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On-Line Innovation: The Case of Open Source Software Development
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of online networking during the innovation process, including its role(s) in communication, cooperation and coordination. The paper neither implicitly assumes that online computer‐based networking is a prerequisite for the innovation process nor denies the possibility that innovation can emerge and successfully survive without it. It merely presupposes that, in cases of innovation where information and communication technologies play a substantial role, non‐proprietarity may offer an interesting alternative to innovations based on proprietary knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper borrows from the theory of communities‐of‐practice, which takes into account social relations, contacts, and the transfer and incorporation of knowledge. Open source innovation is not the exclusive preserve of computer nerds, but also has implications for existing software manufacturers. The paper therefore includes the case of IBM, a company which has successfully integrated this new and more open way of collaboration into its business model.
Findings
The paper concludes that online computer‐based innovation fundamentally challenges current ways of communicating, cooperating and coordinating during the innovation and product development process. Moreover, it challenges the traditional business model in that it forces the actors involved to shift the focus from the innovation itself to the identification of new supporting services higher up the value chain. Last, but not least, it blurs the boundary between development and use, since the developer remains the key user.
Research limitations/implications
The paper addresses the implications for future research in the area.
Practical implications
The paper addresses implications for practitioners directly involved in innovation and product development.
Originality/value
This paper develops a conceptual framework for understanding product development based on non‐proprietary knowledge, which cannot be adequately accounted for by traditional corporate innovation theory alone.
... Businesses can access external information continuously, in real time, cooperate in iterative loops (Nucciarelli et al. 2017, Lindgren and Aagaard 2014, Roberts, Piller, and Luttgens 2016. The flows of information can be either mono-directional, when external information are acquired by for example analysing digital documents (Song, Kim, and Lee 2017), bi-directional, when interaction is established between internal and external sources as for example in open source projects (Vujovic and Parm Ulhøi 2008), or multidimensional, when peers exchange is established for mutual support leading to a more valuable outcome communicated to businesses (Wu and Fang 2010). The literature reviewed distinguishes between an active source of information, proactively initiating its exchange and a passive one where information are being derived from existing data and documents. ...
... Ideas can as well be realized together with customers. Cooperating on open source projects was a frequently used example in this review to highlight how firms' internal resources can be merged with engaged customers to co-create a final product that mirrors both, the firms' and the external input (Nucciarelli et al. 2017, Nambisan and Baron 2009, Vujovic and Parm Ulhøi 2008. Outsourcing the task to an online crowd, a wide online audience with a diverse set of skills, is another way, how ideas can be realized including external insights (Martinez and Walton 2014). ...
... It at the same time increases the customers' satisfaction, facilitates building up a relationship and extends the company's network (Franke and von Hippel 2003). Most importantly however, as several theories point out the significance of knowledge (Cyert and March 1963, Teece and Pisano 1994, Brown and Duguid 2000, by watching and working together with external entities, firms learn, developing and extending internal competencies (Vujovic and Parm Ulhøi 2008). ...
The concept of open innovation and business models as well as the connection of both have attracted immense interest of scientists and practitioners over the past years. These meanwhile well-established research streams and common strategic practice are now being disrupted by the technology advancement of the currently ongoing digital revolution. To shed light upon the changes that digitalization brings for open innovation and the impact these have on the business model, the authors have conducted a systematic literature review enriched by a bibliographic analysis to enhance the understanding of the development of the field. This review shows that digitalization extends the practice of open innovation fundamentally, having major impact on all areas of the business model. In general, literature advises practitioners on engaging digitalization for their open innovation strategy, pointing out potential benefits. However, research still lacks further investigation in several directions, which are discussed in this review.
... Open source innovation offers an interesting means of organizing software development. OSS projects are exemplars of a "soft" mode of governance (Schultze and Orlikowski, 2001), as open source innovation is based on online communication; i.e., the Internet, which has been described by Vujovic and Ulhøi (2008) as an e-R&D networking tool for openness and teamwork and for decentralized linkages and knowledge flows. Since OSS projects are based on online communication, cooperation, and coordination, they can be characterized as virtual organizations or communities. ...
... This kind of innovation activity, which is focused on creating publicly available software, relies largely on a community of voluntary contributors (i.e., software developers and users). Vujovic and Ulhøi (2008) emphasize that the transfer and sharing of knowledge in such a community involves various kinds of social interaction. Vujovic and Ulhøi (2008) argue that tighter intra-and inter-organizational linkages increase efficiency by streamlining the handoffs between activities, thus accelerating delivery times. ...
... Vujovic and Ulhøi (2008) emphasize that the transfer and sharing of knowledge in such a community involves various kinds of social interaction. Vujovic and Ulhøi (2008) argue that tighter intra-and inter-organizational linkages increase efficiency by streamlining the handoffs between activities, thus accelerating delivery times. ...
... The benefits of open innovation are widely accepted in open source software development communities [11]. In its broadest sense, software innovation refers to research and development (R&D) activities that involve intellectual capital, physical products, and processes in software production [12] . Chesbrough [10] also observed that strategic innovations have typically been regarded as company's most valuable competitive assets, which also serve as barriers to entry to competitors. ...
... Conversely, in an open environment, a company's ability to remain competitive increasingly relies on utilizing accessible resources in the continuous development of new and superior products and services. In business environments characterized by growing instability, this approach enables them to remain competitive [12]. Reuse and interoperability are apparent in FOSS development [14]. ...
Free and Open Source Software is a software development philosophy that gives organizations the freedom to use, study alter and redistribute the software to their own strategic and competitive advantage. This paper attempts to propose a model for the collaborative use of FOSS within IT departments of public and private sectors in the Philippines and to address the prevailing issues and challenges that hinder organizations in adopting FOSS to workplaces. The components of the model, alongside the applicable guidelines and best practices, are anchored to various literature. The study revealed that organizations involved in the study have high enthusiasm for FOSS collaboration and establishment of a FOSS community.
... These communities are also responsible for the creation of a control or governance structure which in turn controls the project lifecycle. This governance structure grows from individual motivation and develops into one social control mechanism [10,26,27]. This social control creates conformity for certain moral and cultural rules within the development community [10]. ...
... Indeed Zeitlyn [9] compared the relationship of OSS developers and their projects to that of parents and their children, in as much as parents always give everything to their children without expecting anything in return. In addition to this reasoning a number of other benefits of OSS have been identified [25,27,28,29,30]. Acquisition cost of OSS is generally lower than proprietary software and may even be completely free of cost and thus may eliminate the financial burdens of proprietary licensing schemes. ...
... OSCs are dedicated to developing and sharing non-proprietary software or hardware solutions (e.g., Mozilla Developer Community) (Vujovic and Ulhøi 2008). Innovation marketplaces are platforms managed by the third-party (intermediary) innovation brokers that connect innovation sponsors (problem-owners) to a large community of potential problem-solvers mainly through the organizing of innovation contests (e.g., InnoCentive) (Hossain 2018). ...
While open innovation organizations have grown in popularity, they hold a high failure rate. This paper identifies limiting factors that contribute to this high failure rate at three levels: strategy, process, and community. After validating and expanding these limits through a case study, the paper offers a framework identifying success factors for open innovation and their hierarchical relationships. We classified these success factors into six groups, design, implementation, technology, operation, community readiness, and community development, and their relationships into four groups, deployment, engagement, evaluation, and governance. This framework and the accompanying propositions offer a better theoretical understanding of open innovation models and provide practical recommendations toward their viability, survivability, scalability, and profitability. Lastly, the paper discusses possible research avenues for the further development of open innovation organizations.
... In open innovation, firms not only govern internal R&D practices with inbound external knowledge through product development but manage outflows of internal knowledge to seek new market opportunities through outbound licensing [44]. The open innovation approach can create a collaborative flat network of different parties devoted to knowledge exchanges to favor innovations [45][46][47]. ...
This study examines how social trust facilitates firms’ collaborative efficiency in an informal economy. We extend the open innovation theory to explain the straightforward role of social trust in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. This single case study yields two principal findings. First, social trust fosters the efficient integration of value chains for mobile phone development. Four types of informal entrepreneurs with high social trust built on homogenous sanctioned ethnic groups (i.e., Fujian, Hunan, Chaoshan, and Wenzhou) collaboratively conform to the chip vendors, independent design houses, integrators, manufacturers and channel retailers in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. These four groups of informal entrepreneurs achieve ethnic legitimacy by organizing the value chains with mobile feature phones built on Shenzhen mobile phone modes. Second, social trust among the four sanctioned ethnic groups is a critical determinant for shortening the time-to-market of new products and catalyzes product specialization to effectively respond to market needs in the Shenzhen mobile phone industry. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for research on social trust and open innovation in informal institutions.
... Corporate-communal engagement in open source is manifest in many ways and has been explored to varying degrees, challenging traditional corporate-based ways of innovating (Rajala, Westerlund, & Möller, 2012;West & Gallagher, 2006). Vujovic and Ulhøi (2008) studied IBM as one of the most famous and successful cases of corporations evolving business models and relationships to integrate innovative corporate approaches with open source software communities. A corporate-communal engagement "forces the actors involved to shift focus from the innovation itself to the identification of new supporting services higher up the value chain" (Vujovic & Ulhøi, 2008, p. 142). ...
Corporations increasingly engage with open source software communities in the co‐creation of software. This collaboration between corporate professionals and open source software community members is strikingly different from the early days of software development where for‐profit firms attempted to dominate and control the industry while attempting to throttle the success of independent developers offering an alternative, open source option. While many metaphors like trading zones, common pool resources and ecosystems have helped understand the phenomenon, the metaphors do not portray what the industry was like before and after the transition. We adopt a postcolonial metaphor as an analytical lens to examine such collaboration based on qualitative data gathered over three years from executives, managers and developers within corporations that engage in open source software development. Drawing on these insights, we then theorize a “Third Design Space,” based on the concept of the third space proposed by Bhabha. This metaphor encourages the cultivation of a new design environment, creation of new design associations and circulation of shared design resources. Together these practices and behaviours make it possible to nurture innovative methods and new rituals for designing software with results and methods that represent a distinct departure from the competitive and proprietary past, even creating innovative artefacts that could not have been created without the Third Design Space.
