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Work Organization in Online Platform Ecosystems
Journal
International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS)
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2017
Author(s)
Research Team
IWI 6
Abstract
Crowdsourcing as a new paradigm how to proceed (paid and unpaid) work has gained momentum in the
last years. Numerous companies and other organizations use “the wisdom of crowds” (Surowiecki 2004)
for their goals. In the context of the paid part of crowdsourcing that is processed via online platforms one
can name “crowdworking platforms” (Mrass et al. 2017c), the World Bank recently predicted in a study a
global increase in market volume from 2.1 billion USD in 2013 and 4.8 billion USD in 2016 up to 25 billion
USD in 2020 (see Kuek et al. 2015, p. 20-25). However, these and other data about such platforms and their
surrounding “ecosystems” heavily rely on estimations using only some platforms and trying to project their
data to a greater scale. To the best of knowledge of the author of these lines for the paper-a-thon format,
there is no data available so far that covers a larger (e.g. a country) definable region (and let alone the whole
world) and that relies not only on estimations, but also on “real” data from crowdworking platforms
representative for the “total population” of platforms from that region. This view was also confirmed by the
answer to a respective request made by the author of this paper to the central official statistical authority in
Germany (Statistisches Bundesamt/see: www.destatis.de) for that region. Nevertheless, such data would be
beneficial for several stakeholders: Economy, since many companies currently wonder if they could and
should consider crowdworking platforms for the processing of work (Zogaj 2016). Politics, since a lot of
questions regarding minimum wage requirements and the status of crowdworkers arose (see e.g. Benner
2014). And not least science, since research about such platforms with the exception of some US-American
crowdworking platforms is scarce and would benefit from more data as a basis for further explorations.
last years. Numerous companies and other organizations use “the wisdom of crowds” (Surowiecki 2004)
for their goals. In the context of the paid part of crowdsourcing that is processed via online platforms one
can name “crowdworking platforms” (Mrass et al. 2017c), the World Bank recently predicted in a study a
global increase in market volume from 2.1 billion USD in 2013 and 4.8 billion USD in 2016 up to 25 billion
USD in 2020 (see Kuek et al. 2015, p. 20-25). However, these and other data about such platforms and their
surrounding “ecosystems” heavily rely on estimations using only some platforms and trying to project their
data to a greater scale. To the best of knowledge of the author of these lines for the paper-a-thon format,
there is no data available so far that covers a larger (e.g. a country) definable region (and let alone the whole
world) and that relies not only on estimations, but also on “real” data from crowdworking platforms
representative for the “total population” of platforms from that region. This view was also confirmed by the
answer to a respective request made by the author of this paper to the central official statistical authority in
Germany (Statistisches Bundesamt/see: www.destatis.de) for that region. Nevertheless, such data would be
beneficial for several stakeholders: Economy, since many companies currently wonder if they could and
should consider crowdworking platforms for the processing of work (Zogaj 2016). Politics, since a lot of
questions regarding minimum wage requirements and the status of crowdworkers arose (see e.g. Benner
2014). And not least science, since research about such platforms with the exception of some US-American
crowdworking platforms is scarce and would benefit from more data as a basis for further explorations.
Language
English
Keywords
Crowdsourcing
Crowdworking Platforms
Online Platform Ecosystems
Work Organization
HSG Classification
contribution to practical use / society
Publisher place
Seoul, South Korea
Event Title
International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS)
Event Location
Seoul, South Korea
Event Date
10-13 Dec 2017
Division(s)
Eprints ID
252047
File(s)