IS 904 case presentations

19.11.2010

Tero Päivärinta

”Peer pioneers”

• Cases such as: Linux, Wikipedia…(en.wikipedia.org)– in the software business, open-source enterprise software in its

way…• e.g. eZ Publish (ez.no), compiere (ERP, www.compiere.com)…

• Key: peer production of products & services– benefits

• involve and utilize external talent• keeping up with users• boosting demand for complementary offerings• reducing costs• shifting the locus of competition• taking the friction out of collaboration• developing social capital

Moving to another context – peer process for improving university

education?• Utilizing peer processes for learning?

• involve and utilize external talent?• keeping up with users• boosting demand for complementary offerings• reducing costs• shifting the locus of competition• taking the friction out of collaboration• developing social capital• <- Challenges?

• Utilizing peer processes better for course ”product” development?– (cf. above?)

”Ideagora”

• ”The eBay of innovation”• Case: InnoCentive (www.innocentive.com)

– well-defined R&D problems shared in the Web• ”seekers” meet problem solvers (pharmaseutical research and

development)• seekers post their R & D challenges which require solutions• solvers submit their solutions, get cash prizes ranging from 5000-

10000$• scientists registered from 170 countries

• Point:– ”The world is your R&D department”– keep your own R&D focused on the big issues– outsource well-defined, smaller problems for the mass-

collaboration community

Ideagora challenges & issues

• Managing / governing the process – choosing the ”best”?

• Culture to trust the ability of ”freelancers”• Balancing the internal & the external

– P & G – goal 50% of innovation external to 2010• Portfolio approach to innovation

– ideagoras, customers, suppliers… involving different parts

• ”Push the envelope”– use the internal R & D to set the right questions –

outsource the solution-finding process.

The Goldcorp case – example of ideagora

• How on earth can ”wikinomics” help a gold-mining company?– A struggling company, Canadas least-producing gold-mine– Revolutionary idea: share the geological data of the mine openly

in the Web• previously, geological data considered to be the most strategic and

secret asset to be safe-guarded from the competitors…• Goldcorp Challenge: 575000$ prize money for those who come with

best methods and estimates about where to drill• 1000 experts from 50 countries participated, new types of expertise

involved• over 80% of the new suggested targets yelded substantial quantities

of gold• The company growed since from 100 mill -> 9 bill.

Moving to another context – Can ideagoras be used for innovating

university education?• What kind of innovations for education can

be outsourced – what not?

• Would someone truly be involved in innovating learning for universities?– …lose of strategic advantage?– …however, it was very non-traditional for

Goldcorp!

Yet another context – can IS development be ”ideagorized”?

• …is that a field innovative enough?

• …or… perhaps: ”How to bring in more jobs to a remote municipality?”

• …but what innovation needs to be held in possession of the company, anyhow?

Exam questions?

• Describe the differences between peer production & ideagora -concepts?

• Discuss about pros and cons of using peer production as a means to conduct a group work in a university course.

• How would software development be diffferent if it would be organized as peer production vs. as through an ideagora?