Open Source Movements as a Model for Organizing

Open source software such as the operating system Linux has in a few years created much attention as an alternative way to develop and distribute software. Open source is to let anyone have access to the source code, so that they can modify it. Open source could be seen as a movement, where communities of highly skilled programmers collectively develop software, often of a quality that outperforms commercial proprietary software. These movements are based on virtual networking on Internet and the web. They are loosely coupled communities kept together by strong common values related to hacker culture. Work seems to be totally distributed, delegated and loosely coupled. The highly skilled members contribute by pride to the collective effort of free software development. In this paper the open source phenomena is investigated from different perspectives. In this paper it is claimed that the open source movements is one key to the understanding of future forms of organizations, knowledge work and business

Algorithms and Their Work: A Performativity Perspective

Algorithms are becoming increasingly prominent. More and more aspects of our everyday lives are being mediated, produced and directed by digital artefacts and connected systems which in turn are powered by algorithms. In this paper, we engage with algorithms and their performative aspects during development, implementation, and performances in the world. Based on theorizing, we develop an algorithmic perspective of performativity which centres on how algorithms evolve from initially being shaped to becoming those who shapes. Our proposed research opportunities address pressing conditions where the presented framework can prove beneficial as a conceptual device

Using grounded theory for studying business process management phenomena

To actually gain organizational value from investments in Information technology (IT) is a widely known problem that many businesses today struggle with. This paper presents an interpretative case study of three public fire rescue service organizations in Sweden. The aim of the study is to investigate what problematic issues that could be raised in achieving organizational value of IT in public organizations. The study indicates that the absence of strategies and IT evaluation methods create fragmented, uncoordinated IT-investment activities, which in turn creates a frustration at all levels of the organization. The public sector invests heavy in IT, seemingly with poor management control. The consequences will be misuse of resources and unnecessary high IT costs. We argue that the use of formal evaluation methods would help the situation, but that economic methods are not enough as the sole solution. A combination of the economic and the Interpretative IT Evaluation approach seems more promising in order to capture both efficiency and effectiveness aspects

Speech Acts On Trial

of speech act theory as a theoretical foundation for the design of information technology (IT). We pay special attention to the adaptation speech act theory has undergone when applied in the IT-field. One question we address concerns what happens when we import passive descriptive theories from other disciplines and use them as a basis in active design. The basic standpoint is that speech act theory may be useful, but only if one is aware of its shortcomings. By surveying various criticisms directed towards speech act based design along with extensions and alternative approaches we attempt to pinpoint these shortcomings. Our aim is to identify breakdowns of speech act based methods and discuss the need for further adaptation. This is done by the use of a framework, also presented in the chapter

Platformization of a Cloud Service

The digital platform has in a few years emerged as a key concept to depict a new kind of business model, organizational form and technical architecture. The transformational power of platforms is manifested by the notion of “platformization”, referring to the drive towards the platform as a dominant infrastructural and economic model.  In this paper, we analyze the nature of platformization processes and platform dynamics. We do this by applying a historical case study approach to the evolution of one digital platform, Microsoft Azure. By presenting three narratives we show how Microsoft Azure, has evolved from being mainly an efficient cloud computing and storage service to become a cloud platform, enabling digital capabilities and innovation at an unprecedented scale. We then discuss how this transformation towards a platform, was shaped by both the evolving digital materiality of the artefacts especially in terms of convergence and generativity, and the discursive work conducted by Microsoft through their official Microsoft Azure blog. We contribute with increased knowledge of innovative cloud platforms more specifically, and platform dynamics and platformization processes more generally

UBER AND THE SWEDISH TAXI MARKET: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Digital platforms have emerged as a new, innovative and powerful way of organizing business. One area where digital platforms have disrupted traditional business models and organizational forms is the taxi business, with Uber as the most well-known example. As in many countries, the entrance of Uber has come to shake the Swedish taxi industry. In this paper, we analyze how Uber interact with institutional forces in the Swedish taxi market. We do this by the means of a discourse analysis. The analysis concludes that the digital artefacts and conceptual universe of Uber needs to be merged with the Swedish Taxi discourse for Uber to get foothold within the same. The challenge for Uber then becomes to be successfully incorporated, made meaningful and understood as a natural part of an already existing discursive system. Consequently, digital platforms do appear in various discursive systems as contenders and competitors to already established actors

Being Accountable in Distributed Innovation Work

As a result of various driving forces, R&D and innovation processes are increasingly opened up for external influences and resources. This has lead to a changing nature of innovation work to become more distributed, networked and fragmented. In companies, a consequence of this is that hierarchically defined directives are transformed to lateral agreements. For the employee, a consequence of this is that they are increasingly expected to justify the value of distributed innovation practices in relation to both their firm and external contributors of innovation, and by doing so they involve themselves in a process were accountability is horizontally redistributed. In order to analyze this process, we use a case of open source software development, were developers from eleven firms, using open source in their professional practice, are interviewed. We show how distributed innovation processes leave the professional developer with the responsibility to select and assure that external resources becomes advantageous to their work, and how they use different types of justification to account for the value of this appropriation. We identify how accountability is formed by multiple logics, potentially leading to tensions between different logic of worth

JUSTIFYING THE VALUE OF OPEN SOURCE

Over the last decade, free and open source software (FOSS) has gradually become recognized by different actors in society outside the FOSS communities and increasingly incorporated in corporate software development contexts, challenging proprietary software practices. Most literature describing this transition is focusing on the value of using FOSS as an efficient alternative to established models for software development. This focus on efficiency and economic value of FOSS is not sufficient if we want to gain a deeper understanding of the many aspects of FOSS values in the intersection of corporations and movements In order to articulate these different values, we propose a theoretical framework of justificatory logics including a civic, domestic, inspirational, popular, market and industrial logic. First we make an analysis of the history of FOSS, identifying how these logics have developed over time. We argue that this development forms the backbone of an emerging configuration of these logics, manifesting a new spirit of FOSS in terms of the adoption of free and open source software, methods and practices in corporations today. This new spirit is then analyzed based on interviews with programmers employed by firms engaging in FOSS. By understanding how these justificatory logics come to play and interplay, corporations that want to adopt FOSS can gain strategic advantages beyond efficiency

Staggered School Hours To Spread Peak Demand For Public Transport – Benefits And Costs

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Staggered School Hours To Spread Peak Demand For Public Transport – Benefits And Costs

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne