Karim Lakhani, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, finds that by systematically "broadcasting" science problems to others outside one's specialization, readier, sometimes more elegant solutions to those problems can be found. Lakani and his co-authors Lars Bo Jeppesen, Peter A. Lohse, and Jill A. Panetta, have published their work in a paper, "The Value of Openness in Scientific Problem Solving."
He also discusses his findings in this Harvard Business School Working Knowledge article and interview.
If I understand him, the goal of his work is to generalize about the open source model so that it may be applied in other settings. One conclusion is that "broadcast search" must be systematic, not haphazard. He also addresses intellectual property and participant motivation in the interview.
He mentions the interview, here, on his blog.
Wayne
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