A Theory of Responsive Design: A Field Study of Corporate Engagement with Open Source Communities

Abstract

Although our general knowledge about open source communities is extensive, we are only beginning to understand the increasingly common practices by which corporations design software through engagement with these communities. In response, we combine design theorizing with field-study research (1) to analyze rich qualitative data from over 40 corporations participating in the Linux open source community and (2) to synthesize the observed corporate-open source community engagements into a new type of information systems design theory that we call responsive design. Empirically, we document how corporate participants in these contexts respond to market decisions, interdependent ideologies, and distributed relationships by continuously establishing and maintaining connections with community members; connections that stem from the social and material rules inherent in the open source community. Based on these observations, we create the theory of responsive design as a particular form of corporate software design which, beyond the inclusion of external participants, distinguishes itself from traditional monocentric design in which one corporation controls a dedicated team of software designers focused on solving an isolated and singular organizational problem. Guided by the principles of interconnection, opportunism, and domestication, we define responsive design as the kind of design approach that enables corporate participants to create and maintain productive design practices in response to the complex and dynamic landscapes of activities that are the foundation of corporate-communal engagements. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of this new form of corporate software design.

Understanding Organization and Open Source Community Relations through the Attraction-Selection-Attrition Model

“…Organizational-communal engagement is defined as the engagement of organizational members (often employees) in an open source community [23]. Studies have found that a majority of work in open source communities comes from paid employees [2,38,42].…”

“…When contributing back, organizations have to respect the norms and values of the community [17] and devote personnel to work in the community, thereby influencing the community [14]. In response to these developments, open source practices are becoming increasingly professional and typical for organizational innovation efforts [23]. The stabilizing effect is evident in communities strategically planning development efforts, deliberately conducting analysis and design, and following a whole-product approach [18].…”

“…[12] following some rationale to contribute to the open source software development and to participate in the community [3]. Past work suggests that opportunistic behavior in leveraging open source makes organizational employees more productive in software development [23]. Upon engaging with a community and depending on an open source software for its own products and operations, an organization has the choice to take on extra responsibilities in the community to preserve it and ensure that the valuable communal resource is maintained [23].…”

“…Past work suggests that opportunistic behavior in leveraging open source makes organizational employees more productive in software development [23]. Upon engaging with a community and depending on an open source software for its own products and operations, an organization has the choice to take on extra responsibilities in the community to preserve it and ensure that the valuable communal resource is maintained [23]. Therefore, the organizational-communal engagement involves a selection process that can impact both the open source community and the organizations.…”

“…Organizations engage with open source communities through their employees who build up a reputation within the community and represent organizational interests to the community [14,23]. This organizational-communal engagement changes how open source communities operate, evolve, and govern themselves while also ensuring long-term sustainability [4,17,18,25].…”