Crowdsourcing As A Way Of Modern Economic Development Of Enterprises

Comparative analysis of outsourcing and crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is a logical continuation of the movement of management from insourcing through outsourcing to a new, more modern and more respectful to the consumer stage of development of management systems of firms ' behavior in the market.

The modern definition of outsourcing can be formulated as follows: optimization of activity and reduction of costs of the enterprise or organization on the basis of concentration on the main areas of activity and transfer of secondary or non-core operations to executors of other organizations. After analyzing the existing interpretations of the concept of "outsourcing", the author concluded that outsourcing is an element of the management strategy the company is concentrating on core activities and transfer of secondary (non-core), but functionally necessary business processes and business functions to external management and maintenance of specialized companies with the aim of streamlining activities, reducing costs and increasing competitiveness.

In modern conditions, outsourcing is known everywhere and is used in Russian business practice most often in the field of accounting, information technology and systems, cleaning, translation, transport, advertising services. Outsourcing is the fastest growing method of resource optimization in the construction and operation of logistics systems in various fields. Outsourcing is a business model that provides additional competitive advantages. Outsourcing companies have extensive experience in solving similar problems, and the customer has the opportunity to use highly qualified personnel. The quality of functions transferred to outsourcing is much improved. The outsourcing nature of the relationship often involves customer employees.

Howe first used the term "crowdsourcing" in a 2006 article in Wired magazine, describing the phenomenon and defining the term. In this article, Jeff Howe defined crowdsourcing as a way of employment for people willing to work, companies working in various spheres of professional activities with the aim of using the intelligence and creativity of the people.

In 2004 the journalist Surowiecki published the book "the Wisdom of crowds", stating that when properly specified conditions, the search for a solution to any problem is based on the cumulative knowledge of many people can be more effective than the use of the knowledge and experience of several of them ( Surowiecki, 2005). The term crowdsourcing is made up of two English words: crowd, which means crowd, and sourcing - the use of resources. That is, it is the process of transferring any functions or operations to a certain circle of people outside the company, solving tasks by volunteers using information technology. The word crowd can mean any number of participants unknown or anonymous, used in these works. Crowdsourcing as one of the directions of outsourcing development has similar characteristics with it. Despite the similarity of the two definitions in the main content of the transfer of secondary functions outside the company, these two areas have significant differences from each other (table 01 ).

Concept of crowdsourcing

Modern society has formed several definitions of crowdsourcing:

• involvement of many people in joint activities, transfer of certain production functions to an indefinite number of persons on the basis of a public offer that does not imply the conclusion of an employment contract;

• the direction created based on the expected desire of consumers for free or for a small price to share their ideas with the company, solely out of interest to see these ideas embodied in the production;

• a way to get new interesting ideas, solutions to tasks by attracting not professional employees of the company, but third-party people, most often online communities in order to assist in the work of the company on any issue, project;

• model of finding solutions to current problems with the help of an indefinite circle of people.

The author proposes to consider crowdsourcing as a way to optimize the functioning of enterprises by using and implementing the ideas of third-party participants on a voluntary basis to address topical issues of development of the organization or direction of business, as well as improving the efficiency of the logistics system as a whole.

Participants of the crowdsourcing project form a community consisting of an unlimited number of people who, regardless of age, status or professional activity, offer solutions to the problem. Then a certain group of responsible persons selects the most valuable offer. The authors believe that in answering the question of can be used such a concept as a constructive deviation, proposed by the authors Va Vadera, Pratt, and Mishra, (2013). In their paper, they note that constructive deviation is a generic term that includes several different types of behavior, including accepting responsibility, being creative, expressing voice, exposing, behaving outside of a role, prosocial behavior, breaking prosocial rules, behaving against roles, and selling problem-solving. Prosocial behavior, or "voluntary behavior designed to benefit another person," is social behavior that "benefits other people or society as a whole."

Features of crowdsourcing implementation in Russia

Crowdsourcing is a relatively new tool for the development of enterprises, especially for the Russian market, but it has already established itself as an effective means of achieving goals. Using this new tool became possible thanks to the emergence of crowdsourcing resources - Internet platforms formed to collect and analyze a large number of ideas and proposals. Such sites already exist in the West, and now appear in Russia.

