In a hierarchy, someone in authority makes decisions and assigns tasks to others. One example is that Threadless management decides which of the most popular t-shirts to produce. A hierarchy should be used when the conditions for a crowd are not met.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Building block 2: Who is doing the task?

Malone, Thomas & Laubacher, Robert & Dellarocas, Chrysanthos. (2010). The Collective Intelligence Genome. IEEE Engineering Management Review. 38. 38-52. 10.1109/EMR.2010.5559142. 

The Collective Intelligence Genome

In a crowd, anyone in the large group can choose to undertake the task, like for instance submitting a t-shirt design to Threadless. All forms of virtual collective intelligence need to include this crowd factor at some point in the process. The crowd gene taps into a much larger pool than the hierarchy gene. However, the crowd gene does not work under all conditions. It is most useful when (a) many people have the tools/skills necessary to perform the task, or you don’t know who has these tools/skills, (b) tasks can easily be divided into pieces (necessary info can be shared, sabotage can be avoided), and (c) crowds have more motivation, or can do things cheaper/faster/better.

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