%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2014 %T Challenging the Stage-Gate Model in Crowdsourcing: The Case of Fiat Mio in Brazil %A Fabio Prado Saldanha %A Patrick Cohendet %A Marlei Pozzebon %K automobile industry %K Brazil %K crowdsourcing %K Fiat %K marketing %K Open innovation %K project management %X A large crowdsourcing project managed by Fiat Brazil involved more than 17,000 participants from 160 different nationalities over 15 months. Fiat promoted a dialogue with an enthusiastic community by linking car experts, professionals, and lay people, through which more than 11,000 ideas were selected and developed to create a concept car using a collaborative process. Through an in-depth case study of this crowdsourcing project, we propose a new approach – the accordion model – which uses project management to help maximize the beneficial inputs of the crowd. Whereas the stage-gate process relies on a “funnel” of articulated sequences expressing a progressive reduction from an initial stock of potential ideas and concepts, in this article, we suggest that crowdsourced projects are more akin to a process that articulates a succession of broadening and funnelling periods that represent information requests and deliveries. We use the metaphorical terminology of “the sacred and the profane” to illustrate the interaction of sophisticated and ordinary ideas between the “sacred” experts from Fiat and the “profane” lay people associated with the project. Lessons learned from the Fiat Mio case suggest how both organizations and Internet users may benefit from successful crowdsourcing projects. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 4 %P 28-35 %8 09/2014 %G eng %U http://timreview.ca/article/829 %N 9 %1 HEC Montréal Fabio Prado Saldanha has a degree in Communications from Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, in São Paulo, Brazil. He has worked with several organizations in the telecommunications, entertainment, and culture industries, both in the public and private sectors. He is interested in the economic, social, and cultural issues of contemporary society. He has a Master of Management degree in Cultural Enterprises from HEC Montréal, in Canada. Currently, he is a Research Assistant at MOSAIC HEC Montréal where he works on projects concerning the study of economic impacts and the management of innovation and creativity, from different fields, such as the automobile and space industries. %2 HEC Montréal Patrick Cohendet is Professor at HEC Montréal business school in Canada and belongs to the International Business Department, which is in charge of all the international campuses of HEC Montréal, including a campus in Vietnam. He was Director of the International Business Department from 2007 to 2008. His research interests include the economics of innovation, technology management, knowledge management, the theory of the firm, and the economics of creativity. He is the author or co-author of 15 books and over 50 articles in refereed journals. He has conducted a series of economic studies on innovation, including measurement of spin-offs, evaluation of the economic benefits of R&D projects, and evaluation of technology transfer. These studies were carried out by his research laboratory, BETA, at the University of Strasbourg, for different European and North American organizations, such as the European Commission, the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Council of Europe, and the Canadian Space Agency. %3 HEC Montréal Marlei Pozzebon is Professor at HEC Montréal and Associate Professor at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Escola de Administração do Estado de São Paulo (FGV-EAESP), Brazil. Her research interests include social innovation, social inclusion, citizen creativity, local and sustainable development ,and global-local dialogue. These interests are linked to the possibilities of social change using practice-based theoretical lenses and qualitative research methods. Theoretically, structuration theory, different forms of social constructivism, and critical theory are additional interests. She has published her work in various peer-reviewed journals. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/829