Transformation of free and open source software development projects: Governance between the cathedral and bazaar
Main Article Content
Abstract
It is common for community-based free software projects to be associated with an organizational scenario that resembles “a bazaar more than a cathedral,” and to differ from the traditional, or ‘bureaucratic’ way of organizing work. This paper analyzes the governance of these organizations from the perspective of their structure and control, considering the development trajectory of three communitybased free software projects in Brazil. Results show that the constant need to produce modern technologies gives rise to external pressures that promote change - albeit temporary - in the governance of these projects, making them resemble a cathedral more than
a bazaar. Governance does not follow a cycle of sequential improvement; it changes depending on the external organizational actors present, such as sponsors. This suggests the need for strategic and flexible governance to deal with the acquisition and allocation of organizational resources. Governance of the projects described here varies along a spectrum of (in)formality that allows both production models - cathedral or bazaar - to exist in the same organization at different periods.
Downloads
Metrics
Article Details
A RAE compromete-se a contribuir com a proteção dos direitos intelectuais do autor. Nesse sentido:
- adota a licença Creative Commoms BY (CC-BY) em todos os textos que publica, exceto quando houver indicação de específicos detentores dos direitos autorais e patrimoniais;
- adota software de detecção de similaridades;
- adota ações de combate ao plagio e má conduta ética, alinhada às diretrizes do Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
References
Arazy, O., Daxenberger, J., Lifshitz-Assaf, H., Nov, O., & Gurevych, I. (2016). Turbulent stability of emergent roles: The dualistic nature of self-organizing knowledge coproduction. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 792-812. doi: 10.1287/isre.2016.0647
Bakker, R. M. (2011). It's only temporary: Time and learning in inter-organizational projects. Tilberg: University Tilberg.
Bakker, R. M., Cambré, B., & Provan, K. G. (2009). The resource dilemma of temporary organizations: A dynamic perspective on temporal embeddedness and resource discretion. In Bakker, R. M., Cambré, B., & Provan, K. G. (Eds.), Temporary organizations: Prevalence, logic and effectiveness (pp. 201-219). United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781849802154.00017
Bardin, L. (2010). Análise de conteúdo. Lisboa, Portugal: Edições 70.
Bauer, J., Franke, N., & Tuertscher, P. (2016). Intellectual property norms in online communities: How user-organized intellectual property regulation supports innovation. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 724-750. doi: 10.1287/isre.2016.0649
Bryson, J. M. (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. Hoboken, New Jersey. John Wiley & Sons.
Burke, C. M., & Morley, M. J. (2016). On temporary organizations: A review, synthesis and research agenda. Human Relations, 69(6), 1235-1258. doi: 10.1177/0018726715610809
Crowston, K., Wei, K., Howison, J., & Wiggins, A. (2012). Free/Libre open-source software development: What we know and what we do not know. ACM Computing Surveys, 44(2), Article 7. doi: 10.1145/2089125.2089127
Dahlander, L., & O'Mahony, S. (2011). Progressing to the center: Coordinating project work. Organization Science, 22(4), 961-979. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1100.0571
Davis, G. F., & Cobb, J. A. (2010). Resource dependence theory: Past and future. In S. B. Bacharach (Ed.), Research in the sociology of organizations. London, UK: Elsevier.
Demil, B., & Lecocq, X. (2006). Neither market nor hierarchy nor network: The emergence of bazaar governance. Organization Studies, 27(10), 1447-1466. doi: 10.1177/0170840606067250
Eseryel, U. Y., Wei, K., & Crowston, K. (2020). Decision-making processes in community-based free/libre open source software-development teams with internal governance: An extension to decision-making theory. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 46(1), 20. doi: 10.17705/1cais.04620
Faraj, S., Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Majchrzak, A. (2011). Knowledge collaboration in online communities. Organization Science, 22(5), 1224-1239. doi: 10.1287/orsc.1100.0614
Forte, A., & Lampe, C. (2013). Defining, understanding, and supporting open collaboration: Lessons from the literature. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(5), 535-547. doi: 10.1177/0002764212469362
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Friedman, A. L., & Miles, S. (2006). Stakeholders: Theory and practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press on Demand.
Frooman, J. (1999). Stakeholder influence strategies. Academy of Management Review, 24(2), 191-205. doi: 10.5465/amr.1999.1893928
Grabher, G. (2004). Temporary architectures of learning: Knowledge governance in project ecologies. Organization Studies, 25(9), 1491-1514. doi: 10.1177/0170840604047996
Guimarães, A. L., Korn, H. J., Shin, N., & Eisner, A. B. (2013). The life cycle of open source software development communities. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 14(2), 167. Retrieved from http://www.jecr.org/node/25
Hillman, A. J., Withers, M. C., & Collins, B. J. (2009). Resource dependence theory: A review. Journal of Management, 35(6), 1404-1427. doi: 10.1177/0149206309343469
Jensen, C., & Scacchi, W. (2010). Governance in free software development projects: A comparative multi-level analysis. International Conference on Free Systems, Springer, Heidelberg.
