The inexorable rise of work markets

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The role and prominence of online markets for work have soared dramatically over the last few years, but this is just the beginning.

I have been following the rise of online markets for work since Elance was founded in 1999, writing about them in my 2002 book Living Networks and dedicating a large chunk of Getting Results From Crowds to how to effectively manage work markets.

Prominent VC Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures has just written a post The Nature Of The Firm and Work Markets, referencing, as I did in both of these books, the seminal work of Ronald Coase. Wilson writes:
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New ideas: Building the organizations of tomorrow

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I recently spoke at an event organised by Building the Organisation of Tomorrow, a group created by alumni of University of Technology Sydney’s Master of Business in IT Management program.

The format was very stimulating, with three 15 minute presentations, each followed by 15 minutes Q&A and then a ‘disruptive event’, including some awesome satirical musical performances and a planted heckler in the audience. Below are notes from the three speakers.
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The 14 ExaTrends of the Decade

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We released our Map of the ExaTrends of the Decade a while ago now. However the decade is still young, and all of these ExaTrends (which is a MegaTrend cubed) have a long way yet to play out.

We have created a set of slides to make the 14 ExaTrends easier to read and understand. The slides are better viewed in large size, so either view full screen or go to the slides on Slideshare.

14 ExaTrends of the Decade

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Debate: The Ethics of Crowdsourcing

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For many who come across the idea of crowdsourcing in its many forms, their first thoughts are about the ethical issues. As such, in writing Getting Results From Crowds, it was important to address the ethical domain rather than ignoring or glossing it.

We address the ethical issues of crowdsourcing in Chapter 5 on Relationship Value, offering Points and Counterpoints on a number of the major ethical issues in the field.

To bring the debate to life we have created a video providing some of the arguments on each side.


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Case study: Using project management for effective crowdsourcing

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[This post first appeared on the Getting Results From Crowds book website]

One of the most important implications of organizations shifting to crowdsourcing and crowd work is the need for effective project management structures. We cover Project Management in Chapter 14 of Getting Results From Crowds.

The chapter opens with an excellent case study of how Nick McMenemy uses crowd platforms to drive his startup Virdium. I gained plenty of insights and new ideas in my interview of him, which I condensed into the case study, reproduced below. I’m sure you’ll find useful ideas in there.
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5 important ways in which crowdsourcing creates business value

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The intelligent use of crowdsourcing can have many benefits for companies – as well as government and non-profit organizations – in achieving their objectives.

Here is a brief excerpt from Chapter 3 on Crowds and Business Value of Getting Results From Crowds

The business value of using crowds
Through history, companies have been limited in what they can achieve through the scope of their internal resources and how well they can draw on external resources. Crowdsourcing has the potential to create enormous value for businesses by giving easy access to an essentially unlimited pool of talent and capabilities. Those organizations that have the skills and competences to draw on external crowds, as well as in tapping the best ideas from their ‘internal crowds’, have an immense advantage over those companies that rely solely on their internal resources and traditional service firms.
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Crowdsourcing management reviews: doing it before staff do it for themselves

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[This post first appeared on Getting Results From Crowds book website]

Harvard Business Review has once again kicked off the year with a List of Audacious Ideas. One of them is Crowdsourcing Management Reviews for Better Management. Authors Linda Hill and Kent Lineback say:
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Dominant themes for 2012: transformation and beyond

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In December I created a list of 12 themes to frame the year ahead, and then explored the ideas in a number of media interviews. The slides for the 12 themes have been seen almost 50,000 times now, suggesting they struck a chord somewhere. It’s now interesting to reflect on these, especially the response from the media.

2012: 12 Themes – What to expect in the year ahead

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In the global talent economy over 50% will be mobile workers

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[This post first appeared on the Getting Results From Crowds book website]

Research firm IDC has forecast that there will be 1.3 billion ‘mobile workers’ in the world by 2015, representing 37.2% of the global workforce. This points to the massive explosion of what I call the ‘global talent economy’, in which talent can be and will be anywhere.

The forecasts suggest that the bulk of the growth will be in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), which will see 838 million mobile workers in 2015, up 237 million from 2010, representing well over half the global mobile workforce.
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12 most popular posts of the year on the future

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It’s almost the end of the year, so I’ll try to do a few compilations of my most popular posts of the year. Today, on the general theme of the future, here are 12 (+1 for next year) that have attracted the most interest…

1. Zeitgeist 2011: anxiety, mobility, blending, indulgence, immersion, wrath, nudity and more

The spirit of the times for 2011

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