring a graphic designer could costs hundreds of dollars and nothing guarantees you will like it. Crowdsourcing gives you access to tens of thousands of designers for less. “Maximize options” (Inc). Sites like 99Designs allows you to eliminate unappealing designs in real time, reducing the number of options as