@article {9998, title = {Examining Open Innovation in Science (OIS): What Open Innovation can and cannot offer the science of science}, journal = {Innovation: Organization \& Management}, year = {2021}, abstract = {

Scholars across disciplines increasingly hear calls for more open and collaborative approaches to scientific research. The concept of Open Innovation in Science (OIS) provides a framework that integrates dispersed research efforts aiming to understand the antecedents, contingencies, and consequences of applying open and collaborative research practices. While the OIS framework has already been taken up by science of science scholars, its conceptual underpinnings require further specification. In this essay, we critically examine the OIS concept and bring to light two key aspects: 1) how OIS builds upon Open Innovation (OI) research by adopting its attention to boundary-crossing knowledge flows and by adapting other concepts developed and researched in OI to the science context as exemplified by two OIS cases in the area of research funding; 2) how OIS conceptualises knowledge flows across boundaries. While OI typically focuses on well-defined organizational boundaries, we argue that blurry and even invisible boundaries between communities of practice may more strongly constrain flows of knowledge related to openness and collaboration in science. Given the uptake of this concept, this essay brings needed clarity to the meaning of OIS, which has no particular normative orientation toward a close coupling between science and industry. We end by outlining the essay{\textquoteright}s contributions to OI and the science of science, as well as to science practitioners.

}, doi = {10.1080/14479338.2021.1999248}, author = {Susanne Beck and Marcel LaFlamme and Carsten Bergenholtz and Marcel Bogers and Tiare-Maria Brasseur and Marie-Louise Conradsen and Kevin Crowston and Diletta Di Marco and Agnes Effert and Despoina Filiou and Lars Frederiksen and Thomas Gillier and Marc Gruber and Carolin Haeussler and Karin Hoisl and Olga Kokshagina and Maria-Theresa Norn and Marion Poetz and Gernot Pruschak and Laia Pujol Priego and Agnieszka Radziwon and Alexander Ruser and Henry Sauermann and Sonali Shah and Julia Suess-Reyes and Christopher L. Tucci and Philipp Tuertscher and Jane Bj{\o}rn Vedel and Roberto Verganti and Jonathan Wareham and Sunny Mosangzi Xu} } @article {9998, title = {Functional and Visionary Leadership in Self-Managing Virtual Teams}, journal = {Group \& Organization Management}, volume = {46}, year = {2021}, month = {04/2021}, pages = {424{\textendash}460}, abstract = {

In this conceptual article, we present a theory of leadership in self-managing virtual teams. We describe leadership in this setting as a process that results in the creation, reinforcement and evolution of shared mental models and shared norms that influence team member behaviour towards the successful accomplishment of shared goals. We distinguish two types of leadership. We identify leadership that works within and reinforces existing models and norms to influence team contributions as {\textquotedblleft}functional{\textquotedblright} leadership. We identify leadership that results in changes in models and norms as {\textquotedblleft}visionary{\textquotedblright} leadership. We propose that successful self-managing virtual teams require both types of leadership and that they will exhibit a paradoxical combination of shared, distributed functional leadership complemented by strong, concentrated and centralized visionary leadership and that visionary leadership is enabled by functional leadership in the form of substantive team member contributions.

}, keywords = {functional leadership, Leadership, Self-managing teams, structuration theory, virtual teams, visionary leadership}, doi = {10.1177/1059601120955034}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/1059601120955034_0.pdf}, author = {Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Kevin Crowston and Heckman, Robert} } @article {9999, title = {Participation in Community-Based Free/Libre Open Source Software Development Tasks: The Impact of Task Characteristics}, journal = {Internet Research}, volume = {31}, year = {2021}, pages = {1177-1202}, abstract = {

Prior research on participation in FLOSS development has focused mainly on factors at the individual and/or project levels. In this research, we focus on task characteristics and explore their impacts on participation in FLOSS development tasks. Analyzing tasks from five projects in two categories, we find differences in participation related to different task triggers and task topics. Further, our results suggest the mediating role of number of participants in the relationship between task characteristics and the number of messages and the moderating role of project type in the relationships between task characteristics and the number of participants.

}, doi = {10.1108/INTR-03-2020-0112}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/IR\%20to\%20share.pdf}, author = {Kangning Wei and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Kevin Crowston} } @article {9999, title = {Building an apparatus: Refractive, reflective and diffractive readings of trace data}, journal = {Journal of the Association for Information Systems}, volume = {21}, year = {2020}, pages = {Article 10}, abstract = {

We propose a set of methodological principles and strategies for the use of trace data, i.e., data capturing performances carried out on or via information systems, often at a fine level of detail. Trace data comes with a number of methodological and theoretical challenges associated with the inseparable nature of the social and material. Drawing on Haraway and Barad{\textquoteright}s distinctions among refraction, reflection and diffraction, we compare three approaches to trace data analysis. We argue that a diffractive methodology allows us to explore how trace data are not given but created though construction of a research apparatus to study trace data. By focusing on the diffractive ways in which traces ripple through an apparatus, it is possible to explore some of the taken-for-granted, invisible dynamics of sociomateriality. Equally, important this approach allows us to describe what and when distinctions within entwined phenomena emerge in the research process. Empirically, we illustrate the guiding principles and strategies by analyzing trace data from Gravity Spy, a crowdsourced citizen science project on Zooniverse. We conclude by suggesting that a diffractive methodology may help us draw together quantitative and qualitative research practices in new and productive ways that also raises interesting design questions.