... In recent years, solving societal problems through online innovation communities has received a significant amount of attention in various fields [1]. A notable example of the online social innovation community is Ushahidi, an open-source mapping technology created during the natural disaster in Haiti, which utilized geographic information to help solve the human rights problems with the help of volunteers participating through the online community [2]. ...
The widespread adoption of the social computing paradigm has ushered in the development of online social innovation community (OSIC) as a promising method for solving social problems. Previous studies have not explicitly considered the conceptual factors that facilitate these communities’ users’ innovative activities, so it is vital to conduct empirical studies to verify the effectiveness of these factors. In this paper, the primary goals are to construct a theoretical model of the social innovation and empirically verify the casual relationship between theoretical factors and societal innovativeness. A survey of 398 OSIC users was conducted to empirically validate the theoretical model. The causal relationships between network characteristics and social innovativeness were experimentally tested. The results of this study indicated that ambiguity, switching, and multiplexity are important factors that facilitate social innovativeness, which contradicts the prior assumptions about innovation performance.
... Indeed, successful OSS/technical support (OSS developer support) increases the fit of a project interest with OSS users, which can increase OSS popularity (Ghosh et al., 2013) . Past research highlights that the OSS project environment enables more diversity and creativity given the high level of interactions and communication between different parts, producing higher levels of innovation (Vujovic & Ulhøi, 2008;Aksulu & Wade, 2010) . These interactions and the resulting potential creativity are essential to attracting potential users, thus generating popularity (Nambisan & Wilemon, 2000) . ...
Following the growing interest and concerns regarding the open source software (OSS) phenomenon among academics and practitioners, many studies have been conducted to understand the factors that influence OSS success. However, research has primarily explored such factors in the context of well-known projects, such as Linux and Apache. Yet, lesser-known projects must be examined to gain a more complete understanding. Accordingly, this paper focuses on lesser-known projects to examine three factors that influence OSS popularity: user-developer interaction, market potential and development stage. Specifically, we develop an empirical model of OSS popularity and test our hypotheses on data from 657 open source projects. The findings show that the combination of the three factors has a positive effect on OSS popularity. Moreover, in contrast to previous research, the results reveal that exchanges among users and developers have a stronger influence on OSS popularity than bug-related activities. Overall, this research provides a novel way to measure OSS popularity for lesser-known projects and offers organizations a better understanding of OSS.
... CBPP is a socio-technical system, which consists of both social and technical components (Phang, Kankanhalli, and Sabherwal, 2009). As a socio-technical system, CBPP enables online collaboration to occur with less degree of central planning or control (Vujovic and Ulhøi, 2008). Take the F/OSS projects as an example. ...
This study examines how individual motivation and governance structure of online collaboration affect individual contribution and efficacy in a Commons-based Peer Production (CBPP) community. Using survey data and structural equation modeling, this study demonstrates motivational factors alone cannot fully predict CBPP outcomes. How people perceive their freedom in setting their own agenda affects their confidence in producing artefacts for reuse. It also provides evidence that how individuals perceive their own ability in peer production significantly affects their relationships with the collective. Built upon a social practice view, this study highlights that efficacy at both individual and community levels should be viewed as important outcomes of cooperative human activity. This study contributes to the literature on CBPP and virtual communities by demonstrating the value of open governance and self-efficacy (128 words).
... FLOSS refers to software applications or tools that are distributed attached with source code under specific licenses that typically enable free reuse of the software, ability to apply modifications to the software code, and the ability to redistribute (and potentially fork) the software back to the open source community (Subramanyam and Xia, 2008). We selected to develop the RCE Saskatchewan OC using a FLOSS model given the inherent characteristics of FLOSS and the Free Software movement; which promote innovation and creativity through volunteerism and community enrichment (Krogh and Spaeth, 2007;Vujovic and Ulhoi, 2008). We also selected a FLOSS model to provide an example accessible to other RCEs around the world interested in developing a similar OC for their own RCE. ...
Over the last several decades there has been an increasing interest in topics related to sustainable development (SD). Given the increased attention by current media and literature on this topic and the increasing size of our ecological footprint, more and more citizens are becoming engaged in the discussions around SD. Many SD issues span regional and state boundaries and are viewed from a diversity of global perspectives. It remains clear that regardless of boundary or perspective, availability and transmission of quality information that facilitates excellence in research and education while enabling meaningful collaboration are critical to the degree to which sustainability is achieved. To help promote education for sustainable development (ESD), the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) has recently implemented a program which seeks to provide recognition to regions that develop regionally-based, globally-accessible networks researching and advancing ESD. These Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) raise community awareness and promote regional and global collaboration in support of ESD within their specific regions. This paper will document our experiences in constructing the technological supports needed to advance the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development in Saskatchewan, Canada (RCE Saskatchewan). Distinctive to our experience is the development of a web-based support infrastructure created exclusively using Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) technologies. In this paper we will discuss the general organization of the RCE Saskatchewan web system, how this organization reflects the overall structure of the RCE and its intended users, the FLOSS technologies used in its creation, the underlying rationale in using these technologies, and the resulting impacts of our decisions in the development of the RCE. We also discuss system utility and usability as indicated by our site members and provide a discussion of future directions for site design and implementation of new technologies.
... However, at the same time, OSS communities distinguish themselves from traditional business organisations in that they are basically open to anyone to 5 participate, participation is voluntary, there is a high degree of self-assignment, and they don't have a physical location like a headquarters. This is enabled by modularization of the software and by distributed activities allowing for rather loosely managed and structured development processes that leave the developers free to chose which tasks to execute (Vujovic & Ulhøi, 2008). Demil and Lecocq (2006) argue open license is indeed a unique contractual framework that has generated a new type of governance structure distinct from the familiar governance modes of hierarchy, network, and market. ...
Purpose – Deliberate change is strongly associated with formal structures and top-down influence. Hierarchical configurations have been used to structure processes, overcome resistance and get things done. But is deliberate change also possible without formal structures and hierarchical influence?
Design/Methodology/Approach – This longitudinal, qualitative study investigates an open-source software (OSS) community named TYPO3. This case exhibits no formal hierarchical attributes. The study is based on mailing lists, interviews, and observations.
Findings – The study reveals that deliberate change is indeed achievable in a non-hierarchical collaborative OSS community context. However, it presupposes the presence and active involvement of informal change agents. The paper identifies and specifies four key drivers for change agents’ influence.
Originality/value – The findings contribute to organizational analysis by providing a deeper understanding of the importance of leadership in making deliberate change possible in non-hierarchical settings. It points to the importance of 'change-by-conviction', essentially based on voluntary behaviour. This can open the door to reducing the negative side effects of deliberate change also for hierarchical organizations.
... While the device developed and tested in this research has similar features to existing products, the methodology, implementation, and motivation are original. possible to exploit the "crowd wisdom" that arises from heterogeneous mindsets and knowledge diversity [16][17][18][19][20]. Collaboration amongst different people to develop the final product means that the distinctions between manufacturer and customer are disappearing, thereby building new collaborative networks [21,22]. Actually, this cooperation is understood to be an effective mechanism for increasing innovation efficiency and creativity [4,23]. ...
The adoption of open innovation and peer production, powered by 3D printing technology, is transforming traditional manufacturing methods towards a “third industrial revolution”. The purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence for an integrated approach, based on collaborative product development and peer production, combined with 3D printing, to deliver more sustainable, yet competitive, marketable products. In particular, this experimental study is conducted in the context of mobile forensics, an emerging market where limited expensive products exist and alternative solutions are needed. The technical viability and economic feasibility of the prototype developed in this research validate the proposed integrated approach, which could be a game-changer in the field of mobile forensics, as well as in other sectors. The sustainability improvements with this approach are a reduction of the total cost, thereby making it affordable for lower income users, and a decrease in energy consumption and pollutant emissions. The validated integrated approach offers start-up opportunities to develop and deliver more sustainable, marketable products, towards the paradigm of Open Sustainable Innovation. While the device developed and tested in this research has similar features to existing products, the methodology, implementation, and motivation are original.
... The benefit is the possibility to use "crowd wisdom", created by social aggregations of individuals (Surowiecki 2005;Felin 2012; Garcia Martinez and Walton 2014). The collaboration of different researchers, to develop a final product, means that the distinction between manufacturer and customer is disappearing, thereby building new collaborative networks (Koch 2004;Vujovic and Ulhøi 2008). Actually, this cooperation is understood to be an effective mechanism to increase innovation efficiency and creativity (Antikainen, Mäkipää, and Ahonen 2010;Grimaldi, Cricelli, and Rogo 2012). ...
... In recent years, solving societal problems through online innovation communities has received a significant amount of attention in various fields [1]. A notable example of the online social innovation community is Ushahidi, an open-source mapping technology created during the natural disaster in Haiti, which utilized geographic information to help solve the human rights problems with the help of volunteers participating through the online community [2]. ...
As social computing becomes widespread, the online innovation community has been proposed as a promising way to solve societal problems. However, not many studies have been conducted to identify conceptual factors that facilitate the innovation activities of community users. Empirical studies to verity the effectiveness of these factors are even more in need. The main goals of this study are to construct theoretical model of societal innovativeness and to empirically verify the causal relationship between the theoretical factors and societal innovativeness. Two conceptual factors, ambiguity and switching, which have been usually regarded as negative factors for innovative performance, are proposed in this study for societal innovativeness based on the theoretical framework of network and communication. A survey study with 250 users of online social innovation community was conducted to establish the theoretical model. Results from this study indicate that ambiguity and switching are indeed important factors to facilitate societal innovativeness, which are contradictory to common senses about their effects on innovative performance. This paper ends with the theoretical and practical implications of the study results.
... In OSS projects, online communication via the Internet is used to capture and store knowledge through the systematic collection and coding of tasks in files and lists, e.g. development lists, where discussion centers on topics pertaining to the next release of the software in question [38]. Scacchi [39] examined the process of requirements engineering in open source projects and provided a comparison with traditional processes. ...
