Can firms harness collective intelligence and advance sustainability goals? How large is the intersection between digital tools that permit expanding collaborative networks and reducing the time and cost of innovation? These were some of the areas discussed at the Crowds and Climate conference held at MIT on November 6-8th organized by the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence. Peter Evans, Vice President at Center for Global Enterprise, participated in a plenary panel with Nancy Pfund Founder and Managing Partner, DBL Investors and Otto Scharmer, Senior Lecturer, MIT; Founding Chair, Presencing Institute. Jason Jay, Director, MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative served as the session moderator. Evans’ presentation focused on the how firms can leverage the power of internal networks through the use of digital platform tools and crowdsourcing.

1. Future of the Firm
Crowds and Networks
Peter Evans, PhD
Vice President
Center for Global Enterprise
Crowds and Climate: Mobilizing
Crowds to Develop Ideas and
Take Action on Climate Change
November 6-8, 2013
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology

2. Crowds, Sustainability and Firms
How large is the intersection?
Purpose
New tools
Sustainability
Crowdsourcingdigital platform
Intersection
Large
publically
traded firms
Firms

3. Leverage the power of internal networks
Clusters inside an organization
Without Crowdsourcing “Jam”
• Shallow networks
• Barriers to communication flows
• Strong, frequent ties within
clusters; and weaker, less
frequent ties between clusters.
Clusters inside an organization
With Crowdsourcing “Jam”
• Deeper networks
• More communication across
wide spans of clusters
• More collaboration… sharing
and testing of ideas

4. Network Map… GE Energy Imagination Jam*
O&G Drilling &
Production
Systems
Power Gen
Services
P&W
FNC
Function
GRC
India
GRC
Americas
GE Energy
Engineering
IP Software &
Services
GE Energy
Water
Jam comments 1, 2
525 comments
428 within Energy,
GRC and GEIP
GE Energy
Commercial Team
IP Mil/Aero
GE Energy
Global Supply
Chain
Bubble Area = # of Jam Participants
Line Thickness = # of comments
GE Energy participants
Intelligent Platform participants
Global Research Center participants
O&G
Engineering
Nuclear
281 “crossorganization”
comments
Energy
Services
Sales
O&G Energy Services
GRC Europe
* The Jam took place June-August 2011.
1. A comment was defined as a comment on an idea or a comment on another comment
2. The network diagram does not show connects across organizations outside of GE Energy business unit.
Also, diagram only shows organizations that participated in greater than 1 comment.

5. How many firms Jam? Still early days for most
Some of the top 500 Global are experimenting, mostly in US and Europe
Europe
China
$12 trillion
$6.6 trillion
$1.4 trillion
$0.4 trillion
$6.3 trillion
194
126
18
12
150
companies
companies
companies
companies
companies
Source: FT Global 500 June 2013
*Number and market values at 28 June 2013
India
Rest of World
US

6. Concluding Observations
Increase the speed of innovation
Crowdsourcing “Jams” can speed innovation by harness internal resources in new
ways. For example, it can reduce the time it takes for commercial teams to understand
customer challenges and connect them to engineers and other experts within the firm
who have the expertise and insight to create viable solutions to these challenges.
Reduce the cost of innovation
Innovation is far from free. Digital “Jams” offer a way to reduce transaction costs by
creating a common platform to communicate, enhance learning, and cut down
transaction costs. However, they must demonstrate real and consistent cost
effectiveness over conventional product innovation approaches to win adoption.
Deepen collaborative networks
Crowdsourcing platforms can deepen connections in ways that enhance collaboration,
which, in turn, can accelerate the innovation process.
Align innovation with customer needs
Crowdsourcing can provide an way to for firms harness talent pool to focus innovation
on tangible customer problems. If customers are seeking solutions around
sustainability then crowdsourcing Jams are more likely to find a market for their
innovations and incentives to expand collaborative innovation.

7. Future of the Firm
Crowds and Networks
Peter Evans, PhD
Vice President
Center for Global Enterprise
Crowds and Climate: Mobilizing
Crowds to Develop Ideas and
Take Action on Climate Change
November 6-8, 2013
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology