Open Source Software Development - Just Another Case of Collective Invention?

Osterloh, Margit; Rota, Sandra

doi:10.2139/ssrn.561744

Cited by 67 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…In this framework, the increasing diffusion and adoption (Wheeler, 2007) by individual users and companies of the Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) put forward new research issues, dealing with whether and how programs developed according to the FOSS production mode turn out to be more innovative than those produced according to the traditional proprietary model. While several practitioners 1 and researchers (Raymond, 2001; Ghosh, 2006; Osterloh and Rota, 2006) agree that FOSS leads to faster incorporation of innovative ideas than the proprietary regime, others (Tuomi, 2005; Dulaney, 2007) refer to it as a simple imitation exercise. For instance, is it possible to state that a suite such as Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org) is something innovative?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Software innovativeness. A comparison between proprietary and Free/Open Source solutions offered by Italian SMEs

Lamastra¹

2009

R & D Management

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Innovation processes taking place in the software sector are already widely debated. The widespread success of Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) raises new research issues, dealing with whether and how the free circulation of ideas championed by the movement and its collective management of intellectual property rights fosters innovation. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature by addressing the following research questions: are programs based on FOSS solutions more innovative than proprietary ones, and, if so, which innovation dimensions are typical of the FOSS production mode? Based on a sample of 134 software solutions produced by Italian Small and Medium Enterprises and using a methodology frequently applied in technology management to evaluate innovativeness of products and services, this exploratory study provides initial insights into what happens when alternative metrics are used to observe complex innovation processes in the software market.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Software innovativeness. A comparison between proprietary and Free/Open Source solutions offered by Italian SMEs

Lamastra¹

2009

R & D Management

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“…Although previous studies have also considered organizational learning theory to be a theoretical lens through which to view OSSD projects , they consider OSS to be the result of a collective endeavor and OSSD to be an exploration activity. Rullani and Frederiksen also adopted organizational learning theory to interpret exploitation as the contribution of code to existing projects and exploration as the creation of new projects using completely new code and knowledge.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of openness in open collaboration: A focus on open‐source software development projects

Lee

Baek

2020

ETRI Journal

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Open‐source software development projects are well suited for exploring new ideas and acquiring knowledge from developers outside of the project. In this paper, we examine the impact of external developers on innovation in open‐source software development from the perspective of organizational learning theory. We examine the roles of external and internal developers, who “explore” and “exploit,” respectively, on the innovation performance of 17 691 open‐source software development projects whose data is stored in the GitHub platform. The results indicate that a multi‐faceted strategy, in which the exploitation successfully supports the exploration, is most effective for their success. The results also indicate that the role of exploration decreases after the release of the software.

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“…Community Enterprises have been the subjects of published research in the past decade, for example, in computer science (e.g., Müller and Gurevych, ), law (e.g., Benkler, ), history (e.g., Rosenzweig, ), information systems (e.g., Hansen et al ., ), management and innovation research (e.g., Osterloh and Rota, ), and economics (e.g., Lerner and Tirole, ). The first and major stream of literature in economics, management, and innovation research analyzes such projects from the perspective of profit‐seeking firms.…”

Section: Wikipedia As a New Form Of Enterprisementioning

confidence: 99%

Community Enterprises—An Institutional Innovation

2012

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Management research has long focused on the theory of the firm, studying for-profit organizations that produce privately owned resources based on central authority and within well-defined boundaries. In recent times, a new kind of enterprise has emerged that we call Community Enterprises. They are barrier free and extend beyond the reach of strong, personal relationships and are characterized by the production of appropriation-free resources and the absence of boundaries. Wikipedia is the most successful example of such a Community Enterprise. Assumptions and principles underneath related fields such as organizational theory, innovation economics, and industrial organization should therefore be critically examined. Terms of use: Documents inJEL-Code: D210, D230, J000.Keywords: theory of the firm, organization theory, for-profit firms, community enterprise, Wikipedia. Bruno S. Frey University of Zurich WIKIPEDIA AS A NEW FORM OF ENTERPRISEIf you search the Internet for information, you will likely be pointed to Wikipedia. Whether you are interested in the "Iraq war," the "financial crisis," "transaction costs," or "lysergic acid diethylamide," the probability is high that Wikipedia articles appear prominently in the results of the most commonly used Internet search engines. Market researchers have ranked the Internet encyclopedia among the top ten most popular websites; among news and information sites, it is the undisputed leader. As a freely accessible Internet encyclopedia, a public platform for the integration of knowledge, and a central information hub for current events and controversial topics, it provides benefits that did not previously exist. Because its size and scope has expanded beyond any other encyclopedia, Wikipedia has had a marked effect on the market for encyclopedias. Wikipedia is the most prominent example of a new form of enterprise whose contributors and users have been increasing dramatically. This innovation goes beyond Wikipedia and involves projects such as Linux, Apache, Eclipse, OpenStreetMap, and RepRap. We call this new form a "Community Enterprise" (CE).The general characteristic of CEs is that they are private organizations that produce public goods entailing a new production process in a barrier free social community. This community is organized in a polycentric, overlapping way with self-defined rules and is designed to prevent anyone, including the community itself, from gaining control over the resources it develops.C...

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Open Source Software Development - Just Another Case of Collective Invention?

Cited by 67 publications

References 89 publications

Software innovativeness. A comparison between proprietary and Free/Open Source solutions offered by Italian SMEs

Software innovativeness. A comparison between proprietary and Free/Open Source solutions offered by Italian SMEs

The role of openness in open collaboration: A focus on open‐source software development projects

Community Enterprises—An Institutional Innovation

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