The key concepts used to describe the subject
Human clouding a unique strategic approaches embraced by organizations as they seek to attract and retain virtual on-demand workforce to supplement their production. The essentiality and opportunities encompassed in this initiative requires a closer scrutiny based on the challenges cropping up on the ability to manage it. Some of the essential concepts proffered in the analysis include; human cloud, outsourcing, crowdsourcing, microsourcing and types of human cloud platforms.
Human cloud is entailed as the third-generation sourcing strategy after IT outsourcing and offshore outsourcing. Integrates an ecosystem where the online middleman engage wide range pool of virtual workers tapped by the escalating demand for service to widely available interested buyers. This strategy is currently used by various leading companies such as Rief Media and Aegon among others (Timothy, 2013).
Crowdsourcing one of the two interrelated phenomena that yielded human cloud concept, it enables organizations to convey tasks formerly in-house to a diverse or indeterminate group of people. Some of the sites that use this aspect include, Wikipedia and iStockphoto improving and providing essential platforms for various organizations such as NASA (Evgeny, 2013).
Microsourcing the next interrelated phenomena that defines human cloud, it enables the buyers to source paid projects via the internet from various individuals or small providers. It relies basically on the mutual or level of stability on relationship established between the buyer and the seller and normally incorporates small scale tasks.
2. What were the main contributions of the article?
The article offers a detailed preview indicating the essentiality of human clouding and various ways to manage it. The article offers clear insight on the concept and originality of human cloud, evolution of the human cloud and the various types of human cloud platforms, how to manage cloud initiatives, challenges and risks entailed in managing human cloud. The proffered preview stipulates some of the main contributions that the article offers. The preceding analysis explores some of these contributions:
Types of human cloud platforms
Based on the evolution of human cloud as vast potential buyers seek services from the strategy, four platforms have been enacted. These platforms are aimed at not only offering more opportunities to cater for the escalating number of potential buyers but also averting and curbing some of the challenges and obstacles crippling the growth of human cloud. They include (Rudy, 2013);
The Facilitator Model: Supplier Transparency
Termed as direct successor to microsourcing, it is aimed at minimizing the perceived risks to the buyers based on the added features reducing supplier anonymity. The model enables the buyer access wide range of supplier’s information to credit their existence as they indulge into transactions. Some of the commonly used platforms under this category include; Elance and oDesk where the supplier and the buyer can be able to share professionals and personal backgrounds.
The Arbitrator Model: Supplier Redundancy
Under this model the aim is at increasing accessibility and effectiveness on the buyer-supplier interactions and transactions. The model enables the buyer wide range of skilled and competent suppliers to choose from. They include; Arbitrator, crowdSPRING where connectivity is availed between the buyers with a global community.
The Aggregator Model: Task Aggregation
A model that enables buyers send tasks to large number of small suppliers especially where the tasks involved are repetitive by providing an infrastructure that runs the projects. The commonly used models include; Amazon Mechanical Turk or MTurk.
The Governor Model: Project Governance
Facilitates monitoring and undertaking complex projects by employing a combination human projects managers incorporating with high standard software enhancing individual coordinating.
Managing Human Cloud Initiatives
Incorporates various phases as the buyers seek to enhance outsourcing engagement, these phases include:
Architectural phase
Engagement phase
Operational phase
Limitations
Though human cloud provides a much promising benefits where workforce is distributed or sourced globally there exist some limitations. This challenge curbs the effectiveness and efficiency in establishing closer ties between the buyers and suppliers hence minimizing the growth of human cloud. Some of these limitations include;
- The rapid rate of human cloud threatens the effectiveness and efficiency of some of the strategies enacted to enhance reaping the full benefits of the models
- The perceived risks of fully engaging on online transactions
- Limited capacity to accommodate the escalating demand and transactions
Essentiality of the contributions
The proffered contributions are essential in every aspect within the organization. Based on the current innovations and technology trends every company should seek to tap the benefits attached on the trend. Organizations seek to employ competence and skilled workforce to enhance effectiveness towards achieving organizational goals. Human cloud avails organizations with diverse workforce with high skills and competence. The contributions can be enacted by organizations to implement strategies aimed at embracing virtual workforce increasing effectiveness on productions and operations. Enacting policies based on the provided contributions equip organizations with essential baselines towards tapping the vast benefits attached to human cloud. Organizations seeking to embrace the benefits attached to human cloud aim at achieving wide range of benefits within and beyond the organization that is internal and external environments (Quinn, 2011). Engaging virtual workers entails incorporating a diverse workforce. This is essential as the organization enjoys a diverse culture with various varying ideologies enhancing based on various backgrounds. The organization can enact the strategy to hire cost effective labor especially in areas where there is qualified workforce but minimal employment opportunities. The contributions can encourage idea sharing or multi-tasking where workers in varying locations can engage in similar tasks to different companies.
