(2016) Bubbling Up the Good Ideas: A Two-Mode Network Analysis of an Intra-Organizational Idea Challenge (original) (raw)

Organizations have been experimenting with intraorganizational crowdsourcing (IOC), yet the mechanisms of IOC production remain an underresearched topic. Drawing on a 2-mode ERGM, we examine structural mechanisms and individual-level factors that shape the network structure of idea generation and selection yielded by an IOC idea challenge in a global IT corporation. Results show a Matthew effect leading to 1) highly centralized employee participation around a few " superactive " employees who engage with many ideas and 2) highly centralized idea popularity with a few ideas attracting most employee attention. We find support for shared affiliations among employee-idea clusters in the first half of the participation, which is, however, less likely in the second half. We also find support for geographic homophily. The rise of crowdsourcing platforms for idea generation and selection has attracted research on their implications for organizational problem solving and innovation (Brabham, 2013). However, most studies have focused on open crowdsourcing platforms, which allow the influx of ideas beyond a clearly defined, formal organizational boundary. By contrast, relatively few studies have examined how intraor-ganizational crowdsourcing (IOC) platforms allow organizations to tap the collective wisdom within a closed system of employees for new ideas and innovation. More importantly, little attention has been