Organization of Free and Open Source Software Projects: In-between the Community and Traditional Governance

Ferraz, Isabela Neves; Santos Júnior, Carlos Denner dos

doi:10.15728/bbr.2021.18.3.6

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Article • BBR, Braz. Bus. Rev. 18 (3) • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2021.18.3.6 copy

Organization of Free and Open Source Software Projects: In-between the Community and Traditional Governance

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

This work aimed to understand what community-based free software projects are and what governance characteristics (structure and control) differentiate them from traditional organizations, thus spurring further reflections on this business model. A literature review was conducted to outline the main perceptions on this topic, as well as qualitative exploratory research, involving documentary analysis and interviews with four Brazilian participants who work in the management of projects.. The exploratory research was a preliminary contact with the investigated field to make the arguments presented more reliable. Among the reflections, it is observed that even though it is possible to distinguish community-based free software projects from traditional organizations, a crucial factor not always considered are the transformations resulting from the development of these projects. It is necessary that the studies consider the context of functioning, as well as the changes and interorganizational relationships established by the projects over time. Considering these issues, it is believed that approximations between projects and traditional organizations can occur, even if community characteristics are maintained.

KEYWORDS
Free Software Projects; Communities; Structure; Control; Governance

Traditional organizations	Community organizations

Low adaptive flexibility (Adler et al., 2011Adler, P., Heckscher, C., & Prusak, L. (2011). Cómo construir una empresa colaborativa: cuatro claves para crear una cultura de confianza y trabajo en equipo. Harvard Business Review, 89(6), 44-52.; Fjeldstad et al., 2012Fjeldstad, Ø. D., Snow, C. C., Miles, R. E., & Lettl, C. (2012). The architecture of collaboration. Strategic Management Journal, 33(6), 734-750.; Zebari et al., 2019Zebari, 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.)	High adaptive flexibility (Adler et al., 2011Adler, P., Heckscher, C., & Prusak, L. (2011). Cómo construir una empresa colaborativa: cuatro claves para crear una cultura de confianza y trabajo en equipo. Harvard Business Review, 89(6), 44-52.; Faraj et al., 2011Faraj, S., Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Majchrzak, A. (2011). Knowledge collaboration in online communities. Organization Science, 22(5), 1224-1239.; Fjeldstad et al., 2012Fjeldstad, Ø. D., Snow, C. C., Miles, R. E., & Lettl, C. (2012). The architecture of collaboration. Strategic Management Journal, 33(6), 734-750.; Zebari et al., 2019Zebari, 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.)
Confidentiality and commercial purpose (Lee & Cole, 2003Lee, 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.; Chen & O’Mahony, 2009Chen, K. K., & O’Mahony, S. (2009). Differentiating organizational boundaries. In B. G. King, T. Felin, & D. A. Whetten (Eds.). Studying Differences Between Organizations: Comparative Approaches to Organizational Research, Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 183-220.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Miscione et al., 2018Miscione, G., Ziolkowski, R., Zavolokina, L., & Schwabe, G. (2018, September). Tribal governance: The business of blockchain authentication. Proceedings of the HICSS, Hawaii, 1-10.)	Free creation and sharing of knowledge (Lee & Cole, 2003Lee, 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.; Demil & Lecocq, 2006Demil, B., & Lecocq, X. (2006). Neither market nor hierarchy nor network: The emergence of bazaar governance. Organization Studies, 27(10), 1447-1466.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Miscione et al., 2018Miscione, G., Ziolkowski, R., Zavolokina, L., & Schwabe, G. (2018, September). Tribal governance: The business of blockchain authentication. Proceedings of the HICSS, Hawaii, 1-10.)
Dependent members in their choices to contribute (Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Lindberg et al., 2016Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating interdependencies in online communities: A study of an open source software project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772.)	Independent members in their choices to contribute, but with interdependent production (Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Lindberg et al., 2016Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating interdependencies in online communities: A study of an open source software project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772.; Kolbjørnsrud, 2016Kolbjørnsrud, V. (2016). Agency problems and governance mechanisms in collaborative communities. Strategic Organization, Special Issue Article, 1-36.)
