Study Cases

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cycles of service participation on crowdsourcing platforms in both theory and

practice. Detailed descriptions of cases and data collection can be found in section 3.2 and section 3.3 respectively.

3.2 Study Cases

In the first step, the multiple case study, we examined over twelve cases selected from the directory of crowdsourcing platform sites listed on Crowdsourcing.org in 2015 (Retrieved 12 February 2016, from http://www.crowdsourcing.org/directory), with few prior studies and abundant online resources. Crowdsourcing.org is the leading source of crowdsourcing information, insights, and research and offers the largest online repository of news, articles, videos, and site information on the topic, which is also supported by many experts in the crowdsourcing domain, such as Daren C.

Brabham and Jeff Howe, helping us explore more completed view of the motivations of service participation on two user groups in a crowdsourcing context. The

preliminary results of each type are shown in Table 2 (Information Crowdsourcing Platforms), Table 3 (Labor Crowdsourcing Platforms), Table 4 (OplusO

Crowdsourcing Platforms), and Table 5 (Creation Crowdsourcing Platforms) respectively in chapter 2.

In the second step, the expert interview, to verify the motivations and the CFs that we determined, we used only Labor crowdsourcing platforms as our target type because of the time constraints of this research. Companies that employed labor operate in a fast, convenient, and flexible marketplace for labor in a competitive and rapidly changing era, enhancing the use of idle resources and reducing unemployment rates.

These companies are trying to help society’s weak (such as students, homemakers, and the unemployed) by offering a chance to earn extra money while solving cumbersome problems. We believe that the purpose of the Labor type of

crowdsourcing is to help people have a job to earn money and live their lives well.

Four Selected Managers in Labor Crowdsourcing Platform Companies

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They all employ Labor type of crowdsourcing platform, providing a fast, convenient, and flexible marketplace for labor in a competitive and rapidly changing era, and they enhance the use of idle resources and reduce unemployment rates. Providers offer their labor to requestors on Labor crowdsourcing platforms, and requestors offer available vacant jobs to providers on the same platforms. We conducted two hours of interviews with each of the central figures who mainly manage the company (or a department therein), which will help us obtain the in-depth insights of the

management of a crowdsourcing platform, based on their experience and opinions.

The expert group consisted of four managers selected for their comprehensive

perspective regarding management of crowdsourcing platforms and their experiences.

Detailed profile descriptions of the participants are presented in Table 7. In addition, these companies were established in Taiwan from between 20 years ago to

approximately 6 months ago, which shows the diversity in the sample and the broad views of our interview. Following are brief introductions of the four successful companies and why they were selected.

Table 7.Profile Description of Participants

NO. COMPANY POSITION CROWDSOURCING

PLATFORM EXPERIENCES 1 104 Job Bank Group general manager 18 years

2 Go1Buy1 Co-founder and marketing manager

4 years

3 GoGoVan Taiwan country manager 3 years

4 honestbee Community manager 6 months

104 Job Bank

104 Job Bank, founded in 1996, provides comprehensive talent and jobs for job releasers and job seekers, respectively, making them meet and match on its website.

Thus 104 Job Bank is a crowdsourcing platform with two distinct user groups to meet and match on their websites. In addition, 104 Job Bank is the leading recruitment site in the Taiwanese workforce market with an impressive brand awareness of more than 90 percent. The site contains over 6 million curricula vitae, giving it unparalleled reach to Taiwan’s talent and according it the best value for human resource

investment. With more than 210 thousand corporate customers in total and a hiring

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company penetration rate of more than 70 percent, 104 Job Bank is a well-respected and trusted provider of effective labor solutions in Taiwan.

Go1Buy1

There is a large and growing demand in Taiwan for buying imported goods and services all the time because some are attracted by the low price, while others are overwhelmed by the rarity. However, information asymmetry is always the pain point of customers (consignors), whereas purchasing agents (consignees) always must list what should be bought and the price of each of the goods. Go1Buy1, which was established in 2012 in Taiwan, offers an overseas purchasing agent service. It provides a professional, safe and trusted purchasing service and advice for quoted price with more than 100 severely verified professional and international purchasing agents over 25 countries. People who would like to buy things that are available only in other countries or who would entrust someone to buy things oversea at lower cost can go onto Go1Buy1’s website to find a suitable purchasing agent for help. There are currently hundreds of thousands of customers, mostly from Taiwan and Hong Kong, buying foreign goods at their website. Its goal is to become Asia’s biggest oversea purchasing agent service. Therefore, Go1Buy1 was selected as one of the target subjects of this research because buyers and consignees meet and match on their website, where they exchange purchasing chores.

GoGoVan

A startup founded in Hong Kong in 2013, GoGoVan has revolutionized the logistics industry one city at a time with quick and flexible moving by van. According to GoGoVan’s own texts, they empower people to move anything, anytime, anywhere, by employing a convenient tool, their smartphones. The GoGoVan app was created to connect drivers (delivery persons) and customers. Although they assert that they are Asia’s first app-based platform for transporting goods (serving Hong Kong,

Singapore, Korean, Taiwan, China, India, and Australia), the types of their vehicles are different in different country; for example, in Taiwan, they offer only motorcycle express as a result of transport regulation limitations. The GoGoVan network in

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user groups to meet and match, and exchanges delivery labor.

honestbee

Established in 2014, honestbee is a young startup that provides a same-day online grocery delivery service. Services are already available in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Niseko, Japan. Taipei, Taiwan is the fourth launched city thus far. Using both website and smartphone apps, honestbee claims that they ensure delivery within an hour of ordering. According to TECHINASIA, “Most people in Asia are time-starved due to the demands of their job and a large proportion of the populations do not possess their own vehicles.” Co-founder Isaac Tay says in a statement. “With our on-demand delivery service, time-crunched customers can enjoy the widest choices from their favorite stores, even at the last minute.” (Tegos, 2015). Thus, honestbee is a

crowdsourcing platform using the power of crowds to offer purchasing and delivering services for others who can meet and match on their website or using their app.