The use of free and open source software (OSS) is gaining momentum due to the ever increasing availability and use of the Internet. Organizations are also now adopting open source software, despite some reservations, in particular regarding the provision and availability of support. Some of the biggest concerns about free and open source software are post release software defects and their rectification, management of dynamic requirements and support to the users. A common belief is that there is no appropriate support available for this class of software. A contradictory argument is that due to the active involvement of Internet users in online forums, there is in fact a large resource available that communicates and manages the provision of support. The research model of this empirical investigation examines the evidence available to assess whether this commonly held belief is based on facts given the current developments in OSS or simply a myth, which has developed around OSS development. We analyzed a dataset consisting of 1880 open source software projects covering a broad range of categories in this investigation. The results show that online forums play a significant role in managing software defects, implementation of new requirements and providing support to the users in open source software and have become a major source of assistance in maintenance of the open source projects.
... Because the Internet offers real-time communication, it can be described as an e-R&D networking tool for internal and external collaboration. The Internet can foster internal learning networks by establishing and enhancing the quantity and quality of communications(Vujovic and Ulhoi, 2008;Kessler and Alpar, 2009).However, the trend toward open-source innovation, with its focus on network usage, is not limited to the software industry. In the product and service sectors, an increasing number of R&D projects display a variety of characteristics that are usually associated with open-source software projects (Müller-Seitz and Reger, 2010). ...
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of inside-out open innovation (as opposed to closed innovation) on firm innovation performance. Inside-out open innovation involves the exploitation of existing internal technologies through innovation and commercialization.
Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses are tested empirically using survey data collected from stock-listed companies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The data include the complete responses from 141 R&D managers for the period from 2004 to 2008.
Findings – The results reveal that companies that emphasize inside-out open innovation are more likely to create radical innovations and tend to sell a greater number of new products. Companies pursuing closed innovation are more likely to exhibit a higher incremental product innovation performance.
Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional data approach and its dependency on the perceptions and experiences of the respondents has its limitations. Future research should extend the focus and concept of this study and explore additional closed and open innovation strategies.
Originality/value – The adoption of open innovation in practice has not been examined in depth. This study provides empirical insights into the open innovation approaches in German-speaking countries and, by drawing important conclusions and implications for managers involved in the R&D processes, fills a gap in the innovation management literature.
... The second factor, technology, refers to technical solutions such as on-line communities. These enables on-line communication, and an integration of different competencies and knowledge to sustain the development process (Antikainen and Väätäjä 2008;Arakji and Lang 2007;Davison and Blackman 2005;Füller, Matzler, and Hoppe 2008;Vujovic and Ulhøi 2008). ...
Innovation has come to replace efficiency and quality as the main source of competitive advantage for firms from the 1990s onwards. Hence, to an increasing extent, organisations need to consider in which ways they can achieve higher levels of innovative thinking and flexibility. Moreover, the creation of today's complex systems of products, services and processes requires a merging of knowledge from diverse perspectives, e.g. disciplinary or skill-based. One common way to meet these challenges is to set up boundary crossing collaborative groups. The idea is that innovative processes can be fertilised by having people with differentiated knowledge collaborating. Knowledge necessary for innovation and product/service development is, therefore, increasingly distributed both within and across organisations or other types of stakeholders, posing new challenges. To manage these challenges one new approach is evolving, called Living Labs. In this paper we present an innovative development process of a mobile service, taking a Living Lab approach. This paper focus on the effects of openness in an innovation process supported by a Living Lab approach for development of mobile services. The study shows that the innovation process was remarkably shortened in the open and multi-perspective process.
... On the other side, decentralized networks are more appropriate in a modular innovation setting, in which several equal partners contribute. Such decentralized networks are typical for open source software development, in which online communication plays a critical role in supporting knowledge sharing (Vujovic and Ulhøi, 2008). No single network member has total control and standards are determined though market processes or negotiation (Langlois and Robertson, 1991). ...
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of an open outside-in innovation management strategy on companies' innovativeness and innovation performance. Specifically, it focuses on the adoption of the open innovation paradigm in practice and the extent of collaboration with different stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach – The proposed hypotheses are tested empirically using survey data collected from stock-listed companies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The data include the complete responses from 141 R&D managers for the period from 2004 to 2008.
Findings – The openness of the outside-in process in R&D management is of crucial importance for achieving high direct and indirect innovation output effects. In particular, openness towards customers, suppliers and universities has a significant positive impact on the different innovation performance measures. Regarding openness towards cross-sector companies, the analysis reveals a significant negative effect on innovation performance.
Research limitations/implications – The utilization of cross-sectional data and its dependency on the perceptions and experiences of the respondents has its limitations. Thus, future research should be based on a more longitudinal design that emphasizes quantitative measurement techniques.
Originality/value – To date, the adoption of open innovation in practice has not been examined in depth. This study provides empirical insights into the open innovation approaches in German-speaking countries and, by drawing important conclusions for managers involved in the R&D processes, fills a gap in the innovation management literature.
... The main idea of open source software is that the source code is released together with the binaries, allowing anyone to study, change and redistribute them freely (Daffara, 2000). Similar to any user innovation networks (von Hippel, 2007), open source software development usually occurs in an online communitybased environment (Vujovic & Ulhøi, 2008), co-ordinated among a handful to thousands of participants involved in code writing, testing, bug reporting and maintaining of the software (Tuomi, 2002) outside any one firm's boundaries (Lee & Cole, 2003). All these open source activities could be regarded as knowledgesharing activities (Endres et al., 2007;Sowe, Stamelos & Angelis, 2008). ...
Employees of commercial software firms who participate in open source software projects are found to be allegiant to both their company and the open source community. In this paper we examine how these employees' dual allegiance influences their knowledge sharing behaviour. We adopt Husted and Michailova's model on dual allegiance and knowledge sharing in inter-firm R&D collaborations to the context of open source software firms. We argue that the type of allegiance the individual holds towards their employing firm and the open source community has a strong influence of how they share knowledge with other community members. We use the examples of two open source software firms in New Zealand to ground the empirical inspiration of our paper and to illustrate our key ideas and arguments. We discuss the knowledge governance challenges imposed by employees' dual allegiance and how managers of open source software firms can balance the demands of the open source community and the interests of the clients.
... Open Source Software (OSS) products such as Apache, Firefox and Linux have rapidly acquired a notable importance [40], [41] in the last few years among consumers and firms [41] all over the world. They are mostly developed through online social networks [40], [42] as well as with the voluntary and collaborative actions of their members [40], [43]. Yet another very important aspect of Online Social Networks is that of privacy, conduct and security. ...
Online Social Networking (OSN) Sites are virtual places that cater to a specific population in which people of similar interest gather to communicate, share and discuss ideas. Many researchers have studied the effects of these networks and most have inferred that they foster relationship building and communications among those involved. This research is a study aimed at identifying the interface features most desired by users of well known Online Social Network (OSN's). The authors have undertaken an Empirical. Investigation from two demographic subsets of people from United Arab Emirates. The outcome of this study could be of importance to the design of innovative Online Social Networks.
Purpose
Online customer reviews is an important information resource for product innovation. This study aims to investigate the impact of online customer reviews on iterative innovation of software products and the moderating roles of product complexity in the process of online reviews influencing product iterative innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
To empirically test the hypotheses, this paper built a panel data of 500 software products from 2019 to 2021 and applied Poisson regression analysis.
Findings
Empirically results reveal that both sentiment and quantity of online customer reviews have positive effects on iteration innovation of software products. In addition, the authors find that product complexity negatively moderates the relationship between online reviews and iterative innovation.
Practical implications
This study suggests that firms can acquire valuable information from customers’ online reviews for product iterative innovation and improvement. However, for high-complexity products, it may be difficult for enterprises to obtain useful information for iterative innovation from online reviews. On the other hand, this study provides a reference for firms to choose more useful online reviews from the perspective of sentiment.
Originality/value
This paper provides a new finding that there is a positive relationship between online customer reviews and iterative innovation of software products. Moreover, the authors also provide a deeper understanding of how online customer reviews affects iterative innovation by examining the moderating roles of product complexity.
The article is theoretical and analytical in nature and aims to identify the manifestations of social innovations in e-learning education at the Wroclaw University of Economics and Business during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on the need for academics to use innovative (novel) distance learning tools. In addition, an attempt was made to assess the impact of selected tools on the development of new competencies among students. In order to achieve this goal, a proprietary online questionnaire was developed and free interviews were conducted with students. The survey was created in MS Forms application. A total of 151 students (second year) studying at the Faculty of Production Engineering of the Wroclaw University of Economics were surveyed. The survey period was in the summer semester 2020/2021. The study showed that the use of virtual tools contributed to the development of additional skills among students, such as teamwork and collaboration skills or creativity.
Purpose
Pandemics are a serious challenge for humanity, as their social and economic impacts can be tremendous. This study aims to understand how innovation based in the sharing economy (SE) business models can contribute to overcoming the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a netnographic approach, the authors studied the computer-mediated social interactions of internet-based virtual innovation communities.
Findings
This study found that the SE business models contribute to overcome the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic by redistributing idle resources to lessen the impacts of confinement. This was achieved through process innovations and an innovative use of the network, which enabled fast-open and decentralized innovation processes, and quick implementation of innovations. This innovation process is based on a decentralized decision-making approach, clear rules, informal relationship among community members and open communication channels, as well as in evasive strategies to avoid facing challenges, institutional restrictions and barriers in the adoption of innovations.
Research limitations/implications
This study was limited to a virtual innovation community of highly specialized and educated experts and nine community projects focused on institutional contexts of a developed country. Future research should focus on the institutional contexts of less specialized communities and developing countries and study other community innovation projects in pandemics to understand the processes of fast-open, decentralized and evasive innovation and the importance of relational capabilities for innovation in digital contexts.
Practical implications
The findings can guide innovation managers and public policymakers in implementing effective strategies and policies to overcome pandemic challenges using SE business models. This research also provides important insights into the types and processes of innovation in organizations that create solutions to overcome social and business challenges during pandemics. In addition, this study highlights the contributions of netnographic approaches to conducting research on innovation and in pandemic periods when measures of confinement are in place.
Originality/value
This study uses an innovative framework to map the types of innovation and highlights two different types of innovation processes.
For SMEs, innovation should be embedded it in the organisational culture in order to enable the creation and integration of the physical and virtual worlds, for an enriched customer experience tailored to their needs. There is a myriad of innovation typologies and levels of analysis present in the literature emanating from many disciplines such as management, psychology, economics, sociology and science (Kristiansen 2012). This article focuses on innovation in order to identify and analyse the types and sources of innovation encountered for SMEs by applying different frameworks and perspectives.
