Abstract
The value of Social Computing and its application in business has largely remained unclear until
now. However, this paper reveals that Social Computing principles may have important business
value, as they can help to lower transaction costs through standardization on Internet. This makes
the development here to stay, instead of another hype. This paper describes Social Computing with
nine technological and social principles, obtained by comparing both Internet and academic
sources in this field, being Open Platform, Lightweight Models, Enabling Services, Intuitive
Usability, Long Tail, Unbounded Collaboration, Collective Intelligence, Network Effects, and
User Generated Content. Through semi-structured interviews with thirteen experts the principles
are validated and related to a generic business model. An hierarchical cluster analysis reveals
three clusters of principles. The first cluster is labeled Open Collaboration and supports
interaction with partners and customers. The second cluster is labeled Lean Configuration and
supports a flexible and adaptive business setup. The third cluster is labeled Customer Value and
supports enabling partners and customers in co-creating the value propositions of a business. The
results show that Social Computing provides most support in those aspects of business where
connections with the environment exist; the relations with partners and customers.
Original language | Undefined/Unknown |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the Seventh AIS SIGeBIZ Workshop on e-business (WeB 2008) |
Publication status | Published - 13 Dec 2008 |