Building governance capability in online social production : insights from Wikipedia

This article investigates a form of governance that makes online social production possible. Drawing on the concepts of capability and routine, we develop a dynamic, process-oriented view that departs from past research focused on static comparative analysis. We theorize that online social production systems develop a collective governance capability to steer the process of integrating distributed knowledge resources to the production of value. Governance mechanisms emerge from individual and collective learning that is made possible by new technology, and they evolve over time, as routines are developed to respond to new problems faced by a growing production system. Using Wikipedia as a paradigmatic example of online social production, we characterize governance as an evolving, enabling and embedded process and discuss implications for a dynamic theory of governance

Por que é difícil construir instituições

Why is institution building difficult? Why it often turns out to be self-destructive? And how does it take place in spite of its difficulties? Extending an analytical framework developed by James March (1991), this paper tries to tackle these questions by examining the dilemma between the exploration of alternative institutional arrangements and the exploitation of current ones. Institution building is viewed as a problem of adaptive intelligence and learning in the intertemporal allocation of resources. Some basic self-destructive processes and failure cycles associated with the exploration/exploitation dilemma are identified and discussed; implications are drawn for four distinct domains: competency and resource endowments, self-interest, identity, and trust. In the second part of the paper three basic modes of institution building are illustrated: focal points, increasing returns, and “bricolage”. These are shown to be modest but viable mechanisms for countervailing self-destructive dynamics and for building institutions.Por que a construção de instituições é difícil? Por que muitas vezes acaba por ser autodestrutiva? E como isso ocorre apesar de suas dificuldades? Ampliando um arcabouço analítico desenvolvido por James March (1991), este artigo tenta abordar essas questões examinando o dilema entre a exploration de arranjos institucionais alternativos e a exploitation dos mecanismos atuais. A construção de instituições é vista como um problema de inteligência adaptativa e aprendizagem na alocação intertemporal de recursos. Alguns processos autodestrutivos básicos e ciclos de fracassos associados ao dilema exploration/exploitation são identificados e discutidos. As implicações são traçadas para quatro domínios distintos: competência e dotação de recursos, self-interest, identidade e confiança. Na segunda parte do trabalho são apresentados três modos básicos de construção institucional: pontos focais, rendimentos crescentes e “bricolagem”. Estes são mostrados como mecanismos modestos, mas viáveis para contrariar dinâmicas autodestrutivas e para construir instituições