There are four trends reshaping the world of business-technological advances and the speed with which new technologies are created and copied, the loss of geographic advantage resulting from globalization, the shake-up of traditionally stable industries as a result of deregulation and the rising power of the consumer and their ability to get what they want, when they want it, from whomever they want. With this in mind, the collaboration experience becomes one of the greatest competitive aspects for a business’s survival. This has made companies realize the significance of the two levers of Customer Value Management –Co-creation and Collaboration. Further, with the internet having built an open network where information can flow freely, innovation, entrepreneurship and democracy are fast thriving over the world. Self directed co-creation is a wide range of consumer activities that amount to consumer-side production of value. Thus individuals, online communities have become a considerable prolific force in e- commerce. This research paper details the usage of online communities as tool for co-creation and collaboration The research study further classifies the online communities of organizations on the basis of their scores on co-creation and collaboration and further goes on to develop a Community Co-creation and Collaboration Matrix (CCCM). The online communities which depict a high score on co-creation and collaboration are the most desirable from the organization’s perspective. They facilitate a dynamic environment in terms of reciprocity and optimal level of customization for a win-win organization-community member relationship. Co-creation and collaboration is the strategic outcome of collaborative customer relationship management. Thus online communities can be used to achieve the two important functions of Customer Relationship Management i.e. co-creation and collaboration.
The research encompasses the basic understanding of all types of organizational innovations that companies need to survive and also to leapfrog the competition by means of a radical idea or breakthrough innovation. The major emphasis is based on Disruptive innovation (DI) which displaces the existing market and creates new niches and subsequently markets. Being disruptive in nature it has potential to influence the entire industry and uproot even the biggest players of industry therefore the big and small both organization cautiously have devised techniques to cope up with existing or future DI. The study focuses on one specific DI called Open innovation which is methodology of organization to open the inflow and outflow of knowledge instead of hoarding it inside the organizational boundaries. The organizations such as Google, Apple, IBM etc. are the examples that have pioneered the market based on their open innovation model and have changed the way their respective industries function. Such changes in the business ecosystem require the incumbent firms to devise some strategies to cope up with the effect of DI and the study has developed a conceptual model of firms' coping strategies for the companies. The study also illustrates the chosen coping strategy of firms with respect to R&D capabilities, organizational structure and available resources at disposal.
http://www.agba.us/pdf/2019-Conference-proceedings.pdf#page=268
This study addresses the research gap for partner formation within innovation tournaments. A minimal set of conditions is evaluated under which partnership formation is inevitable for direct contestants and purposeful for organisations not directly competing for the prize reward. The total solver population is modelled according to a knowledge-based view, while reducing the variety of strategic alternatives for partners and contestants under the constraints of an innovation tournament. As is the case with tournaments of greater scope and impact, deviations in the problem/strategy fit are explained by ‘spin-offs’ and reconciled by considering dimensions which are valid outside of direct problem domain: appropriation of knowledge in the market economy, equity stake in contestants plus mutual monetary compensations and the publicity participants enjoy from enthusiastic spectators. It is proposed, that uncertainties specific for each dimensions govern who will join whom throughout the competition. The contestant-partner dyad is then tested on the knowledge dimension with an array of dedicated teams and two opposing types of partners: publicly funded vs. privately funded research. Results show that theory and a novel construct for characterizing a team’s strategy can explain partnership formation. Further analysis reveals the structural impact of the tournament and other criteria for partner selection. The implications are discussed and find its way into theory, further avenues of research and suggestions for tournament designers that are beyond common design elements of incentive structure, breadth of broadcast and entrance restrictions.
Generally, software used by individuals and organizations are proprietary software. Proprietary software usually provides hidden source codes, available at a specific cost, and limited flexibility on copyright licenses. On the other hand, open source software appears with some competitive features to proprietary software. The unique part of open source software is a development concept that harnesses open development from a wide community and decentralized peer review. This development process is effective in terms of software quality and the lowered software production cost. This paper presents an account of literature review to provide insights into the strengths of the concept of open source software development and to develop a case for its application in collaborative research environments to enhance and further develop the technical infrastructure to support asset lifecycle.
For SMEs, innovation should be embedded it in the organisational culture in order to enable the creation and integration of the physical and virtual worlds, for an enriched customer experience tailored to their needs. There is a myriad of innovation typologies and levels of analysis present in the literature emanating from many disciplines such as management, psychology, economics, sociology and science (Kristiansen 2012). This article focuses on innovation in order to identify and analyse the types and sources of innovation encountered for SMEs by applying different frameworks and perspectives.
The Internet has become ubiquitous in the business environment. Hence, innovative companies need to utilize all the sources that this medium can provide. The voices of consumers are shared by the use of many Web tools and may be advantageous in the innovation process. Information architecture needs conceptual models to facilitate the development of its deliverables in the form of blueprints, sitemaps, wireframes, personas, and so on. Based on the findings of a scoping review of the relevant literature and a case study on Brazilian companies, both a theoretical reference and a framework are presented. This chapter aims to highlight that some Internet technologies should be used throughout the stages in the innovation process. Because each technology has both benefits and limitations, the framework may be used to indicate the technologies that are the most appropriate based on the evidence collected. Finally, some implications of each technology for innovation are discussed.
Open Source Software (OSS) is defined as a computer software that is freely provided and which permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in a modified or an unmodified forms. OSS is developed in a highly social online environment where developers are dispersed in space and time, but rarely interact in a face-to-face manner. Literature in this field specifies many successful OSS implementations in Academic Institutions globally. Educational Institutions have diverse opinion on the academic use of OSS. The concept of open access and the proliferation of academic blogs have broken down many barriers in the educational sector. With the reference of studies conducted in various countries such as Switzerland, USA, Australia, UK etc., it can be said that there are two distinct views on the academic acceptance of OSS. One view is in favor of the use of OSS, while the other is hesitant about OSS thinking that it could suppress the creativity of individuals. OSS represents a social dimension of Learning through a Persistent, Unified, Massively Multi-User, and Self-Organizing Virtual Environment extending beyond the traditional classroom into the universities common areas where learners build knowledge and understanding through serendipitous and collaborative exchanges both within and across subject area boundaries. The digitization of education is a relatively new phenomenon but has already transformed the education sector .Most Educational Institutions are operated on a non-profit basis and many of them are government funded. Open Source Software’s are freely available on well-known OSS Project community providers such as www.SourceForge.net and hence can be implemented in Educational Institutions at no procurement costs. This research is an attempt to examine the differences between the implementation of OSS and Proprietary software’s in Educational Institutions. Findings of this study could facilitate Universities and Educational Institutions to evaluate the options of using OSS for their Information Technology or Information Systems requirements.
This article defines business models for sustainability as contested and contextual, and provides a novel framework in terms of the architecture of the business, its principles and components for the analysis of such models. With this framework, a preliminary comparison using the engaged scholarship methodology is made between microbreweries and large multinational brewers. It is concluded that defining and determining comparative sustainability performance based on different business models results in ambiguities and contradictions that are not readily resolved, but a key determinant in the broad definition of business sustainability in the brewing sector is the degree of localism that the business model exhibits.
Firms are developing online communities that facilitate online communication of their consumers for innovation purposes, such as new product development or virtual product design. This is forming co-innovation, innovation with end users. This study selects a case study of an online community to investigate the process of innovation on this community and what factors drive co-innovation. Based on social capital theory and a social media perspective, the research has a number of implications. The results of content analysis of this online innovation community show that the interconnectivity of users produces social capital, which in turn drives co-innovation. Integrating social capital theory and social media can develop a theoretical background in the area of co-innovation and suggest practical implications for the market. Drivers, process and types of co-innovation are discussed in this paper. Limitations and future research direction are suggested at the end of this research.
This volume contains a newly compiled version of the Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Environmental Software Systems 2009 (ISESS 2009), published by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).
The original version was a USB with individual PDF articles linked together. This SECOND EDITION contains the complete proceedings as one document and has been produced with permission of the copyright holder, IFIP and IFIP WG5.11 “Computers and Environment”. The intention behind creating this SECOND EDITION was to make those volumes of ENVIRONMENTAL SOFTWARE SYSTEMS easily available on-line which are not available through a commercial publisher.
This edition has been created based on the original PDFs on the USB. A table of contents and dividing pages between the chapters have been added. Where easily possible, a few technical and printing errata have been corrected during compilation. Note that in the original TOC some papers seem to appear in the wrong section. However I have kept the original order synchronous with the USB, with the exception of the workshop papers, which have been moved to the last section.
The original material was published by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) under ISBN 978-3-901882-364.
The financial meltdown has affected businesses around the globe. Businesses are facing extreme pressures to reduce overheads, rationalize costs, and consolidate operations. It is, therefore, decisive to scrutinize all of the options available to the business before making an investment into information technology infrastructure and select the best option within the available means towards growth and seizing long term opportunities. These considerations are even more important in government departments or agencies, where broader public good and the need to demonstrate responsible usage of taxpayer funds are always paramount. Open source technology presents itself as a viable alterative to proprietary software and offers best little opportunity cost and trade offs. Open source software technologies offer genuinely collaborative innovation, at a fraction of cost, and provide robust and secure solutions. This paper presents a study of the open source software penetration in Australian state governments departments, and puts into perspective the value that open source software can add to these departments. It examines why the adoption of OSS for e-government is successfully utilized elsewhere but not in Australia.
The average owner of a small firm may feel that corporate governance is a topic that is of little interest to them or the operation of their business. However, this is due to the focus on ‘corporate’ and not governance within much of the debate in this area; there is no doubt that if we see governance as a holistic concept that is interested in fairness, responsibility, transparency and accountability then the relevance to small and medium sized firms (SMEs) becomes apparent. Indeed, given the difficult economic climate and the resultant difficulty for SMEs to access finance, you could argue that an interest in governance is not an option but a necessity for a large number of SMEs.
The aim of paper is to explore how key decision makers who manage SMEs understand governance and what the term “governance” means to them. Secondly the paper aims to put forward empirical evidence to support the “holistic model of governance” that the authors have developed. The paper builds on previous research conducted by the authors and aims to add empirical evidence to develop the theoretical framework that has been synthesised from reviewing the literature on governance and small business management.
