Ren, Jie

Tan, Chee-Wee

Yeoh, William

English

AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)

Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) ICIS 2022 TREOs TREO Papers 12-12-2022 How the Crowd’s Creativity Differs and Transitions Across the Individual, Collective, and Platform Levels: A Theoretical Perspective to Explain Crowd Creativity Jie Ren Fordham University, jren11@fordham.edu William Yeoh Deakin University, william.yeoh@deakin.edu.au Chee-Wee Tan Copenhagen Business School, ct.digi@cbs.dk Follow this and additional works at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/treos_icis2022 Recommended Citation Ren, Jie; Yeoh, William; and Tan, Chee-Wee, "How the Crowd’s Creativity Differs and Transitions Across the Individual, Collective, and Platform Levels: A Theoretical Perspective to Explain Crowd Creativity" (2022). ICIS 2022 TREOs. 54. https://aisel.aisnet.org/treos_icis2022/54 This material is brought to you by the TREO Papers at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been accepted for inclusion in ICIS 2022 TREOs by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contact elibrary@aisnet.org. TREO	Technology,	Research,	Education,	Opinion	Presentation	at	TREO	Talks	in	conjunction	with	the	43rd	International	Conference	on	Information	Systems,	ICIS	2022	TREO	Talks	are	not	peer-reviewed	and	not	a	formal	part	of	the	ICIS	2022	Proceedings	All	TREO	Talks	are	available	in	the	TREO	Talks	section	of	the	AIS	e-Library	How	 the	 Crowd’s	 Creativity	 Differs	 and	 Transitions	 Across	 the	 Individual,	Collective,	 and	Platform	 Levels:	 A	 Theoretical	 Perspective	 to	 Explain	Crowd	Creativity		Jie	 Ren,	 jren11@fordham.edu;	 William	 Yeoh,	 william.yeoh@deakin.edu.au;	 Chee-Wee	 Tan,	ct.digi@cbs.dk			The	nature	of	tasks	assigned	to	online	crowds	has	rapidly	evolved,	shifting	from	low-cognitive	tasks	 demanding	 objective	 feedback	 to	 those	 requiring	 creative	 thinking	 (Kittur,	 2010).	Although	there	is	evidence	demonstrating	that	online	crowds	are	creative	(Poetz	and	Schreier,	2012),	 more	 recent	 studies	 have	 begun	 to	 dispute	 the	 creativity	 of	 such	 crowds,	 especially	when	compared	 to	 that	of	corporate	professionals.	Consequently,	 it	 is	 imperative	 to	derive	a	theoretical	framework	that	elucidates	the	capacity	of	online	crowds	in	engendering	creativity.		Past	studies	accounting	for	the	power	of	the	crowd	are	situated	in	the	context	of	crowd	funding	and	 crowd	 voting;	 insights	 from	 these	 studies	 may	 not	 necessarily	 apply	 to	 the	 domain	 of	creativity	 because	 they	 tend	 to	 assume	 ‘the	 more	 the	 merrier’	 mentality,	 what	 Surowiecki	(2005)	touted	as	the	“wisdom	of	the	crowd”.	Since	online	crowds	comprise	members	who	are	decentralized,	 diverse,	 and	 independent,	 it	 is	 generally	 presumed	 that	 the	 collation	 of	knowledge	 among	 members	 will	 allow	 online	 crowds,	 as	 a	 collective,	 to	 be	 superior	 to	individuals	in	problem	solving	and	that	errors	in	individual	judgement	can	be	canceled	out	at	an	aggregate	level.	Having	said	that,	overemphasizing	the	wisdom	of	the	crowd	could	culminate	in	circumstances	 where	 novel	 or	 radical	 ideas	 may	 be	 treated	 as	 outliers.	 In	 this	 sense,	engendering	 creativity	 in	 online	 crowds	 necessitates	 a	 rethink	 of	 how	 individuals,	 collective,	and	platforms	collaborate	to	bring	about	co-innovation.	To	this	end,	this	study	aims	to	contribute	to	extant	literature	on	crowd	ideation	by	coming	up	with	 theoretical	explanation	 for	how	creativity	can	be	engendered,	especially	with	 regards	 to	how	 creativity	 transitions	 across	 the	 individual,	 collective,	 and	 platform	 level.	 Extending	 a	classical	 creativity	 theory—Amabile's	 (2011)	 componential	 theory	 of	 creativity	 as	 the	foundation—we	 describe	 how	 the	 organization	 of	 online	 crowds,	 can	 shape	 their	 creativity	across	 individual,	 collective,	 and	 platform	 levels.	 Particularly,	 we	 articulate	 how	 creativity	transitions	 across	 these	 three	 levels.	 In	 so	 doing,	 we	 prescribe	 guidelines	 for	 bolstering	 the	creativity	of	online	crowds	across	the	three	levels.		References	Amabile,	T.	(2011)	Componential	theory	of	creativity.	Harvard	Business	School.	Kittur,	 A.	 (2010)	 ‘Crowdsourcing,	 collaboration	 and	 creativity’,	 XRDS:	 crossroads,	 the	 ACM	magazine	for	students.	ACM,	17(2),	pp.	22–26.	Poetz,	M.	 K.	 and	 Schreier,	M.	 (2012)	 ‘The	 value	 of	 crowdsourcing:	 Can	 users	 really	 compete	with	 professionals	 in	 generating	 new	 product	 ideas?’,	 Journal	 of	 Product	 Innovation	Management.	Surowiecki,	J.	(2005)	The	wisdom	of	crowds.	Anchor.	

How the Crowd’s Creativity Differs and Transitions Across the Individual, Collective, and Platform Levels: A Theoretical Perspective to Explain Crowd Creativity

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How the Crowd’s Creativity Differs and Transitions Across the Individual, Collective, and Platform Levels: A Theoretical Perspective to Explain Crowd Creativity

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