Hierarchical and with formal authority (Lee & Cole, 2003Lee, 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.; Demil & Lecocq, 2006Demil, B., & Lecocq, X. (2006). Neither market nor hierarchy nor network: The emergence of bazaar governance. Organization Studies, 27(10), 1447-1466.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Arazy et al., 2016Arazy, 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.; Lindberg et al., 2016Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating interdependencies in online communities: A study of an open source software project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772.)	Horizontal and with lateral authority (Panchal, 2010Panchal, J. H. (2010). Coordination in collective product innovation. Proceedings of the ASME, Vancouver, 333-346. ; Dahlander & O’Mahony, 2011Dahlander, L., & O'Mahony, S. (2011). Progressing to the center: Coordinating project work. Organization Science, 22(4), 961-979.; O’Mahony & Lakhany, 2011O'Mahony, S., & Lakhani, K. R. (2011). Organizations in the shadow of communities. In C. Marquis, M. Lounsbury, R. Greenwood (Eds.). Communities and Organizations, Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 3-36.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.)
Well-defined organizational and decision-making structure (Vasconcellos & Hemsley, 2002Vasconcellos, E., & Hemsley, J. R. (2002). Estrutura das organizações. São Paulo: Thomson Pioneira Learning.; Mintzberg, 2011Mintzberg, H. (2011). Criando organizações eficazes: estrutura em cinco configurações. São Paulo: Atlas.; Demil & Lecocq, 2006Demil, B., & Lecocq, X. (2006). Neither market nor hierarchy nor network: The emergence of bazaar governance. Organization Studies, 27(10), 1447-1466.; Lindberg et al., 2016Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating interdependencies in online communities: A study of an open source software project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772.)	Poorly defined organizational and decision-making structure, with strong leadership (Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Arazy et al., 2016Arazy, 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.;Lindberg et al., 2016Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating interdependencies in online communities: A study of an open source software project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772.; Guimarães, 2013Guimarães, 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), 167-182.; Mäenpää et al., 2017Mäenpää, 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.)
Well-established boundaries (Child & Rodrigues, 2003Child, J., & Rodrigues, S. B. (2003). Corporate governance and new organizational forms: Issues of double and multiple agency. Journal of Management and Governance, 7(4), 337-360.; Lee & Cole, 2003Lee, 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.; Chen & O’Mahony, 2009Chen, K. K., & O’Mahony, S. (2009). Differentiating organizational boundaries. In B. G. King, T. Felin, & D. A. Whetten (Eds.). Studying Differences Between Organizations: Comparative Approaches to Organizational Research, Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 183-220.)	Fluid boundaries, with permeable boundaries of adhesion (Faraj et al., 2011Faraj, S., Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Majchrzak, A. (2011). Knowledge collaboration in online communities. Organization Science, 22(5), 1224-1239.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Li et al., 2016Li, X., Yoo, Y., & Zhang, Z. (2016). Searching for “Stability” in Fluidity: A Routine-based View of Open Source Software Development Process. Proceedings of the ICIS, Dublin.)
Work formalized by contracts and remuneration (Lattemann & Stieglitz, 2005Lattemann, C., & Stieglitz, S. (2005). Framework for governance in open source communities. Proceedings of the HICSS, Hawaii, 192-201.; Dahlander & Wallin, 2006Dahlander, L., & Wallin, M. W. (2006). A man on the inside: Unlocking communities as complementary assets. Research Policy, 35(8), 1243-1259.; O’Mahony & Ferraro, 2007O’Mahony, S., & Ferraro, F. (2007). The Emergence of Governance in an Open Source Community. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1079-1106.)	Significant incorporation of voluntary work (Shah, 2006Shah, S. K. (2006). Motivation, governance, and the viability of hybrid forms in open source software development. Management Science, 52(7), 1000-1014.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Lindberg et al., 2016Lindberg, A., Berente, N., Gaskin, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2016). Coordinating interdependencies in online communities: A study of an open source software project. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 751-772.)