The paper has been informed by face-to-face interview that were conducted during 2012 and the finding from these interviews have been used to develop a questionnaire that was distributed to a random sample of SMEs based in the UK, during 2013. The questionnaire contains questions concerning the ownership structure, strategy, experience of managers, risk management tools and other questions to ascertain how the firms are operate and controlled.The findings from the data analysis that was undertaken are complex and in some instances agree with earlier studies and in other cases offer findings that differ. Overall the findings do suggest that senior decision makers in SMEs do place importance in the role of governance structures, with only (circa) 10 per cent of firms appearing to have no formal risk management, business planning and performance measurement tools in operation. Although we concede that the widely held view that SMEs are less likely to use quantitative tools to deal with these issues than larger firms is supported by the data and that SMEs do tend to demonstrate a high level of heterogeneity in their manage structures.
Business Online Communities are fast becoming excellent tools for operational and collaborative Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with co-creation soon gaining pace as a strategic outcome of Collaborative CRM. This research article aims at analyzing the determinants of Individual Network Value (INV), further goes on to develop a framework for calculating Community Network Value and subsequently, empirically identifies individuals who have high INV. By segmenting the consumers, the research study discusses how organizations can identify consumer co-creators. The community value of a network is of great importance to organizations, especially from the CRM, Marketing and Customer Experience standpoint. The study segments consumers using hierarchical cluster analysis into groups to identify consumer co-creators. Greater participation in an online community, backed by greater commitment, online trust and loyalty towards an organization are individual traits that are useful to companies for identifying consumer co-creators for new product development, sharing innovative ideas and consumer evangelism.
There are four trends reshaping the world of business-technological advances and the speed with which new technologies are created and copied, the loss of geographic advantage resulting from globalization, the shake-up of traditionally stable industries as a result of deregulation and the rising power of the consumer and their ability to get what they want, when they want it, from whomever they want. With this in mind, the collaboration experience becomes one of the greatest competitive aspects for a business's survival. This has made companies realize the significance of the two levers of Customer Value Management -Co-creation and Collaboration. Further, with the internet having built an open network where information can flow freely, innovation, entrepreneurship and democracy are fast thriving over the world. Self directed co-creation is a wide range of consumer activities that amount to consumer-side production of value. Thus individuals, online communities have become a considerable prolific force in e-commerce. This research paper details the usage of online communities as tool for co-creation and collaboration The research study further classifies the online communities of organizations on the basis of their scores on co-creation and collaboration and further goes on to develop a Community Co-creation and Collaboration Matrix CCCM. The online communities which depict a high score on co-creation and collaboration are the most desirable from the organization's perspective. They facilitate a dynamic environment in terms of reciprocity and optimal level of customization for a win-win organization-community member relationship. Co-creation and collaboration is the strategic outcome of collaborative customer relationship management. Thus online communities can be used to achieve the two important functions of Customer Relationship Management i.e. co-creation and collaboration.
This commentary reviews the position articulated in an article published in 2004 that the business model prevalent in the automotive industry was inadequate to meeting the challenge of sustainability, and reviews the key developments since then. The most noticeable developments the commentary traces are the growth in academic interest in business models, a more responsive government policy particularly in respect of new technologies, and the practical application of the concepts and ideas mooted in the original paper, notably with respect to electric vehicles.
L’emergence d’offres de produits et de services co-crees par les utilisateurs au sein de communautes pose la question du renouvellement des modeles de developpement de nouvelles offres de produits et de service ainsi que ceux des modeles de chaine de valeur et d’avantage competitif. De fait, les developpements en co-creation operent une quadruple rupture : de perimetre, de fonction, de gouvernance et de propriete qui, faisant emerger des registres d’actions nouveaux, appellent a repenser des modeles adoptes de longue date. Cette contribution vise a identifier ce qui, dans les pratiques, remet en cause les modeles d’innovation et de valeur. Dans une premiere partie, un rappel est fait des specificites du developpement adoptees dans le cas des logiciels Open Source. Les modes de fonctionnement de communautes de developpement seront ensuite detailles. Dans un troisieme temps, les ruptures de modele introduites par les pratiques de co-creation seront discutees dans leurs implications sur les modeles existants.
Our analysis of data from 179 software firms reveals how they react to industry-wide shifts including increasing service-intensity, changing technologies and the growing openness of innovation. Firms' strategic responses to these shifts explain a significant amount of their business model performance. Service orientation is connected with "customer proximity" strategy, which has a greater positive effect on the firms' short-term financial performance than on market performance. Firms' engagement in open innovation fosters their "product uniformity" strategy, which influences positively on their long-haul market performance. Technological capabilities and response to technology changes drive customer- and product-focused service development. They result in positive financial and market performance effects. Firms in service industries benefit of our results in designing and managing their service business models.
Over the last decade, a trend has emerged in strategic management toward more inter-organizational collaborations (Powel et al, 1996). However, a lot of companies are still experiencing difficulties in implementing collective strategies. Such strategies occur when different organizations with common concerns collaborate to face together some challenges, including co-innovation. Inspired by the Gang of Four (Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google), big companies find that it might be more profitable to become a platform in order to attract a variety of small firms for collaboration rather than simply try to partner with or acquire those firms individually. Indeed, companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google cultivate vibrant platform-based ecosystems that exhibit huge staying power (Cusumano, 2010) and dominance in their respective market spaces that is difficult for others to challenge.
In order to satisfy a growing demand for new products and services with new functions, companies now look for sources of innovation beyond their organizational boundaries (Chesbrough, 2003, 2006, 2011; Chesbrough et al, 2006; Adner, 2012; Vujovic & Ulhoi, 2008). This phenomenon has profoundly changed the nature of competition: competition between firms has given way to competition between business ecosystems, where platform wars are commonplace. Platform-based ecosystems are a new way of managing a portfolio of contributions from varied and independent players. According to Chesbrough (2011): “The advantage of platforms is that a network of small firms remains entrepreneurial and creative and can make quick decisions, while profiting from leveraging the tangible and intangible assets of the large firm. A second advantage is that they sometimes discover exciting opportunities that the large company did not know about”. In chapter 2, Koenig says of platform-based ecosystems that the main challenge faced by the focal firm is that of reinforcing the attractiveness of its platform and maximizing the value it can draw from this network of external parties. In order to align external innovation with its objective and protect the integrity of its platform, the focal firm must play a more active role in coordinating ideas and controlling the quality of the shared outcomes. In this chapter, we shall analyze platform-based ecosystems in order to better understand their workings and the strategies to best leverage collective innovation. We provide an overview of the relevant literature in order to clarify this type of ecosystem and associated economic and strategic concepts. We shall also illustrate the range of technological, organizational and strategic challenges that platform leaders have to face to leverage network-centric innovation. Finally, we will present rules and guidelines for strategizing in platform-based ecosystems, thus providing clarity and direction to managers and platform leader wannabes.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the organizational aspects of an open innovation approach by focusing on the relationship between universities and firms as a vehicle for acquiring technological knowledge. It discusses in detail the characteristics of firm organizational units that are devoted to managing relationships with universities and the processes that firms put in place to select research fields and partners.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering the complex system of variables that characterize this phenomenon, an interview‐based case study method is adopted. In order to compare behaviors and organizational approaches, a retrospective, multiple case study method with theoretical replication was employed to focus on four companies that operate in three different industries: telecoms, construction, and aviation. The goal was to better explain the studied phenomenon. After the data‐gathering phase, the cases were compared by identifying similarities and differences in terms of four different drivers, the relevance of which were highlighted during the interviews.
Findings
First, the sampled companies do acquire external knowledge from universities, but in doing so, they take into account the technology lifecycle (or s‐curve) and its associated phases. Second, in order to manage relationships with universities, companies make different decisions vis‐à‐vis four main organizational variables: the number of people involved in the organizational unit (OU) that is devoted to managing relationships with universities; the positioning of the OU within (or outside) the firm's boundaries; the degree of work specialization in the OU; and the degree of formalization of the process.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first attempts to operationalize the open innovation concept from an organizational perspective. Thus, it opens new possibilities for future organization‐focused studies on this topic.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to focus on the adoption of the open innovation paradigm in the bio‐pharmaceutical industry and investigate through which organisational modes (e.g. collaborations, in‐ and out‐licensing) open innovation has been implemented and how these modes are interwoven with the different phases of the drug discovery and development process. Open innovation is currently one of the most debated issues in management literature. Few contributions, however, have paid attention so far to systematically and longitudinally addressing the adoption of open innovation in a specific industry.
Design/methodology/approach
– A two‐step research strategy has been adopted. First, a panel study of top industry representatives was organised to operationalise the concept of organisational modes of open innovation in the bio‐pharmaceutical industry. Second, the open innovation modes used by the first 20 pharmaceutical biotech firms worldwide have been documented over the period 2000‐2005 in the various phases of the drug discovery and development process.
Findings
– A framework of analysis, establishing the relations between open innovation modes and the phases of the drug discovery and development process, has been developed and assessed in the industry, allowing the determinants of adoption of different modes and their managerial implications to be discussed and to relate them to the peculiarities of the biotech industry.
Originality/value
– The paper contributes to the ongoing debate on open innovation by representing one of the first attempts to systematically and longitudinally assess the extent and particularly the determinants of the adoption of open innovation in a specific industry.
The use of free and open source software (OSS) is gaining momentum due to the ever increasing availability and use of the Internet. Organizations are also now adopting open source software, despite some reservations, in particular regarding the provision and availability of support. Some of the biggest concerns about free and open source software are post release software defects and their rectification, management of dynamic requirements and support to the users. A common belief is that there is no appropriate support available for this class of software. A contradictory argument is that due to the active involvement of Internet users in online forums, there is in fact a large resource available that communi-cates and manages the provision of support. The research model of this empirical investigation examines the evidence available to assess whether this commonly held belief is based on facts given the current developments in OSS or simply a myth, which has developed around OSS development. We analyzed a dataset consisting of 1880 open source software projects covering a broad range of categories in this investigation. The results show that online forums play a significant role in managing software defects, implementation of new requirements and providing support to the users in open source software and have become a major source of assistance in maintenance of the open source projects.
