Getting Crowdsourcing Right: Aligning Crowdsourcing Goals and Decision‐Making Processes

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ABSTRACTThe mismatch between crowdsourcing goals and decision making across the crowdsourcing process is likely to not only generate participants' negative feelings but also unsatisfactory outcomes. However, the crowdsourcing literature has thus far mainly focused on how to make decisions at each stage of the process, overlooking the alignment between crowdsourcing goals, decision making and project outcome satisfaction. To address this gap, our research conducted in‐depth interviews with managers involved in crowdsourcing, triangulated with secondary data from real‐life contests to provide a comprehensive analysis. Specifically, we empirically examine the influence of three types of crowdsourcing goals, namely, fishing, hunting and collective production; on decision making at each stage of the crowdsourcing process, that is, ideation, selection, implementation and evaluation. We additionally observe how the alignment between crowdsourcing goals and decision making affects managers' perception and evaluation of the crowdsourcing initiative. We thus contribute to the crowdsourcing and innovation management literature by investigating project‐related crowdsourcing decision making in line with predefined crowdsourcing goals and provide a blueprint for managers toward a more effective project management style.