This document outlines the agenda for a management information systems class discussing the topic of crowdsourcing. The agenda includes a case study discussion on TopCoder, a crowdsourcing platform for software development. It also includes a discussion question on when crowdsourcing platforms like Wikipedia, Yelp and Amazon reviews work or fail. The reading assignment covers open innovation and crowdsourcing models. Finally, students will participate in an activity where they identify jobs that could utilize crowdsourcing and select the most appropriate model.

1. P R O F . S T E V E N L . J O H N S O N
T w i t t e r : @ S t e v e n L J o h n s o n
http://stevenljohnson.org
http://community.mis.temple.edu/mis5001fall10johnson/
Week 10 –Crowdsourcing
MIS5001: Management Information Systems

2. Today’s Agenda
 Case Discussion
 Blog Discussion Question
 Reading Discussion
 Activity: Crowdsource This!

3. Case Study Discussion
 Describe the basic business model of TopCoder.
 What makes TopCoder successful?
 Hughes wants to grow revenue to $200 million. Is
this realistic?
 Use TopCoder and globalization in the same
sentence.
 How does TopCoder manage the “Community”?
Where is there room for improvement?

4. 100-Second Reflection
1. What would you like to remember at the end of the
semester about the TopCoder case?
2. What would you like to know more about?
3. Any other comments?

5. Blog Discussion
 Wikipedia, Yelp, and Amazon Reviews
 When do they work?
 When do they fail?

6. Wisdom of the Crowds
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z82B1zsvyZU

7. Reading: Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing
 Open Innovation
 Open Platforms
 Crowdsourcing

8. Activity: Crowdsource This!
 Form Groups of 2-3
 Pick a job or major job role one of you does:
 Identify at least one major component of that job that could be
crowdsourced.
 Of the crowdsourcing models we’ve read about, what would
work best for the target job task?
 Do you think it is a good idea? Why or why not?

9. P R O F . S T E V E N L . J O H N S O N
E M A I L : S T E V E N @ T E M P L E . E D U
T w i t t e r : @ S t e v e n L J o h n s o n
http://stevenljohnson.org
http://community.mis.temple.edu/mis5001fall10johnson/
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