Crowdsourcing via digital work platforms in SMEs

Al Barazi, Rana

Abstract

Studies indicate that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have struggled to take full advantage of digital advancements like crowdsourcing via digital work platforms. This is often due to insufficient familiarity with these tools and a lack of expertise in their practical application. Exploring ways for SMEs to harness these digital opportunities is vital to unlocking the advantages of crowdsourcing and boosting their labour productivity. Based on a survey of 319 SME leaders in the UK, this study proposes an integrated moderated mediation framework by examining the relationships between crowdsourcing efficiency, resourcing sophistication, HR-digital fit, and labour productivity. We hypothesize that crowdsourcing efficiency is directly linked to labour productivity and that resourcing sophistication acts as a mediator in this relationship. Furthermore, HR-digital fit, the alignment between technology, tasks, people and digital skills, moderates both the direct relationship between crowdsourcing efficiency and resourcing sophistication, and the overall mediated pathway to productivity. The empirical evidence supports that SMEs with high HR-digital fit experience stronger synergies between crowdsourcing efficiency and labour productivity. The findings deepen our theoretical knowledge of how SMEs can utilize crowdsourcing platforms to improve labour productivity and provide practical guidance for effective implementation.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
• Start Date: Jul 25, 2025
• End Date: Jul 29, 2025
• Acceptance Date: Mar 25, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jun 17, 2025
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jun 24, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 26, 2025
• Print ISSN: 0065-0668
• Electronic ISSN: 2151-6561
• Publisher: Academy of Management
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2025
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 14559
• Book Title: Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings
• Keywords: Crowdsourcing; digital work platforms; productivity; labour; resourcing sophistication; HR- digital fit
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14421895
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMPROC.2025.14559abstract