Leadership and Motivation in Open Source Projects

There are nearly 75,000 open source projects and over 750,000 registered users on Sourceforge.net. Yet few of them are successful in attracting other developers and users to participate in the design, testing, and use of the intended software package. Why are some project leaders able to grow their project teams and guide their projects toward completion while others are stalled or abandoned? What attracts participants to a project and why do they continue to work on a project from which they can leave at any time? Using a model based on the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership and self-concept theory, this paper attempts to identify both the sources of motivation for participants in open source projects and the leadership behaviors that attract and motivate them to complete the project

Organizational Structure of Open Source Projects: A Life Cycle Approach

The structure of open source project communities is discussed in relation to the organizational life cycle. In lieu of sales figures, the download counts for each project are used to identify the life cycle stage of a random sample of open source projects. A research model is proposed that attempts to measure the fit between the life cycle stage and the specific organizational characteristics of these projects (focus, division of labor, role of the leader, level of commitment, and coordination/control) as an indicator of the success of a project as measured by the satisfaction and involvement of both developers and users

Criteria and Recommendations for IS Research that Bridges the Academic-Practitioner Gap

Industry practitioners deal with complex and fast-moving information system (IS) related challenges. IS academic researchers generate substantive theoretical outputs dealing with many of these challenges. Unfortunately, practitioners rarely make use of this academic research. This represents a serious gap that has negative consequences for academics and practitioners alike. This paper identifies aspects of the academic-practitioner gap and describes five criteria (value, velocity, visibility, voice, and verifiability) that researchers may use throughout the research process to increase the likelihood of creating research outputs that will be used by practitioners. These criteria are linked to three approaches for conducting research most likely to impact practitioners – direct creation of practitioner content, translation of scholarly research and co-production. We close with specific recommendations for IS academics to overcome the gap

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

Impact of Software Ecosystems on the Implementation of Open Source-Based Electronic Health Record Software

In this manuscript, we examine the ways in which the members of the ecosystem surrounding an open source software (OSS) based EHR system impact the quality and success of the resultant implementation. Following a brief theoretical review, we provide narratives of successful OSS-based EHRs at three US hospitals, followed by a brief discussion of the contributions and effects of the open source ecosystem that differ from those expected in proprietary EHR installations

A Research Agenda for Studying Open Source I: A Multi-Level Framework

This paper presents a research agenda for studying information systems using open source software A multi-level research model is developed at five discrete levels of analysis: (1) the artifact; (2) the individual; (3) the team, project, and community; (4) the organization; and (5) society. Each level is discussed in terms of key issues within the level. Examples are based on prior research. In a companion paper, [Niederman, et al 2006], we view the agenda through the lens of referent discipline theories

Critical Realm-Based Explanatory Case Study Research in Information Systems

Critical realism has been proposed as an alternative philosophical paradigm to positivism and interpretivism, but few papers have offered guidelines or suggestions for applying this philosophy to actual research methodologies. This article proposes a set of methodological principles for conducting and evaluating critical realism-based explanatory case study research within the information systems (IS) field. The principles are consistent with the ontological and epistemological assumptions of critical realism, which are discussed along with a brief comparison to the contrasting assumptions from positivism and interpretivism. Examples from published case study articles in the IS research literature are discussed in order to demonstrate each principle in more detail

Recent Advances and Opportunities for Improving Critical Realism-Based Case Study Research in IS

Critical realism (CR) has been proposed as an alternative to positivist and interpretivist research in information systems. In recent years, there have been several articles that describe methodological guidelines for conducting CR-based empirical studies. These guidelines have been used by numerous researchers as the methodological underpinnings for empirical research articles in IS, particularly for case studies. As a result, CR-based research has evolved as these researchers address many of the challenges and issues associated with this approach. In this article, we present a review and synthesis of methodological and recent empirical CR literature. We identify the methodological advances and important gaps in the empirical research and present a set of state-of-the-art recommendations for conducting and evaluating critical realist research studies in IS

The Promises and Challenges of Innovating Through Big Data and Analytics in Healthcare

In this article, we present the promises and challenges of big data and analytics (BD&A) in healthcare, informed by our observations of and interviews with healthcare providers in the US and European Union (EU). We then provide a set of recommendations for capitalizing on the extraordinary innovation opportunities available through big data

Preventive Adoption of Information Security Behaviors

Many tools and safe computing practices are available to information system users to help them avoid the negative outcomes due to information security threats. Yet many users do not use these tools and practices. We seek to understand the factors influencing organizational users’ adoption of preventive information security behaviors. These behaviors are similar to those which individuals practice to prevent negative health outcomes. A new model incorporating the primary antecedents of users’ intentions related to preventive security, the Preventive Adoption Model (PAM), is presented and tested. PAM is derived from health behavior theories (health belief model, protection motivation theory, and theory of planned behavior) and integrates key constructs specific to the information security context. Results of the study suggest that users’ beliefs regarding the threats and their avoidability, the proposed preventive actions, and their individual capabilities have an impact on their intentions to perform the prescribed behaviors