This paper investigates interrelationships of product design, organization design, processes for learning and managing knowledge, and competitive strategy. This paper uses the principles of nearly decomposable systems to investigate the ability of standardized interfaces between components in a product design to embed coordination of product development processes. Embedded coordination creates ‘hierarchical coordination’ without the need to continually exercise authority—enabling effective coordination of processes without the tight coupling of organizational structures. We develop concepts of modularity in product and organization designs based on standardized component and organization interfaces. Modular product architectures create information structures that provide the ‘glue’ that holds together the loosely coupled parts of a modular organization design. By facilitating loose coupling, modularity can also reduce the cost and difficulty of adaptive coordination, thereby increasing the strategic flexibility of firms to respond to environmental change. Modularity in product and organization designs therefore enables a new strategic approach to the management of knowledge based on an intentional, carefully managed loose coupling of a firm's learning processes at architectural and component levels of product creation processes.
From Polanyi (1967) we know that it is not, for example, the exchange of documents, but the exchange of experiences and individual cognition that represents the highest value for a company. It was Polanyi who first mentioned the differences between implicit and explicit knowledge and the inherent varying value of implicit knowledge. But implicit knowledge is difficult to manage or externalise. Within companies, knowledge management activities to manage and improve their organisational knowledge base are manifold, but most of them lead to the managing of explicit knowledge. One can differentiate between ICT oriented measures, e.g. the development and implementation of knowledge data bases, or knowledge portals which aim to manage mainly explicit knowledge such as documents or guidelines, and organisational activities such as the support of Communities of Practice or the forming of networks which aim to support the transfer and share of implicit knowledge. If we can combine an organizational form like a Knowledge Network, which represents a device for the storage for and transfer of implicit knowledge with ICT tools like e.g. portal components as device for the storage for and transfer of explicit knowledge, we can create a powerful knowledge management instrument that will be able to manage both implicit and explicit knowledge. Both instruments can be combined to provide the foundation of a balanced knowledge management approach. The paper firstly describes briefly the limitations of the current knowledge management approaches and the potentials of ICT, especially portals and organizational forms like communities of practice for knowledge management. It subsequently proposes a compound approach to deliberately balance implicit and explicit knowledge management within the organization. It then introduces the
This article advances our understanding of the motivational sources for consumer involvement in online joint innovation. The `free' or `open-source' software movement is the largest socio-technical network and most visible empirical evidence of this new phenomenon. The paper promotes a behavioral view of involvement and offers a conceptualization and empirical evidence of the relationship between cognitive-affective, socially-based and behavioral involvement in online joint production. An Internet survey with 1486 contributors to open-source software revealed that the extent of behavioral involvement is strongly related to the structure and strength of relationships between different motivations. The relationship between concern for self and concern for others especially distinguishes the level of contribution to online projects.
accepted for the The Fifth European Conference on Organizational Knowledge, Learning, and Capabilities in Innsbruck, Austria, 2004, forthcoming.
long abstract published in: Broniarczyk, S. M. and K. Nakamoto (eds.), (2002). Advances in Consumer Research, Vol.29, 354-356. * Contact person: Andrea Hemetsberger
This study presents findings from empirical studies of software development practices, social processes, technical system configurations, organizational contexts, and interrelationships that give rise to free or open source software (F/OSS) systems in different communities. This article thus investigates processes and practices that arise in F/OSS projects in different communities, and specifically focuses on F/OSS computer game community to provide examples of common practices.
What is the status of the Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) revolution? Has the creation of software that can be freely used, modified, and redistributed transformed industry and society, as some predicted, or is this transformation still a work in progress? Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software brings together leading analysts and researchers to address this question, examining specific aspects of F/OSS in a way that is both scientifically rigorous and highly relevant to real-life managerial and technical concerns.
The book analyzes a number of key topics: the motivation behind F/OSS—why highly skilled software developers devote large amounts of time to the creation of "free" products and services; the objective, empirically grounded evaluation of software—necessary to counter what one chapter author calls the "steamroller" of F/OSS hype; the software engineering processes and tools used in specific projects, including Apache, GNOME, and Mozilla; the economic and business models that reflect the changing relationships between users and firms, technical communities and firms, and between competitors; and legal, cultural, and social issues, including one contribution that suggests parallels between "open code" and "open society" and another that points to the need for understanding the movement's social causes and consequences.
Currently, two models of innovation are prevalent in organization science. The "private investment" model assumes returns to the innovator result from private goods and efficient regimes of intellectual property protection. The "collective action" model assumes that under conditions of market failure, innovators collaborate in order to produce a public good. The phenomenon of open source software development shows that users program to solve their own as well as shared technical problems, and freely reveal their innovations without appropriating private returns from selling the software. In this paper, we propose that open source software development is an exemplar of a compound "private-collective" model of innovation that contains elements of both the private investment and the collective action models and can offer society the "best of both worlds" under many conditions. We describe a new set of research questions this model raises for scholars in organization science. We offer some details regarding the types of data available for open source projects in order to ease access for researchers who are unfamiliar with these, and also offer some advice on conducting empirical studies on open source software development processes.
To compare and contrast institutional theories used in organizational analysis, the theoretical frameworks and arguments of leading contributors to institutional theory are reviewed and recent empirical studies using institutional arguments are examined. Both approaches reveal considerable variation in the types of concepts and arguments employed, and it is argued that further improvement and growth in institutional theory is dependent upon analysts dealing more explicitly with these differences. In addition, the relation between institutions and interests is explored to show that institutional features of organizational environments shape both the goals and means of actors. Attention is called to the two primary types of actors shaping institutional environments in modern societies- the state and professional bodies-and to the way in which their interests and mode of action shape institutional patterns and mechanisms.
In this paper, we explore the contemporary discourse associated with the new phenomenon of virtual organizing, and identify a number of metaphors used in this discourse to characterize various aspects of virtuality. We believe paying attention to such metaphors is important because in the absence of experiences (direct or vicarious) to guide practice, the images and ideals promoted in the discourse will shape people's views of and actions towards this new way of organizing. As such, metaphors play a powerful role in structuring the reality of virtuality. To understand the kind of reality being imagined and incited, we examine the various metaphors being proposed in the practitioner-directed literature on virtual organizing. We find that this discourse contains a multiplicity of different metaphors, each highlighting and hiding distinct aspects of virtual organizing. We identify five overarching metaphors in this discourse. These metaphors (re)present virtual organizing as a platform, as existing in space, as composed of bits, as operating as a community, and as engaging in a network of relationships. We analyze these metaphors in terms of their assumptions and presumptions about how to organize work, as well as their affordances and challenges. We conclude by considering what the consequences might be for people acting on the basis of such different, and often contradictory, metaphors in practice.
Argues that the formal structure of many organizations in post-industrial society dramatically reflect the myths of their institutional environment instead of the demands of their work activities. The authors review prevailing theories of the origins of formal structures and the main problem which those theories confront -- namely, that their assumption that successful coordination and control of activity are responsible for the rise of modern formal organization is not substantiated by empirical evidence. Rather, there is a great gap between the formal structure and the informal practices that govern actual work activities. The authors present an alternative source for formal structures by suggesting that myths embedded in the institutional environment help to explain the adoption of formal structures. Earlier sources understood bureaucratization as emanating from the rationalization of the workplace. Nevertheless, the observation that some formal practices are not followed in favor of other unofficial ones indicates that not all formal structures advance efficiency as a rationalized system would require. Therefore another source of legitimacy is required. This is found in conforming the organization's structure to that of the powerful myths that institutionalized products, services, techniques, policies, and programs become. (CAR)
There has been a recent surge of interest in open source software development, which involves developers at many different locations and organizations sharing code to develop and refine programs. To an economist, the behavior of individual programmers and commercial companies engaged in open source projects is initially startling. This paper makes a preliminary exploration of the economics of open source software. We highlight the extent to which labor economics, especially the literature on 'career concerns', and industrial organization theory can explain many of these projects' features. We conclude by listing interesting research questions related to open source software.
A number of proposals have been advanced in recent years for the development of “general systems theory” which, abstracting from properties peculiar to physical, biological, or social systems, would be applicable to all of them. We might well feel that, while the goal is laudable, systems of such diverse kinds could hardly be expected to have any nontrivial properties in common. Metaphor and analogy can be helpful, or they can be misleading. All depends on whether the similarities the metaphor captures are significant or superficial.
This paper addresses innovations based on open source or non-proprietary knowledge. Viewed through the lens of private property theory, such agency appears to be a true anomaly. However, by a further turn of the theoretical kaleidoscope, we will show that there may be perfectly justifiable reasons for not regarding open source innovations as anomalies. The paper is based on three sectorial and generic cases of open source innovation, which is an offspring of contemporary theory made possible by combining elements of the model of private agency with those of the model of collective agency. In closing, the paper addresses implications for further research, practitioners and other policy-makers.
Computer platforms provide an integrated architecture of hardware and software standards as a basis for developing complementary assets. The most successful platforms were owned by proprietary sponsors that controlled platform evolution and appropriated associated rewards.Responding to the Internet and open source systems, three traditional vendors of proprietary platforms experimented with hybrid strategies which attempted to combine the advantages of open source software while retaining control and differentiation. Such hybrid standards strategies reflect the competing imperatives for adoption and appropriability, and suggest the conditions under which such strategies may be preferable to either the purely open or purely proprietary alternatives.
The manager's guide to using Linux and open source for competitive advantage.Using Linux and open source technologies, thousands of enterprises are cutting costs, gaining flexibility, and discovering powerful new sources of business value. Now, there's an objective, realistic manager's guide to using Linux and open source technology for competitive advantage. Martin Fink helps you get past both the hypesters and the naysayers, so you can accurately assess the benefits, costs, and risks of open source in your organization. Writing strictly from the manager's viewpoint, Fink covers every step of the Linux and open source project lifecycle, and every crucial issue, from licensing to collaborating with the open source community of developers. Coverage includes: Assessing the costs, benefits, and risks of pursuing Linux and open source initiatives Open source licensing: avoiding the minefields Managing Linux and open source projects within your company Assessing the size, breadth, and capabilities of the open source community Building strong, positive, synergistic relationships with external open source communities The crucial role of Linux standards Integration, development, deployment, migration, coexistence, support, and training Understanding the difference between the Linux kernel and the Linux operating system Understanding and choosing Linux distributions How the open source paradigm impacts commercial software developers Open source business models: what it takes to make a profit from open source technology Applying the open source development methodology in a corporate setting "A thought-provoking analysis of the role of open source software in the corporate environment. A must-read guide for managers considering how open source can help their organization."-Tim O'Reilly, O'Reilly and Associates, Inc.