Sberbank is among the first companies in Russia to introduce crowdsourcing principles into business processes. Currently, a crowdsourcing platform has been launched, which is constantly working and offers all interested employees of the Bank, as well as customers, participation in crowd projects, in order to use the creative potential of the knowledge of a large audience in the future. Employees monitor incoming information flows and generate useful ideas. The most interesting develop, modify and implement.

In public administration, the use of crowdsourcing mechanism is also beginning everywhere. An example of such use can be called the project of the Belgorod region "National expertise", described by the author of the article Rogova (2013). The authorities take into account the opinions, demands, suggestions of the population, and therefore the decisions become more effective in management terms.

The experience of Western companies shows that the audience willingly agrees to participate in crowdsourcing projects. Indeed, most of us often come up with brilliant ideas, but often they are not implemented. For a creative person who is able to think creatively and give non-standard solutions, crowdsourcing platform is an ideal place to discuss ideas and cooperate with interested people. The clients themselves, participating in crowdsourcing projects, develop or modify the product "for themselves" - the product becomes more focused on end users. Crowdsourcing allows you to adjust business development to the maximum, using minimal financial investments in development.

The idea of crowdsourcing is to use collective intelligence, because the joint work of a large number of people United by one common idea is much more productive than even one brilliant person. Crowdsourcing enables companies to use the knowledge and skills of people who want to participate in the project regardless of their location and at the same time save money. Ordering the same solutions from professionals can cost an order of magnitude more, and the result can be worse than with such a brainstorming.

Benefits of crowdsourcing

According to Paley T.F. crowdsourcing as a new method, the use of which became possible in the conditions of intensive development of information and communication technologies, is of natural interest, but it has both advantages and disadvantages ( Paley, 2012).

Crowdsourcing as a way to optimize the functioning of companies brings undeniable advantages:

• Inexpensive tool for development or optimization of functioning;

• Easy to implement (via website or social networks);

• Ability to create a global product.

• Access to the results of work of an unlimited audience;

• There is recognition of the company, brand, product;

• Use of talent;

• Using non-standard sources of innovative ideas;

• Involvement of authoritative experts;

• Use of ideas and information of unlimited number of persons;

• Transferring a staff assignment to a large number of individuals.

Modern companies can get financial and other benefits from the use of crowdsourcing.

In modern communication technologies, the Internet, social networks, the introduction of crowdsourcing principles becomes possible for small businesses. It became possible to collect the necessary information using the feedback system with clients of companies with which relations have already been established. Used and held all sorts of promotions that allow relatively quickly and inexpensively to obtain important information. At the same time, the owner of a small business will be able to solve several tasks: 1.To reduce the costs associated with the search for solutions to certain problems of the organization, 2. The list of options that can be used to solve the problem is much wider, 3.Customers will be most interested in the company, products or services.

Shares associated with the use of cardsorting can be carried out in conjunction with advertising campaigns that will lead to increased interest from potential and existing customers, as well as planned promotions, including the areas of crowdsourcing, which will increase the effect from the advertising campaign.

Participants of crowdsourcing projects can get the following benefits:

• develop and present creative ideas;

• realize your opportunities and use the accumulated knowledge;

• receive prizes or cash rewards;

• experts can improve their status in the professional community.

According to Golubev E.V. there are two types of motivation for participation in crowdsourcing projects: material and intangible. In his article Golubev ( 2014) reflects that the mechanism of motivation in crowdsourcing is part of the key elements on which the effectiveness and usability of projects may depend. The authors Lin, Yang, Arya, Huang, and Li ( 2005) in their studies prove that sometimes group motivation has a stronger effect on the final positive result of the project than individual.

The paper identifies the main advantages of using crowdsourcing for large corporations and small business owners, presents financial and qualitative benefits. Similarities and key differences of two modern management tools are analyzed and revealed. Every distinctive feature was obtained by a comparative description. Outsourcing is a well-known way to reduce costs and focus on the main functions of the enterprise, while crowdsourcing is on the way of its formation and active implementation in the processes of Russian companies. The novelty of this method of optimizing the functioning of enterprises is reflected in this study. The place of crowdsourcing as the next development behind outsourcing is established. Participants of crowdsourcing projects and essence of crowdsourcing resources are defined. The introduction of crowdsourcing principles will allow to actively use the feedback system with customers, involving them in the process of creating the final product and receiving additional benefits of enterprises.