Abstract
Digital transformation is exhibiting the paradox of underperforming investment for UK SMEs that often face challenges in aligning human capabilities to their digital technologies. Crowdsourcing platforms appear as a promising solution, yet the validation of benefits remains ambiguous. This study positions crowdsourcing as a systems factor for the enhancement of the joint optimisation of human skills with digital technologies to enhance productivity.
The results validate HRDF and demonstrate that Crowdsourcing has an effect on productivity, however the effects are inconsistent across industries and locations. Therefore, the current model needs to include more systemic factors. The study concludes that industry and location are primary moderators of the use of Crowdsourcing, and unlike the blanket assumption, it seems that crowdsourcing is highly contextualised.
The results of the sstudy raises further questions and the model needs further development in broader projects, however it is sufficient to validate the fact that there is a plausible STS solution to the above problems for the SMEs that need digitalization.