Types of companies that can apply the findings
The findings are more essentially applicable on companies or firms indulging on sales and marketing where the hired workforce can provide services with the company witnessing the response based on the consumer satisfaction and sales increase. Other companies that can utilize human cloud include designing and optimization, research and development and translations. This is based on the efficiency and explicitly of the companies and tasks that firms needs executed by the human cloud. Deigning and optimization companies can engage on the human cloud based on the notion that the performance of the workforce can easily be evaluated with the outcomes easily monitored. The research and development companies’ indulging on the benefits attached to human cloud range based on the fact that the organization is capable of gauging the finding and the developments made by the workers. One of the evident facts as stipulated in the challenges that cripples of companies to engage on human cloud can be based on the notion of confidentiality with few companies seeking to engage on highly complex projects involving huge amount of capital. Minimal companies dealing with financial entities will be willing to hire or indulge human cloud.
Applicability of the findings in Kuwait and individual company
With strategic approaches enacted with monitoring or control measures enacted the findings can be implemented within the respective sectors within an industry. In Kuwait as other nations with the marketing and sales companies among other firms it is evident that human cloud can be effectively enacted and yield massive benefits. The high number of educated qualified workforce implementing human cloud can aid minimize the high cases of unemployment. The high number of high school students available within the job market can be indulge on sales and marketing minimizing rate of unemployment within the country. Based on the experience on the company working for, the concepts emphasized can be applied based on various assumptions this include; instances where the number of workers is seasonal based on the market performances, declining sales where the company seeks to hire seasonal workforce to supplement the effectiveness of its operation to meet consumer demands especially on the peak seasons. Since the company is incapable of hiring and maintaining permanent workers. To enact cost effective strategies in relation to hiring qualified workers in relation to high seasons the company can embrace the entailed approaches. Thus hiring competent and highly qualified workforce from various geographically locations globally (Bederson, 2011). The company can approach the sites offering the services and purchasing or analyzing the highly qualified workers and utilizing their services especially sales and marketing.
In conclusion the essentialities of human cloud are diverse every organization should enact strategic approaches aimed at tapping the benefits attached to the contributions availed. The models entailed not only avails organizations with cost effective labor but various options to select skilled and competent workforce globally.
References
Evgeny K. Erran C. Rudy H., and Timothy O. 2013 Managing the Human Cloud, MITSloan Management Review.
A.J. Quinn and B.B. Bederson, (2011) “Human Computation: A Survey and Taxonomy of a Growing Field,” Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (New York: CHI,), 1403-1412;
T.W. Malone, R. Laubacher and C. Dellarocas, (2010) “The Collective Intelligence Genome,” MIT Sloan Management Review 51, no. 3: 21-31
J. Howe, 2008 “Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business” (New York: Crown Business,).
S. Cullen, P. Seddon and L. Willcocks, (2005) “Managing Outsourcing: The Life Cycle Imperative,” MIS Quarterly Executive 4, no. 1 : 229-246;
T.W. Malone, R.J. Laubacher and T. Johns, (2011) “The Age of Hyperspecialization,” Harvard Business Review 89 : 56-65. World Development Indicators database 2010 on Kuwait Labor force
Massolution, (2012) “Crowdsourcing Industry Report: Enterprise Crowdsourcing — Market, Provider and Worker Trends” (Los Angeles:.
