Want fresh ideas? Try crowdcasting

It may sound like just another corporate buzzword, but crowdcasting is how DaimlerChrysler, Hilton and American Express are aiming to get a competitive edge.

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- For a couple of days this month, executives from American Express, General Electric Money, Mars, and Whirlpool chucked their high-priced consultants and brainiac research and development teams and turned to 3,000 MBA students to solve their strategic dilemmas.

Why?

The students were competing to come up with products and services by tackling the companies' real-world problems. Megacorporations are embracing such contests - the buzzword is "crowdcasting" - to keep their competitive edge by mind-melding with the next generation of business leaders.

"We're looking for that deep insight that swings a business," says Stephen Liguori, an executive with GE Money, the financial services arm of GE (Charts). "This is a chance to tap into not just the best and brightest business minds in America but also the thought leaders and early adopters that are going to be our best customers down the road."