The session “Crowdsourcing – If you have a problem ask everyone!?” was part of the Economic Symposium on “The Economy in Search of a New Enlightenment”. Christopher Lettl, Director of the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization, discussed the topic with renowned practitioners from different backgrounds.

Prof. Christopher Lettl started the session with an introduction of crowdsourcing as an innovation technique and the accompanying potentials and tensions. For example: Recent studies show that on the one hand the multiplicity and diversity of external generated solutions have a great potential for hitherto unsolved problems. On the other hand, many organizations are overwhelmed by the effort that has to be put into evaluating these numerous suggestions appropriately.

The session was continued by three talks that shed light on the topic from three different perspectives: First, Hannes Erler, Director Open Innovation Networks and Innovation & Marketing of the Swarovski AG showed how established organizations can use open innovation and crowdsourcing in particular to develop and defend technological advantages. Subsequently, Pia Erkinheimo, Director and Partner at Fingertip Ltd., explained the potential of crowdsourcing from the perspective of start-ups. She especially highlighted the potential benefits of the technique for decision making in organizations. Reinhard Willfort completed the session with the perspective of specialized intermediaries, who help organizations to utilize the full potential of crowdsourcing while avoiding common pitfalls.

An ex ante interview with Prof. Dr. Lettl can be found here (German):

http://diepresse.com/home/alpbach/5077812/Spontane-Kreativitaet-aus-dem-Internet