}, doi = {10.17705/1jais.00590 }, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/RA-JAIS-17-0130.R3.1_FIN\%20to\%20share.pdf}, author = {Carsten {\O}sterlund and Kevin Crowston and Corey Brian Jackson} } @article {9999, title = {Decision-Making Processes in Community-based Free/Libre Open Source Software Development Teams with Internal Governance: An Extension to Decision-Making Theory}, journal = {Communications of the Association for Information Systems}, year = {2020}, abstract = {

FLOSS teams are an extreme example of distributed teams, prominent in software development. At the core of distributed team success is team decision-making and execution. The lack formal organizational structures to guide practices and the reliance on asynchronous communication might be expected to make decision making problematic. While there is a paucity of research in how organizations make IS development decisions, the research in FLOSS decision making models is limited. Decision-making literature in FLOSS teams is limited to the investigation of the distribution of decision-making power. Therefore, it is not clear which decision-making theories fit FLOSS context best, or whether novel decision-making models are required. Despite these challenges many FLOSS teams are effective. We adopted a process-based perspective to analyze decision-making in five community-based FLOSS teams. We identified five different decision-making processes, indicating FLOSS teams use multiple processes when making decisions. Decision-making behaviors were stable across projects despite different type of knowledge required. We help fill in the literature gap due to the lack of investigations the extent to which FLOSS decision mechanisms can be explained using classical decision-making theories. Practically, community and company leaders should use these decision processes to infrastructure that fits best with the FLOSS decision-making processes.

}, doi = {10.17705/1CAIS.04620}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CAIS\%20Journal\%202nd\%20Round\%20Resubmission.pdf}, author = {Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Kangning Wei and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2020, title = {GitLab: Work where you want, when you want}, journal = {Journal of Organizational Design}, volume = {9}, year = {2020}, month = {2020/11/16}, pages = {23}, abstract = {

GitLab is a software company that works {\textquotedblleft}all remote{\textquotedblright} at the scale of more than 1000 employees located in more than 60 countries. GitLab has no physical office and its employees can work from anywhere they choose. Any step of the organizational life of a GitLab employee (e.g., hiring, onboarding and firing) is performed remotely, except for a yearly companywide gathering. GitLab strongly relies on asynchronous coordination, allowing employees to work anytime they want. After highlighting some of the main practices implemented by GitLab to effectively work all remotely and asynchronously, I asked renowned organizational scientists their thoughts on this interesting case and to question the generalizability of the all remote asynchronous model. Understanding whether and under what conditions this model can succeed can be of guidance for organizational designers that are now considering different remote models in response of the COVID-19 shock and its aftermath.

}, isbn = {2245-408X}, doi = {10.1186/s41469-020-00087-8}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/s41469-020-00087-8.pdf}, author = {Choudhury, Prithwiraj and Crowston, Kevin and Dahlander, Linus and Minervini, Marco S. and Raghuram, Sumita} } @proceedings {9999, title = {Coordination in OSS 2.0: ANT Approach}, year = {2019}, abstract = {

Open source software projects are increasingly driven by a combination of independent and professional developers, the former volunteers and the later hired by a company to contribute to the project to support commercial product development. This mix of developers has been referred to as OSS 2.0. However, we do not fully understand the multi-layered coordination spanning individuals, teams, and organizations. Using Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we describe how coordination and power dynamics unfold among developers and how different tools and artifacts both display activities and mediate coordination efforts. Internal communication within an organization was reported to cause broken links in the community, duplication of work, and political tensions. ANT shows how tools and code can exercise agency and alter a software development process as an equivalently active actor of the scene. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the changing nature of open source software development.

