MTEI Seminar by Prof. Natalia Levina, NYU
Event details
| Date | 14.04.2014 |
| Hour | 12:00 › 13:30 |
| Speaker | Prof. Natalia Levina, New York University |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
"Taking a stance on crowdsourcing: Enacting deep commitments to views of reality and knowledge in exploring IT-enabled opportunities for organizing innovation"
Authors
Anne-Laure Fayard, Polytechnic School of Engineering, New York University ([email protected])
Emmanouil Gkeredakis, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick ([email protected])
Natalia Levina, Stern School of Business, New York University ([email protected])
Abstract:
In this paper, we investigate how organizations explore and respond to new possibilities to organize innovation a complex type of work, which inherently aims at producing new knowledge through IT-enabled crowdsourcing. Based on an in-depth interpretive study, we show how two innovation consultancy firms explored and took a position vis-à-vis crowdsourcing for innovation (to engage further and experiment, or not). We identified significant variations in their positions, which reflected their different interpretations of opportunities and risks to produce new knowledge and innovate within crowdsourcing arrangements. To make sense of these findings, we draw upon philosophy of science and propose the concept of stance. When taking a stance on a particular issue (in our context, possibilities for crowdsourcing innovation), organizational actors enact commitments to beliefs about the world and knowledge and draw upon normative understandings of how new knowledge can be produced (e.g., through modeling, or through ongoing experimentation). The paper elucidates that the two firms we studied took different stances on crowdsourcing by committing to distinctive beliefs about reality and knowledge, which were manifested in their dissimilar conceptions of crowds
potential and role for innovation. The paper discusses how the concept of stance allows future examination of organizational responses to novel organizing possibilities not only for crowdsourcing innovation, but also for other types of complex knowledge work.
Authors
Anne-Laure Fayard, Polytechnic School of Engineering, New York University ([email protected])
Emmanouil Gkeredakis, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick ([email protected])
Natalia Levina, Stern School of Business, New York University ([email protected])
Abstract:
In this paper, we investigate how organizations explore and respond to new possibilities to organize innovation a complex type of work, which inherently aims at producing new knowledge through IT-enabled crowdsourcing. Based on an in-depth interpretive study, we show how two innovation consultancy firms explored and took a position vis-à-vis crowdsourcing for innovation (to engage further and experiment, or not). We identified significant variations in their positions, which reflected their different interpretations of opportunities and risks to produce new knowledge and innovate within crowdsourcing arrangements. To make sense of these findings, we draw upon philosophy of science and propose the concept of stance. When taking a stance on a particular issue (in our context, possibilities for crowdsourcing innovation), organizational actors enact commitments to beliefs about the world and knowledge and draw upon normative understandings of how new knowledge can be produced (e.g., through modeling, or through ongoing experimentation). The paper elucidates that the two firms we studied took different stances on crowdsourcing by committing to distinctive beliefs about reality and knowledge, which were manifested in their dissimilar conceptions of crowds
potential and role for innovation. The paper discusses how the concept of stance allows future examination of organizational responses to novel organizing possibilities not only for crowdsourcing innovation, but also for other types of complex knowledge work.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Management of Technology & Entrepreneurship Institute