In this paper, I outline a perspective on knowing in practice which highlights the essential role of human action in knowing how to get things done in complex organizational work. The perspective suggests that knowing is not a static embedded ca- pability or stable disposition of actors, but rather an ongoing social accomplishment, constituted and reconstituted as actors engage the world in practice. In interpreting the findings of an empirical study conducted in a geographically dispersed high- tech organization, I suggest that the competence to do global product development is both collective and distributed, grounded in the everyday practices of organizational members. I conclude by discussing some of the research implications of a perspective on organizational knowing in practice. (Distributed Competence; Geographically Distributed Organizing; Know- ing; Organizational Knowledge; Organizing Practices) With the intensification of globalization, acceleration in the rate of change, and expansion in the use of informa- tion technology, particular attention is being focused on the opportunities and difficulties associated with sharing knowledge and transferring "best practices" within and across organizations (Leonard-Barton 1995, Brown and Duguid 1998, Davenport and Prusak 1998). Such a focus on knowledge and knowledge management is particularly acute in the context of global product development, where the development and delivery of timely and innovative products across heterogeneous cultures, locales, and mar- kets are critical and ongoing challenges. Dealing effec- tively with such challenges requires more than just good ideas, strong leaders, and extensive resources; it also re- quires a deep competence in what may be labeled "dis- tributed organizing"—the capability of operating effec- tively across the temporal, geographic, political, and cultural boundaries routinely encountered in global operations.
The technology S-curve is a useful framework describing the substitution of new for old technologies at the industry level. In this paper I use information from the technological history of the disk drive industry to examine the usefulness of the S-curve framework for managers at the firm level in planning for new technology development. Because improvements in over-all disk drive product performance result from the interaction of improved component technologies and new architectural technologies, each of these must be monitored and managed. This paper focuses on component technology S-curves, and a subsequent paper, also published in this issue of the journal, examines architectural technology Scurves. Improvement in individual components followed S-curve patterns, but I show that the flattening of S-curves is a firm-specific, rather than uniform industry phenomenon. Lack of progress in conventional technologies may be the result, rather than the stimulus, of a forecast that the conventional technology is maturing, and some firms demonstrated the ability to wring far greater levels of performance from existing component technologies than other firms. Attacking entrant firms evidenced a distinct disadvantage versus incumbent firms in developing and using new component technologies. Firms pursuing aggressive Scurve switching strategies in component technology development gained no strategic advantage over firms whose strategies focused on extending the life of established component technologies.
With sincere thanks to Eric von Hippel and Nana Admadjaja, the many innovators who gave graciously of their time, and my wonderful family and friends. Responsibility for all views expressed lies with the author.
From a wider perspective, the production and exchange of knowledge is the result of a dynamic and chaotic process of local actions and exchanges of knowledge which spread and interact in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways. At the micro level, however, it is possible to identify fundamentally different models of agency and hybrids thereof. One is the restricted/close source (R/CS) model based on proprietary knowledge and private model of production, based on non-proprietary knowledge and non-economic motives. Between these two extremes, there are various combinations or hybrids, in the following referred to as free/open source (F/OS)-based agency. F/OS-based agency is interesting for several reasons. Firstly, it is a new, fast growing and theoretically rather immature field. Secondly, F/OS poses opportunities rather different from traditional innovation models. Last but not least, the distinct lack of F/OS advanced training opportunities at traditional institutions of higher educations points at F/OS projects. In the discussions, practical examples from software production are included. In conclusion, the paper identifies avenues for future research as well as important managerial and policy implications.
This contribution views innovation as a social activity of building networks, using software product development in multicompany alliances and networks as example. Innovation networks are frequently understood as quite stable arrangements characterised by high trust among the participants. The aim of the contribution is to challenge and transcend these notions and develop an understanding of innovation networks as an interplay between stable and dynamic elements, where political processes in innovation are much more than a disruptive and even a counterproductive feature. It reviews the growing number of studies that highlight the political aspect of innovation. The paper reports on a study of innovation processes conducted within the EU—TSER-programme and a study made under the banner of management of technology. Intensive field studies in two constellations of enterprises were carried out. One is a segment-collaboration between a few manufacturing companies and a software house, the other a complex and extensive innovation network. These studies show how negotiations, shifting positions of players, mobilising stable elements of the network, when developing new ones, and interplays between internal and external collaboration are integral and inevitable in the product development process. This leads to an understanding of a networking paradox: in seeking to reduce political uncertainties of one type, actors engage with others and build collaborative relationships which themselves lead to other and new political issues that have to be tackled.
Some very successful “open source” software products have been and are being developed, distributed, and supported in the field on a voluntary basis by and for users themselves — no supplier required2. The motives that induce users to contribute to an open source project “for free” and the mechanisms by which the various tasks can be effectively carried out are currently a subject of study for both practitioners and academics. To this point, explorations of the mechanics of and the incentives to participate in open source software projects have focused on the core tasks of developing and debugging and improving the open source software itself. Major motives used to explain why users would voluntarily work on these basic tasks include:1.
a user’s direct need for the software and software improvements worked upon,
2.
enjoyment of the work itself and
3.
the enhanced reputation that may flow from making high-quality contributions to an open source project.
The paper discusses three key economic problems raised by the emergence of Open Source: motivation, co-ordination, and diffusion. First, the movement took off through the activity of a community that did not follow profit motivations. Second, a hierarchical co-ordination emerged without proprietary rights. Third, Open Source systems diffused in environments dominated by proprietary standards. The paper shows that recent developments in the theory of diffusion of technologies with network externality may help to explain these phenomena. A simulation model based on heterogeneous agents is developed in order to identify the relevant factors in the diffusion of the technology.
This study contributes to our understanding of the innovation process by bringing attention to and investigating the process by which innovators outside of firms obtain innovation-related resources and assistance. This study is the first to explicitly examine how user-innovators gather the information and assistance they need to develop their ideas and how they share and diffuse the resulting innovations. Specifically, this exploratory study analyzes the context within which individuals who belong to voluntary special-interest communities develop sports-related consumer product innovations. We find that these individuals often prototype novel sports-related products and that they receive assistance in developing their innovations from fellow community members. We find that innovation-related information and assistance, as well as the innovations themselves, are freely shared within these communities. The nature of these voluntary communities, and the “institutional” structure supporting innovation and free sharing of innovations is likely to be of interest to innovation researchers and managers both within and beyond this product arena.
The present study considers potential performance effects associated with the communication enhancing capacity of information technology. Enhancement of an organization's communication capabilities may influence performance through improved strategic decision making, better coordination of strategic actions and by facilitating learning from strategic initiatives. Accordingly, the paper investigates the effects of internal communication through use of computer networks, Intranet, and external communication via the Internet in association with autonomous and participatory strategic decision making approaches and strategic planning. These relationships are tested in two different industrial settings characterized by low and high levels of dynamism and complexity to assess possible environmental contingencies. In less dynamic and complex industries, the results show a positive association between Intranet use and innovation, while Internet use has a positive association to profitability and to innovation in organizations adhering to a participatory decision approach. In more dynamic and complex industries, Intranet use combined with an autonomous decision approach is associated with high profitability and sales growth, while Internet use combined with participatory decision making is associated with higher innovation. Hence, the study finds evidence that innovation relates to use of the Internet and participation across industries, and that economic efficiency relates to use of Intranet and autonomy in dynamic and complex industries.
Computer platforms provide an integrated architecture of hardware and software standards as a basis for developing complementary assets. The most successful platforms were owned by proprietary sponsors that controlled platform evolution and appropriated associated rewards.Responding to the Internet and open source systems, three traditional vendors of proprietary platforms experimented with hybrid strategies which attempted to combine the advantages of open source software while retaining control and differentiation. Such hybrid standards strategies reflect the competing imperatives for adoption and appropriability, and suggest the conditions under which such strategies may be preferable to either the purely open or purely proprietary alternatives.
The most valuable and complex technologies are increasingly innovated by networks that self-organize. Networks are those linked organizations (e.g., firms, universities, government agencies) that create, acquire, and integrate the diverse knowledge and skills required to create and bring to the market complex technologies (e.g., aircraft, telecommunications equipment). In other words, innovation networks are organized around constant learning. Self-organization refers to the capacity these networks have for combining and recombining these learning capabilities without centralized, detailed managerial guidance. The proliferation of self-organizing innovation networks may be linked to many factors, but a key one seems to be increasing globalization. Indeed, globalization and self-organizing innovation networks may be coevolving. Changes in the organization of the innovation process appear to have facilitated the broadening geographical linkages of products, processes, and markets. At the same time, globalization seems to induce cooperation among innovative organizations.Research on innovation networks is used to illustrate these ideas. The evolution of the automotive industry provides a test case.
There is a growing application of Internet-driven networking tools to improve organizations and teams’ value-creating activities. This is particularly true with regard to applying the technology to the conduct of industrial research and new product development processes, or e-R&D. Notwithstanding, there is scant scientific research to assess how R&D teams are leveraging the Internet in their innovation activities, if their efforts are efficient and effective, and how they could do better. This paper considers the following interrelated research questions: (1) How can Internet-leveraged networks contribute to R&D project management, (2) Where are these networks applied in the R&D process, and (3) What are the likely manifestations of such networks? It develops a framework for understanding and testing these issues, based on a knowledge-based view of the firm, to examine internal, external, and memory-related knowledge flows. Then, a three-dimensional template of e-R&D networks is developed that overlays each of these three flows, based on Internet attributes, R&D process stages, and major R&D outcomes. Research hypotheses are offered, and directions for future inquiries are discussed.
Manufacturers customarily provide only a few product variants to address the average needs of users in the major segments of markets they serve. When user needs are highly heterogeneous, this approach leaves many seriously dissatisfied. One solution is to enable users to modify products on their own using “innovation toolkits.” We explore the effectiveness of this solution in an empirical study of Apache security software. We find high heterogeneity of need in that field, and also find that users modifying their own software to be significantly more satisfied than non-innovating users. We propose that the “user toolkits” solution will be useful in many markets characterized by heterogeneous demand.
