Research Agenda for Studying Open Source II: View Through the Lens of Referent Discipline Theories

In a companion paper [Niederman et al., 2006] we presented a multi-level research agenda for studying information systems using open source software. This paper examines open source in terms of MIS and referent discipline theories that are the base needed for rigorous study of the research agenda

How groups can foster consensus: The case of local cultures

A local culture denotes a commonly shared behaviour within a cluster of firms. Similar to social norms or conventions, it is an emergent feature resulting from the firms' interaction in an economic network. To model these dynamics, we consider a distributed agent population, representing e.g. firms or individuals. Further, we build on a continuous opinion dynamics model with bounded confidence ($\epsilon$), which assumes that two agents only interact if differences in their behaviour are less than $\epsilon$. Interaction results in more similarity of behaviour, i.e. convergence towards a common mean. This framework is extended by two major concepts: (i) The agent's in-group consisting of acquainted interaction partners is explicitly taken into account. This leads to an effective agent behaviour reflecting that agents try to continue to interact with past partners and thus to keep sufficiently close to them. (ii) The in-group network structure changes over time, as agents can form new links to other agents with sufficiently close effective behaviour or delete links to agents no longer close in behaviour. Thus, our model provides a feedback mechanism between the agents' behaviour and their in-group structure. Studying its consequences by means of agent-based computer simulations, we find that for narrow-minded agents (low $\epsilon$) the additional feedback helps to find consensus more often, whereas for open-minded agents (high $\epsilon$) this does not hold. This counterintuitive result is explained by simulations of the network evolution

Exploring the role of servitization to overcome barriers for innovative energy efficiency technologies – the case of public LED street lighting in German municipalities

In this paper we analyse the case for public application of LED street lighting. Drawing from the energy services literature and transaction cost economics, we compare modes of lighting governance for modernisation. We argue that servitization can accelerate the commercialisation and diffusion of end-use energy demand reduction (EUED) technologies in the public sector if third party energy service companies (ESCo) overcome technological, institutional and economic barriers that accompany the introduction of such technologies resulting in transaction costs. This can only succeed with a supportive policy framework and an environment conducive towards the dissemination of specific technological and commercial knowledge required for the diffusion process