Kolbjørnsrud, V. (2016). Agency problems and governance mechanisms in collaborative communities. Strategic Organization, Special Issue Article, 1-36. doi:10.1177/1476127016653727
Lattemann, C., & Stieglitz, S. (2005). Framework for governance in free communities. Proceedings of the HICSS'05, Hawaii.
Lee, G. K., & Cole, R. E. (2003). From a firm-based to a community-based model of knowledge creation: The case of the Linux kernel development. Organization Science, 14(6), 633-649. doi: 10.1287/orsc.14.6.633.24866
Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating interdependencies in online communities: A study of an free software project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772. doi: 10.1287/isre.2016.0673
Li-Ying, J., & Salomo, S. R. (2013). Design of governance in virtual communities: Definition, mechanisms, and variation patterns. International Journal of Collaborative Enterprise, 3(4), 225-251. doi: 10.1504/IJCENT.2013.058619
Mäenpää, H., Munezero, M., Fagerholm, F., & Mikkonen, T. (2017, August). The many hats and the broken binoculars: State of the practice in developer community management. Proceedings of the OpenSym, Galway, 1-9.
Markus, M. L. (2007). The governance of free/free software projects: Monolithic, multidimensional, or configurational? Journal of Management & Governance, 11(2), 151-163. doi 10.1007/s10997-007-9021-x
Miscione, G., Ziolkowski, R., Zavolokina, L., & Schwabe, G. (2018, September). Tribal governance: The business of blockchain authentication. Proceedings of the HICSS, Hawaii, 1-10.
O’Mahony, S., & Ferraro, F. (2007). The emergence of governance in an free community. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1079-1106. doi: 10.5465/amj.2007.27169153
Panchal, J. H. (2010). Coordination in collective product innovation. Proceedings of the ASME, Vancouver, Canada.
Pfeffer, J. (1988). A resource dependence perspective on intercorporate relations. In M. Mizruchi & M. Schwartz (Eds.), Intercorporate Relations: The Structural Analysis of Business (Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences, pp. 25-55). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511570841.002
Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. (2003). The external control of organizations: A resource dependence perspective. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Raymond, E. (1999). The cathedral and the bazaar. Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 12(3), 23-49. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12130-999-1026-0.pdf
Raymond, E. (2005, October 3). The Cathedral and the Bazaar (Originally Published in Volume 3, Number 3, March 1998) [Special Issue]. First Monday. doi:10.5210/fm.v0i0.1472
Santos, C. D. (2010). Atratividade de projetos de software livre: importância teórica e estratégias para administração. RAE-Revista de Administração de Empresas, 50, 424-438. doi: 10.1590/S0034-75902010000400007
Santos, C. D., Kuk, G., Kon, F., & Pearson, J. (2013). The attraction of contributors in free and open source software projects. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 22(1), 26-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jsis.2012.07.004
Seidel, M. D. L., & Stewart, K. J. (2011). An initial description of the C-form. In C. Marquis, M. Lounsbury, & R. Greenwood (Eds.), Communities and organizations, Research in the sociology of organizations (pp. 37-72). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Shah, S. K. (2006). Motivation, governance, and the viability of hybrid forms in free software development. Management Science, 52(7), 1000-1014. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.1060.0553
Shah, S. K., & Gorbatai, A. D. (2015). Structural sampling: A technique for illuminating social systems. In Elsbach, K., D. Kramer, R. Handbook of Qualitative Organizational Research, (pp 251-261). New York: Routledge
Shaikh, M., & Vaast, E. (2016). Folding and unfolding: Balancing openness and transparency in free communities. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 813-833. doi: 10.1287/isre.2016.0646
Sharif, S. P., & Yeoh, K. K. (2014). Independent directors’ resource provision capability in publicly-listed companies in Malaysia. Corporate Ownership and Control, 11(3), 113-121. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2822679
Sydow, J., Lindkvist, L., & DeFillippi, R. (2004). Project-based organizations, embeddedness and repositories of knowledge: Editorial. Organization Studies, 25(9), 1475-1489. doi: 10.1177/0170840604048162
Viseur, R., & Charleux, A. (2019). Changement de gouvernance et communautés open source: Le cas du logiciel Claroline. Innovations, (1), 71-104. Retrieved from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cai/inndbu/inno_058_0071.html
West, J., & O'Mahony, S. (2005). Contrasting community building in sponsored and community founded free projects. Proceedings of the HICSS'05, Hawaii.
Wynn, D. E. (2003). Organizational structure of free projects: A life cycle approach. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southern AIS, Georgia.
Xu, B., Xu, Y., & Lin, Z. (2005). Control in free software development. Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), Omaha.
Zebari, R. R., Zeebaree, S. R., Jacksi, K., & Shukur, H. M. (2019). E-business requirements for flexibility and implementation enterprise system: A review. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 8(11), 655-660. Retrieved from https://1library.net/document/ye8v26ry-e-business-requirements-flexibility-implementation-enterprise-review.html