Session 18 (Open Innovation)

Question 1

what are the roles of online communities?

Answer 1

Roles: protection of the social space, FAQ
maintenance, reprobation of socially offensive
posts

Question 2

what are online communities?

Answer 2

An identifiable social system that
relies primarily on electronic communication
in order to form webs of relationships,
exchange information, and coordinate actions

Question 3

discuss peer collaboration

Answer 3

Individuals are getting together online to take
collective action by the millions
 Rise of peer production of information,
knowledge, and culture –enabled by tech and
these new forms of collaboration are
reshaping the economic and social rules
 The digital common is a new form of
organization, that is neither the market nor
the hierarchy

Question 4

with peer collaboration, knowledge exchanged on an electronic network has two unique public good characteristics:

Answer 4

non-excludability (once provided, the good’s
benefits cannot be withheld from others)
 the good costs the same to provide no matter
the number of beneficiaries

Question 5

discuss open innovation:

Answer 5

Innovation is less and less the domain of
R&D labs of large firms
 Pace of technological change is increasing
and firms can no longer research internally all
the relevant disciplines
– No more Dupont, Merck, Bell labs, Xerox Park
 Companies are trying to rethink the “invented
here in our labs” innovation model in order to
develop a new model:
– A vibrant ecosystem/marketplace/platform where
you leverage other actors’ talent/idea/assets.

Question 6

Under what conditions do groups
consistently make better decisions than the
best individuals? (4)

Answer 6

– Diversity of opinion - Different people with different
knowledge
– Independence - People aren’t “lobbying” for
particular decisions.
– Decentralization - No single leader who controls
communication
– Aggregation - Appropriate mechanism to
assemble opinions

Question 7

_____ is the process of obtaining needed services,
ideas, or content by soliciting contributions
from a large group of people, and especially
from an online community, rather than from
traditional employees or suppliers

Answer 7

crowdsourcing

Question 8

potential applications of crowd sourcing?

Answer 8

– Ride-share services
– Problem solving
– Crowdfunding

Question 9

potential issues with crowd sourcing?

Answer 9

honesty and bias