Organizational Learning with Crowdsourcing: The Revelatory Case of LEGO

Extant organizational learning theory conceptualizes organizational learning as an internal, member-based process, sometimes supported by, yet often independent of, IT. Recently, however, a number of organizations have begun to involve non-members systematically in their learning by using crowdsourcing, a form of open innovation enabled by state-of-the-art IT. We examine the phenomenon of IT-enabled organizational learning with crowdsourcing in a longitudinal revelatory case study of one such organization, LEGO (2010-14). We study the LEGO Cuusoo crowdsourcing platform from its secret test in Japan, to its widely recognized global launch, and to its success in generating top-selling LEGO models. Based on an analysis of how crowdsourcing contributes to the organizational learning at LEGO, we propose the framework “ambient organizational learning”. The framework accommodates both traditional, member-based organizational learning and IT-enabled, non-member-based organizational learning with crowdsourcing