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Emergence of New Project Teams from Open Source Software Developer Networks: Impact of Prior Collaboration Ties

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  • Jungpil Hahn

    (Krannert Graduate School of Management, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907)

  • Jae Yun Moon

    (Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong)

  • Chen Zhang

    (Fogelman College of Business and Economics, The University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee 38152)

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a surge in self-organizing voluntary teams collaborating online to produce goods and services. Motivated by this phenomenon, this research investigates how these teams are formed and how individuals make decisions about which teams to join in the context of open source software development (OSSD). The focus of this paper is to explore how the collaborative network affects developers' choice of newly initiated OSS projects to participate in. More specifically, by analyzing software project data from real-world OSSD projects, we empirically test the impact of past collaborative ties with and perceived status of project members in the network on the self-assembly of OSSD teams. Overall, we find that a developer is more likely to join a project when he has strong collaborative ties with its initiator. We also find that perceived status of the noninitiator members of a project influences its probability of attracting developers. We discuss the implications of our results with respect to self-organizing teams and OSSD.

Suggested Citation

  • Jungpil Hahn & Jae Yun Moon & Chen Zhang, 2008. "Emergence of New Project Teams from Open Source Software Developer Networks: Impact of Prior Collaboration Ties," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 369-391, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:19:y:2008:i:3:p:369-391
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1080.0192
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    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).
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    10. Kirchner, Alexander & Labusch, Nils & Lopez Cordoba, Adriana & Sartor, Sebastian & Tumbas, Sanja & Villalon, Enrique & Wiethoff, Sebastian, 2011. "Network e-Volution," ERCIS Working Papers 11, University of Münster, European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS).
    11. Wang, Jing & Hu, Michael Y. & Shanker, Murali, 2012. "Human agency, social networks, and FOSS project success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(7), pages 977-984.
    12. Mario Schaarschmidt & Dirk Homscheid & Thomas Kilian, 2019. "Application Developer Engagement In Open Software Platforms: An Empirical Study Of Apple Ios And Google Android Developers," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(04), pages 1-33, May.
    13. Wang, Jing, 2012. "Survival factors for Free Open Source Software projects: A multi-stage perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 352-371.
    14. Stefan Behfar & Ekaterina Turkina & Thierry Burger-Helmchen, 2017. "Network tie structure causing OSS group innovation and growth," Post-Print hal-02153061, HAL.
    15. Wen Wen & Chris Forman & Stuart J. H. Graham, 2013. "Research Note ---The Impact of Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement on Open Source Software Project Success," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 1131-1146, December.
    16. Shiu, Jing-Ming & Dallas, Mark P. & Huang, Hui-Hsuan, 2023. "A friend of a friend? Informal authority, social capital, and networks in telecommunications standard-setting organizations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    17. Param Vir Singh & Corey Phelps, 2013. "Networks, Social Influence, and the Choice Among Competing Innovations: Insights from Open Source Software Licenses," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 539-560, September.
    18. Negin Salimi & Rudi Bekkers & Koen Frenken, 2013. "Governance and success of university-industry collaborations on the basis of Ph.D. projects: an explorative study," Working Papers 13-05, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Apr 2013.
    19. Jorge Colazo, 2016. "A Cognitive Load View And Empirical Test Of Collaboration Network Structure Versus Learning Rates In New Software Development," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-28, January.
    20. Chen Zhang & Jungpil Hahn & Prabuddha De, 2013. "Research Note ---Continued Participation in Online Innovation Communities: Does Community Response Matter Equally for Everyone?," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 1112-1130, December.
    21. Lee, Saerom & Baek, Hyunmi & Jahng, Jungjoo, 2017. "Governance strategies for open collaboration: Focusing on resource allocation in open source software development organizations," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 431-437.
    22. Arun Sundararajan & Foster Provost & Gal Oestreicher-Singer & Sinan Aral, 2013. "Research Commentary ---Information in Digital, Economic, and Social Networks," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 883-905, December.
    23. 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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