Untapped Potential in the Workforce? The Impact of Digital Employee Participation

Abstract

Internal crowdsourcing is a phenomenon that is becoming more and more important in practice. Leading multinational corporations are using the concept to connect the geographically separated workforce. The influence that this new form of work organization has on the social capital of a company has so far not been adequately researched. The present work will review the current state of the practical use of internal crowdsourcing through a systematic review of the literature to distinguish the actual effects of the concept from the predicted effects. The predicted effects were based on model theory using the Job Characteristics Model (1976). It is shown to what extent the introduction of digital participation options affects the empowerment of the workforce and how this influences the corporate culture. It can be said that internal crowdsourcing has the potential to stimulate a tendency towards increased empowerment of the workforce by increasing intrinsic motivation and to flatten hierarchies. The limits of the concept lie in the interplay between the factors commitment, corporate culture and the effectiveness of crowdsourcing.

Keywords: Crowdsourcing; New Work; Employee Commitment; Corporate Citizenship; Corporate Culture.