When is Crowdsourcing Advantageous? The Case of Crowdsourced Software Testing
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Research Team
Crowdsourcing, CCC, IWI6
Abstract
Crowdsourcing describes a novel mode of value creation in which organizations broadcast tasks that have been previously performed in-house to a large magnitude of Internet users that perform these tasks. Although the concept has gained maturity and has proven to be an alternative way of problem-solving, an organizational cost-benefit perspective has largely been neglected by existing research. More specifically, it remains unclear when crowdsourcing is advantageous in comparison to alternative governance structures such as in-house production. Drawing on crowdsourcing literature and transaction action cost theory, we present two case studies from the domain of crowdsourced software testing. We systematically analyze two organizations that applied crowdtesting to test a mobile application. As both organizations tested the application via crowdtesting and their traditional in-house testing, we are able to relate the effectiveness of crowdtesting and the associated costs to the effectiveness and costs of in-house testing. We find that crowdtesting is comparable in terms of testing quality and costs, but provides large advantages in terms of speed, heterogeneity of testers and user feedback as added value. We contribute to the crowdsourcing literature by providing first empirical evidence about the instances in which crowdsourcing is an advantageous way of problem solving.
Language
English
Keywords
Case Study
Crowdsourcing
Software Testing
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SoM - Business Innovation
Book title
Information systems as a global gateway : 24th European Conference on Information Systems
Publisher
Boğaziçi University
Publisher place
Istanbul
Event Title
24th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2016
Event Location
Istanbul, Turkey
Event Date
12.-15.06.2016
Official URL
Division(s)
Eprints ID
248348
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
JML_587.pdf
Size
461.63 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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