Many organization theorists have predicted the emergence of the networked or virtual firm as a model for the design of future organizations. Researchers have also emphasized the importance of trust as a necessary condition for ensuring the success of virtual organizations. This paper examines the open source software (OSS) ‘movement’ as an example of a virtual organization and proposes a model that runs contrary to the belief that trust is critical for virtual organizations. Instead, I argue that various control mechanisms can ensure the effective performance of autonomous agents who participate in virtual organizations. Borrowing from the theory of the ‘McDonaldization’ of society, I argue that, given a set of practices to ensure the control, efficiency, predictability and calculability of processes and outcomes in virtual organizations, effective performance may occur in the absence of trust. As support for my argument, I employ content analysis to examine a set of published case studies of OSS projects. My results show that, although that trust is rarely mentioned, ensuring control is an important criterion for effective performance within OSS projects. The case studies feature few references to other dimensions of McDonaldization (efficiency, predictability and calculability), however, and I conclude that the OSS movement relies on many other forms of social control and self-control, which are often unacknowledged in OSS projects. Through these implicit forms of control, OSS projects are able to secure the cooperation of the autonomous agents that participate in project teams. I conclude by extrapolating from these case studies to other virtual organizations.
This paper provides a historical account of how the Linux operating system kernel was developed from three different perspectives. Each focuses on different critical factors in its success at the individual, group, and community levels. The technical and management decisions of Linus Torvalds the individual were critical in laying the groundwork for a collaborative software development project that has lasted almost a decade. The contributions of volunteer programmers distributed worldwide enabled the development of an operating system on the par with proprietary operating systems. The Linux electronic community was the organizing structure that coordinated the efforts of the individual programmers. The paper concludes by summarizing the factors important in the successful distributed development of the Linux kernel, and the implications for organizationally managed distributed work arrangements.
Japanese companies have become successful because of their skill and expertise at creating organizational knowledge. Organizational knowledge is not only the creation of new knowledge, but also disseminating it throughout the organization, and embodying it in products, services, and systems. Knowledge is the new competitive resource, and its creation and utilization is a dynamic, interactive process. Knowledge is used as the basic unit of analysis to explain firm behavior; a business creates and processes knowledge. Knowledge may be explicit or tacit; this study treats them as complements that form a dynamic relationship. The individual interacts with the organization through knowledge; knowledge creation occurs at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The forms of knowledge interaction (between tacit and explicit, and between individual and firm) produce four major processes of knowledge conversion: from tacit to explicit, explicit to explicit, explicit to tacit, and tacit to tacit. Japanese companies create new knowledge by converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. The book has three goals: to formalize a generic model of organizational knowledge creation, explain why certain Japanese companies have been continuously successful in innovation, and develop a universal model of company management based on convergence of knowledge practices in Japan and the world. First presents a philosophical exposition of knowledge and its application to managemen, then the core concepts of knowledge creation, with four modes of knowledge conversion. The Matsushita company is used to illustrate the process model of organization knowledge creation. The two traditional styles of management (top-down and bottom-up) are shown not to be effective in fostering the dynamic necessary to create organizational knowledge, and a new organization structure considered most conducive to knowledge creation is proposed. (TNM)
This essay examines elements of a theory of organizational knowledge creation. To this end, a model for the management of the dynamic aspects of organizational knowledge is offered, using hands-on research and practical experience of Japanese firms. Two dimensions are examined to assess the importance of knowledge management: tacit and explicit knowledge. Four modes of knowledge creation through the interaction of tacit and explicit knowledge are presented: 1) socialization; 2) externalization; 3) internalization; and 4) combination. The process of organizational knowledge creation is also described in a corporate organizational setting. The model helps to explain how the knowledge of individuals, organizations, and societies can be enriched through the amplification of tacit and explicit knowledge of each. The key to this process is a joint creation of knowledge by both individuals and organizations. Organizations play an important role in mobilizing the tacit knowledge that individuals possess, as well as providing forums for knowledge creation through socialization, combination, externalization, and internalization. The concept of organizational knowledge creation allows for the development of a perspective that reaches beyond straightforward notions of organizational learning. Practical proposals, such as hypertext and middle-up-down management, are offered as modes of implementing more effective knowledge creation. (CBS)
Recent ethnographic studies of workplace practices indicate that the ways people actually work usually differ fundamentally from the way organizations describe that work in manuals, training programs, organizational charts, and job descriptions. Nevertheless, organizations tend to rely on the latter in their attempts to understand and improve work practice. We examine one such study. We then relate its conclusions to compatible investigations of learning and of innovation to argue that conventional descriptions of jobs mask not only the ways people work, but also significant learning and innovation generated in the informal communities-of-practice in which they work. By reassessing work, learning, and innovation in the context of actual communities and actual practices, we suggest that the connections between these three become apparent. Witha unified view of working, learning, and innovating, it should be possible to reconceive of and redesign organizations to improve all three.
While theoretically distinct, learning and knowing are meshed in practice. This paper builds on this observation and argues that organisational transformation and the development of best practices in e-learning share some similar context. This is particularly evident when knowledge management perspectives are considered. Specifically, trust and collaboration are shown to be common enablers of both activities. A range of interrelated models is introduced with trust identified as prominent within a complex mix of processes and outputs that can be described in terms of interoperability. Collaboration and interoperability are identified as key organising principles in information-based and knowledge-based economies. Through collaboration common goals and mutual benefit are discerned and pursued; duplication of effort is minimised; innovation is stimulated. Achieving technical interoperability demands use of networks in ways that harness the aggregate capacity of disparate systems, applications and services. The resulting infrastructure matches requirements of both e-learning and organisational transformation.
Currently, two models of innovation are prevalent in organization science. The "private investment" model assumes returns to the innovator result from private goods and efficient regimes of intellectual property protection. The "collective action" model assumes that under conditions of market failure, innovators collaborate in order to produce a public good. The phenomenon of open source software development shows that users program to solve their own as well as shared technical problems, and freely reveal their innovations without appropriating private returns from selling the software. In this paper, we propose that open source software development is an exemplar of a compound "private-collective" model of innovation that contains elements of both the private investment and the collective action models and can offer society the "best of both worlds" under many conditions. We describe a new set of research questions this model raises for scholars in organization science. We offer some details regarding the types of data available for open source projects in order to ease access for researchers who are unfamiliar with these, and also offer some advice on conducting empirical studies on open source software development processes.
Every design problem begins with an effort to achieve fitness between two entities: the form in question and its context. The form is the solution to the problem; the context defines the problem. We want to put the context and the form into effortless contact or frictionless coexistence, i.e., we want to find a good fit. For a good fit to occur in practice, one vital condition must be satisfied. It must have time to happen. In slow-changing, traditional, unselfconscious cultures, a form is adjusted soon after each slight misfit occurs. If there was good fit at some stage in the past, no matter how removed, it will have persisted, because there is an active stability at work. Tradition and taboo dampen and control the rate of change in an unselfconscious culture's designs. It is important to understand that the individual person in an unselfconscious culture needs no creative strength. He does not need to be able to improve the form, only to make some sort of change when he notices a failure. The changes may not always be for the better; but it is not necessary that they should be, since the operation of the process allows only the improvements to persist. Unselfconscious design is a process of slow adaptation and error reduction. In the unselfconscious process there is no possibility of misconstruing the situation. Nobody makes a picture of the context, so the picture cannot be wrong. But the modern, selfconscious designer works entirely from a picture in his mind - a conceptualization of the forces at work and their interrelationships - and this picture is almost always wrong. To achieve in a few hours at the drawing board what once took centuries of adaptation and development, to invent a form suddenly which clearly fits its context - the extent of invention necessary is beyond the individual designer. A designer who sets out to achieve an adaptive good fit in a single leap is not unlike the child who shakes his glass-topped puzzle fretfully, expecting at one shake to arrange the bits inside correctly. The designer's attempt is hardly as random as the child's is; but the difficulties are the same. His chances of success are small because the number of factors which must fall simultaneously into place is so enormous. The process of design, even when it has become selfconscious, remains a process of error-reduction. No complex system will succeed in adapting in a reasonable amount of time or effort unless the adaptation can proceed component by component, each component relatively independent of the others. The search for the right components, and the right way to build the form up from these components, is the greatest challenge faced by the modern, selfconscious designer. The culmination of the modern designer's task is to make every unit of design both a component and a system. As a component it will fit into the hierarchy of larger components that are above it; as a system it will specify the hierarchy of smaller components of which it itself is made.
We show that the length of compulsory education has a causal impact on regional labour mobility. The analysis is based on a quasi-exogenous staged Norwegian school reform, and register data on the whole population. Based on the results, we conclude that part of the US-Europe difference, as well as the European North-South difference in labour mobility, is likely to be due to differences in levels of education in the respective regions.
The process of developing technology through open discussion has been called collective invention. Open source software projects have this form. This paper documents two earlier episodes of collective invention and proposes a general model based on search theory. One episode was the development of mass production steel in the U.S. (1866-1885), and the second with early personal computers (1975-1985). Technical people openly discussed and shared these developing technologies between firms. Collective invention episodes begin with an invention or a change in legal restrictions. Hobbyists and startup firms experiment with practical methods of production and share their results through a social network whose members gradually form a new industry. The network itself may disappear if the firms then keep their R&D secret. A model of an innovation search can describe this process if it is expanded to include independent hobbyists and consultants as well as profit-seeking firms.
Open source projects are networks of developers, distributors and end-users of non-proprietary created knowledge goods. It has been argued that this form of organization has some advantages over the firm or market coordination. I show that for sufficiently convex and modular projects, proprietary licences are not able to sustain sequential knowledge production which, however, can be carried out if the project is run on the open source basis. Copyright 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..
There has been a recent surge of interest in open source software development, which involves developers at many different locations and organizations sharing code to develop and refine programs. To an economist, the behavior of individual programmers and commercial companies engaged in open source projects is initially startling. This paper makes a preliminary exploration of the economics of open source software. We highlight the extent to which labor economics, especially the literature on "career concerns", and industrial organization theory can explain many of these projects' features. We conclude by listing interesting research questions related to open source software. Copyright 2002 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
The business value of open source - changing the rules of competition
- B Claybrook
Inside IBM: Dan Frye and the Linux Technology Center
- S E Harris