Physical and technological infrastructure (Lee & Cole, 2003Lee, 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.; O’Mahony & Lakhany, 2011O'Mahony, S., & Lakhani, K. R. (2011). Organizations in the shadow of communities. In C. Marquis, M. Lounsbury, R. Greenwood (Eds.). Communities and Organizations, Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 3-36.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.)	Essentially technological infrastructure (Lee & Cole, 2003Lee, 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.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Zheng et al., 2013Zheng, Y., Zhao, K., & Stylianou, A. (2013). The impacts of information quality and system quality on users' continuance intention in information-exchange virtual communities: An empirical investigation. Decision Support Systems, 56, 513-524.)
Control with a more formal and bureaucratic profile (O’Mahony & Ferraro, 2007O’Mahony, S., & Ferraro, F. (2007). The Emergence of Governance in an Open Source Community. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1079-1106.; O’Mahony & Lakhany, 2011O'Mahony, S., & Lakhani, K. R. (2011). Organizations in the shadow of communities. In C. Marquis, M. Lounsbury, R. Greenwood (Eds.). Communities and Organizations, Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 3-36.; Seidel & Stewart, 2011Seidel, 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. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited , 37-72.; Arazy et al., 2016Arazy, 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.)	Control with a more informal and democratic profile, strong presence of meritocracy (O’Mahony & Ferraro, 2007O’Mahony, S., & Ferraro, F. (2007). The Emergence of Governance in an Open Source Community. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1079-1106.; Panchal, 2010Panchal, J. H. (2010). Coordination in collective product innovation. Proceedings of the ASME, Vancouver, 333-346. ; Arazy et al., 2016Arazy, 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.; Miscione et al., 2018Miscione, G., Ziolkowski, R., Zavolokina, L., & Schwabe, G. (2018, September). Tribal governance: The business of blockchain authentication. Proceedings of the HICSS, Hawaii, 1-10.)
Behavioral control, output control (Lattemann & Steiglitz, 2005Lattemann, C., & Stieglitz, S. (2005). Framework for governance in open source communities. Proceedings of the HICSS, Hawaii, 192-201.; Xu et al., 2005Xu, B., Xu, Y., & Lin, Z. (2005). Control in open source software development. Proceedings of the AMCIS, Omaha, 433.; Markus, 2007Markus, M. L. (2007). The governance of free/open source software projects: monolithic, multidimensional, or configurational? Journal of Management & Governance, 11(2), 151-163.)	Social control, peer control, and self-control (Lattemann & Steiglitz, 2005Lattemann, C., & Stieglitz, S. (2005). Framework for governance in open source communities. Proceedings of the HICSS, Hawaii, 192-201.; Xu et al., 2005Xu, B., Xu, Y., & Lin, Z. (2005). Control in open source software development. Proceedings of the AMCIS, Omaha, 433.; Kolbjørnsrud, 2016Kolbjørnsrud, V. (2016). Agency problems and governance mechanisms in collaborative communities. Strategic Organization, Special Issue Article, 1-36.)

Analysis dimensions			Questions
Governance	General aspects		1) How did the project come about? Talk about the history and your performance within the project.
	General aspects		2) How is the project managed and sustained in terms of resources and infrastructure necessary for its operation?
	Structure	Hierarchy	3) Is there a hierarchy among the members who work on the project? Explain how this hierarchy plays out.
		Papers	4) How does the division of roles between project members happen? Identify the main existing roles.
		Decisions	5) How are the decisions made in the project?
	Control	Formal	6) Does the project have rules, standards, or other procedures for carrying out activities? Specify these procedures.
		Informal (social, peer and selfcontrol)	7) Does the project usually hold meetings and events (in person or virtual)? How do these meetings take place?
			8) How does the project promote the recognition of contributions made by members?
			9) How are errors or needs for software improvement identified in the project?
			10) Is there autonomy in carrying out the work developed in the project? Detail how this autonomy plays out.

Community project	Year of appearance	Performance level	Scope
W	2010	Global	Office application suite
X	2003	Global	Free software for Internet content management
Y	2007	National	Web platform aimed at creating social networks
Z	2013	National	Chat platform for web, desktop, and mobile

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