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Research Note —Perceived Firm Attributes and Intrinsic Motivation in Sponsored Open Source Software Projects

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  • Sebastian Spaeth

    (University of Hamburg, School of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, 20146 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Georg von Krogh

    (ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland)

  • Fang He

    (ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland)

Abstract

Voluntary contributions are crucial to the success of open source software (OSS) projects. Firms sponsoring OSS projects may face substantial challenges in soliciting such contributions, since volunteer participants are neither regulated by an employment contract nor offered financial incentives. Although prior work has shown the positive impact of motivation on the effort expended by volunteer participants, there is limited understanding of how specific firm attributes shape volunteers’ intrinsic motivation. We offer a theoretical model of how the perceived community-based credibility and openness of the sponsoring firm have a positive impact on the intrinsic motivation of volunteer participants. The model is explored using survey data on volunteer participants from two sponsored OSS projects. Results show that a sponsoring firm’s community-based credibility (OSS developers’ perception of its expertise and trustworthiness) and openness (its mutual knowledge exchange with the community) strengthen the volunteer participants’ social identification with the firm-sponsored community, which in turn reinforces their intrinsic motivation to participate. Moreover, the perceived community-based credibility of a sponsoring firm directly enhances volunteer participants’ intrinsic motivation, whereas perceived openness fails to affect motivation without the mediating mechanism of social identification. Implications for firms seeking voluntary contributions for their sponsored OSS projects are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Spaeth & Georg von Krogh & Fang He, 2015. "Research Note —Perceived Firm Attributes and Intrinsic Motivation in Sponsored Open Source Software Projects," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 224-237, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:26:y:2015:i:1:p:224-237
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2014.0539
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    2. Kexin Zhao & Bin Zhang & Xue Bai, 2018. "Estimating Contextual Motivating Factors in Virtual Interorganizational Communities of Practice: Peer Effects and Organizational Influences," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 910-927, December.
    3. Shuk Ying Ho & Arun Rai, 2017. "Continued Voluntary Participation Intention in Firm-Participating Open Source Software Projects," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 603-625, September.
    4. Poonacha K. Medappa & Shirish C. Srivastava, 2019. "Does Superposition Influence the Success of FLOSS Projects? An Examination of Open-Source Software Development by Organizations and Individuals," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 764-786, September.
    5. Samer Faraj & Georg von Krogh & Eric Monteiro & Karim R. Lakhani, 2016. "Special Section Introduction—Online Community as Space for Knowledge Flows," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 668-684, December.
    6. de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & Ben-Menahem, Shiko M. & Franke, Nikolaus & Füller, Johann & von Krogh, Georg, 2021. "Treading new ground in household sector innovation research: Scope, emergence, business implications, and diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(8).
    7. Miric, Milan & Jeppesen, Lars Bo, 2023. "How does competition influence innovative effort within a platform-based ecosystem? Contrasting paid and unpaid contributors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(7).
    8. Smirnova, Inna & Reitzig, Markus & Alexy, Oliver, 2022. "What makes the right OSS contributor tick? Treatments to motivate high-skilled developers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    9. Shaikh, Maha & Levina, Natalia, 2019. "Selecting an open innovation community as an alliance partner: Looking for healthy communities and ecosystems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    10. Vivianna Fang He & Phanish Puranam & Yash Raj Shrestha & Georg von Krogh, 2020. "Resolving governance disputes in communities: A study of software license decisions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(10), pages 1837-1868, October.
    11. Liu, Ziyu & Du, Yushen, 2022. "Open knowledge disclosure and technical standard competition in transition economies: A legitimacy perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Maha Shaikh & Emmanuelle Vaast, 2016. "Folding and Unfolding: Balancing Openness and Transparency in Open Source Communities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 813-833, December.
    13. Wei Chen & Fujie Jin & Ling Xue, 2022. "Flourish or Perish? The Impact of Technological Acquisitions on Contributions to Open-Source Software," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 867-886, September.

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