Collective intelligence: Scale development and validation

Abstract

In today’s growing competition, organizations face shrinking innovation cycles, swelling customer expectations, and distributed talent which impels organizations to apply knowledge, skills, and experience of employees most effectively. Applying Collective Intelligence, i.e., the combined knowledge and expertise of a diverse group, has become the order of the day. Therefore, collective intelligence level of an individual is of immense importance for high performance and achievement of the goals. In the present research, an attempt is made to operationalize the components of organizational collective intelligence from working professionals. Specifically, an attempt is made to develop a scale to measure collective intelligence among 600 working professionals. The results were subjected to the robust measurement tools such as Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structures Equation Modeling to confirm the factor structure. The instrument resulted in four factors and a 17-item scale. The instrument can be used by the policymakers and human resource managers for selecting, harnessing, and retaining appropriate talent in the organization.