The Contours of Crowd Capability

Abstract: In this work we use the theory of Crowd Capital as a lens to compare and contrast a number of IS tools currently in use by organizations for crowd-engagement purposes. In doing so, we contribute to both the practitioner and research domains. For the practitioner community we provide decision-makers with a convenient and useful resource, in table-form, outlining in detail some of the differing potentialities of crowd-engaging IS. For the research community we begin to unpack some of the key properties of crowd-engaging IS, including some of the differing qualities of the crowds that these IS application engage.