Building trust to create crowdsourcing acceptance
Description
Organizations increasingly seek to access human capital as a source of competitive advantage. Traditionally, firms relied on internal resources to meet this objective. However, advancements in technology and the widespread penetration of the internet have enabled organizations to extend this search beyond their boundaries. While the incentives for firms to engage in crowdsourcing can be understood in terms of strategic and economic benefits, the motivations for crowd workers to participate are less clearly defined. This paper proposes a conceptual model to better understand the drivers of individuals’ participation in crowdsourcing at the organizational level. Specifically, we argue that firm size and organizational reputation play a critical role in fostering trust within the crowdsourcing community. This trust, in turn, moderates the relationship between individuals’ participation in crowdsourcing initiatives and their acceptance within the community. The proposed model draws on Exchange Theory, which provides a useful lens for understanding the reciprocal nature of interactions between organizations and crowd workers, and the factors that sustain such participation over time.
Copyright Date
January 2019
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Pagination
20p.
Publisher
British Academy of Management
Keywords
Institutional trust, Crowdsourcing, Resource-based, Gig economy, HRM practices
Conference
British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference, 3-5 September, Aston University Birmingham, United Kingdom