Status versus Reputation as Motivation in Online Communities

The continued active participation of contributors is crucial for online knowledge exchange communities. In many communities, virtual credit scores measure contributions and play a pivotal role in motivating active participation over time. We use status theory to characterize virtual credit as a double-edged sword to participation dynamics. We hypothesize that virtual scores reflect status rather than reputation and produce a non-linear effect by motivating contributions when participants are of low status but demotivating participants once they achieve high status. We test our theorizing on a dataset of a large Q&A community. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find robust evidence that status-seeking is a positive source of motivation but self-depletes, meaning that cumulating status in the community reduces the motivational drive of status-seeking. This study contributes to the literature on the motivations to participate in voluntary online knowledge exchange communities by offering an explanation of the dynamics of continued active participation

Control vs Freedom: How Companies Manage Knowledge Sharing with Open Source Software Communities

Knowledge sharing is essential for successful collaboration between companies and external communities. We lack knowledge regarding the micro-processes companies deliberately introduce to manage knowledge sharing with such outside parties. We research these processes in the context of collaboration between companies and open source software (OSS) communities by posing the question: How do companies design explicit mechanisms to manage knowledge exchange with OSS communities? We conduct an explorative case study at Siemens AG. Siemens introduced a formal template process which can be adapted by the organizational units according to their demands. Results show that the extent to which the process is implemented depends on the level of closeness to core intellectual property of the organizational unit and the intensity of the involvement in OSS communities. Developers use several methods to shortcut the process. Our study contributes to the literature on organizational knowledge sharing, company-involved OSS development, and open innovation of firms

When to Signal? The Contextual Conditions for Career-Motivated User Contributions in Online Collaboration Communities

This paper examines the contextual conditions for users’ career concern as a motivational driver of contributions in online collaboration communities. On the data of user-level activities from a computer programming-related online Q&A community (Stack Overflow), merged with job-market data for software-developer, we find robust evidence of a positive association between individual users’ career concern and their contributions. More important, we find that this positive relationship is further strengthened through the contextual conditions: the number of vacancies in the job market, the expected salaries from these jobs, and the transparency in the flow of career-related information within the community. We contribute to the literature on motivation in online collaboration communities. Our study thus offers insight into how career concern can be effectively utilized to motivate contributors in these communities. Our findings also foreshadow a possible paradigm change by characterizing online collaboration communities as institutions of career concern and skill signaling

When to Signal? Contingencies for Career-Motivated Contributions in Online Collaboration Communities

Online collaboration communities are increasingly taking on new roles beyond knowledge creation and exchange, especially the role of a skill-signaling channel for career-motivated community members. This paper examines the contingency effects of job-market conditions for career-motivated knowledge contributions in online collaboration communities. From the data of individual-level activities in a computer programming-related online Q&A community (Stack Overflow), merged with job-market data for software developers, we find robust evidence of a positive association between community members’ career motivations and their knowledge contributions. More importantly, we find that this positive relationship is strengthened by job-market conditions: the number of vacancies in the job market, the expected salaries from these jobs, and the transparency in the flow of career-related information between the community and external recruiters. We contribute to the motivation literature in online collaboration communities by identifying and substantiating the role of contextual factors in mobilizing members’ career motivation. Our study thus offers novel insight into how career motivation can be effectively utilized to motivate contributors in these communities. Our findings also point to a possible paradigm change by characterizing online collaboration communities as emerging institutions for career motivation and skill signaling

Integrative Solutions in Online Crowdsourcing Innovation Challenges

Online crowdsourcing challenges are widely used for problem-solving and innovation. Existing theory has characterized such challenges as tools for tapping distant knowledge. By building on information processing theory we move beyond this characterization and present a perspective that describes innovation challenges as virtual places in which ideas are not simply submitted or commented upon but knowledge is integrated. This perspective shifts the role of crowdsourcing challenges from mere tools for gathering ideas to representing the locus of innovation. Our perspective suggests that three types of knowledge affect the quality of integrative solutions: elementary ideas, facts, and analogical examples. Based on a large dataset, we find that elementary ideas and analogical examples are related to increased solution quality, while facts are related to decreased solution quality. We expand the research on online crowdsourcing innovation challenges to include how crowd participants influence the quality of solutions through the content of their postings

Opportunity Selection in Self-Managing Organizations: The Limits of Crowds

This paper takes a critical perspective on self-managing organizations, i.e., crowds and online communities. I theorize that they are limited in their ability to select and integrate new opportunities (e.g., ideas, project proposals) and cumulatively dev

How Companies Govern Their Open Source Software Contributions: A Case Study

Companies are increasingly involving themselves with open source software (OSS) communities. We lack knowledge about how companies ensure a compliant behavior, while granting a certain degree of flexibility to their employees in managing their OSS contributions. We approach this gap in an explorative case study at Siemens AG through the following question: How do companies negotiate the tensions between control and flexibility regarding their employees’ community interaction by means of governance mechanisms? Initial results show that Siemens introduced a formal template process, which the different organizational units within Siemens can adapt according to their needs. The extent to which the process is implemented depends on the level of closeness to core intellectual property of the organizational unit and the intensity of the involvement in OSS communities. Developers use several methods to shorten the process. Our study contributes to the literature on company-involved OSS development and the OSS governance literature

When to Signal? Contingencies for Career-Motivated Contributions in Online Collaboration Communities

Online collaboration communities increasingly take new roles besides knowledge creation and exchange, especially the role as a skill-signaling channel for career-motivated community members. This paper examines the contingency effects of job-market conditions for career-motivated knowledge contributions in online collaboration communities. From the data of individual-level activities in a computer programming-related online Q&A community (Stack Overflow), merged with job-market data for software developers, we find robust evidence of a positive association between community members’ career motivation and their knowledge contributions. More importantly, we find that this positive relationship is strengthened by job-market conditions: the number of vacancies in the job market, the expected salaries from these jobs, and the transparency in the flow of career-related information between the community and external recruiters. We contribute to the motivation literature in online collaboration communities by identifying and substantiating the role of contextual factors in mobilizing members’ career motivation. Our study thus offers novel insight into how career motivation can be effectively utilized to motivate contributors in these communities. Our findings also point to a possible paradigm change by characterizing online collaboration communities as emerging institutions for career motivation and skill signaling

Hierarchical Distance and Idea Evaluation in Enterprise Crowdfunding

In order to innovate, organizations need to select the best ideas for implementation. Research shows that idea selection suffers from biases, but fails to consider hierarchy as a potential source of bias. We examine how the hierarchical distance between