}, keywords = {actor-network theory, free/libre open source, Stigmergy}, doi = {10.24251/HICSS.2019.120}, url = { http://hdl.handle.net/10125/59538}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/hicss52a-sub2136-cam-i8-2.pdf}, author = {Sangseok You and Kevin Crowston and Jeffery Saltz and Yatish Hegde} } @article {9999, title = {Documentation and Access to Knowledge in Online Communities: Know Your Audience and Write Appropriately?}, journal = {Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology}, volume = {70}, year = {2019}, pages = {619{\textendash}633}, abstract = {Virtual collaborations bring together people who must work together despite having varied access to and understanding of the work at hand. In many cases, the collaboration is technology supported, meaning that the work is done through shared documents of various kinds. We develop a framework articulating the characteristics of documents supporting collaborators with asymmetric access to knowledge versus those with symmetric access to knowledge. Drawing on theories about document genre, boundary objects, and provenance, we hypothesize that documents supporting asymmetric collaborators are likely to articulate or prescribe their own (1) purpose, (2) context of use, (3) content and form, and (4) provenance in greater detail than documents supporting symmetric collaborators. We explore these hypotheses through content analysis of documents and instructions from a variety of free/libre open source projects (FLOSS). We present findings consistent with the hypotheses developed as well as results extending beyond our theory-derived assumptions. As participants gradually gain access to knowledge, the study suggests, prescriptions about the content of documents become less important compared to prescriptions about the context, provenance, and process of work. The study suggests new directions for research on communications in virtual collaborations, as well as advice for those supporting such collaborations. }, doi = {10.1002/asi.24152}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Osterlund-Crowston_2019_Document\%20and\%20access\%20to\%20knowledge\%20in\%20online\%20communities_JASIST.pdf}, author = {Carsten {\O}sterlund and Kevin Crowston} } @article {9999, title = {Stages of motivation for contributing user-generated content: A theory and empirical test}, journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies}, volume = {109}, year = {2018}, pages = {89-101}, publisher = {Syracuse University}, address = {Syracuse, NY}, abstract = {

User-generated content (UGC) projects involve large numbers of mostly unpaid contributors collaborating to create content. Motivation for such contributions has been an active area of research. In prior research, motivation for contribution to UGC has been considered a single, static and individual phenomenon. In this paper, we argue that it is instead three separate but interrelated phenomena. Using the theory of helping behaviour as a framework and integrating social movement theory, we propose a stage theory that distinguishes three separate sets (initial, sustained and meta) of motivations for participation in UGC. We test this theory using a data set from a Wikimedia Editor Survey (Wikimedia Foundation, 2011). The results suggest several opportunities for further refinement of the theory but provide support for the main hypothesis, that different stages of contribution have distinct motives. The theory has implications for both researchers and practitioners who manage UGC projects.

}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.08.005 }, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/crowston\%20fagnot\%20to\%20distribute.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Fagnot, Isabelle} } @article {9999, title = {Core-periphery communication and the success of free/libre open source software projects}, journal = {Journal of Internet Services and Applications}, volume = {8}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We examine the relationship between communications by core and peripheral members and Free/Libre Open Source Software project success. The study uses data from 74 projects in the Apache Software Foundation Incubator. We conceptualize project success in terms of success building a community, as assessed by graduation from the Incubator. We compare successful and unsuccessful projects on volume of communication and on use of inclusive pronouns as an indication of efforts to create intimacy among team members. An innovation of the paper is that use of inclusive pronouns is measured using natural language processing techniques. We also compare the volume and content of communication produced by core (committer) and peripheral members and by those peripheral members who are later elected to be core members. We find that volume of communication is related to project success but use of inclusive pronouns does not distinguish successful projects. Core members exhibit more contribution and use of inclusive pronouns than peripheral members. }, keywords = {Apache Software Foundation, communication, core and periphery, free/libre open source software (FLOSS), inclusive pronouns, natural language processing, project success}, doi = {10.1186/s13174-017-0061-4}, url = {http://rdcu.be/uguP}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/170707\%20JISA\%20final.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Shamshurin, Ivan} } @inbook {9999, title = {Levels of trace data for social and behavioural science research}, booktitle = {Big Data Factories: Collaborative~Approaches}, year = {2017}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, organization = {Springer Nature}, abstract = {

The explosion of data available from online systems such as social media is creating a wealth of trace data, that is, data that record evidence of human activity. The volume of data available offers great potential to advance social and behavioural science research. However, the data are of a very different kind than more conventional social and behavioural science data, posing challenges to use. This paper adopts a data framework from Earth Observation science and applies it to trace data to identify possible issues in analyzing trace data. Application of the framework also reveals issues for sharing and reusing data.

}, isbn = {978-3-319-59186-5}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-59186-5_4}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/160529\%20levels\%20book\%20chapter_0.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston}, editor = {Sorin Matei and Sean Goggins and Nicolas Jullien} } @article {9999, title = {Roles and politeness behavior in community-based Free/Libre Open Source Software development}, journal = {Information and Management}, volume = {54}, year = {2017}, pages = {573-582}, abstract = {Community-based Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development relies on contributions from both core and peripheral members. Prior research on core-periphery has focused on software coding-related behaviors. We study how core-periphery roles are related to social-relational behavior in terms of politeness behavior. Data from two FLOSS projects suggest that both core and peripheral members use more positive politeness strategies than negative strategies. Further, core and peripheral members use different strategies to protect positive face in positive politeness, which we term respect and intimacy respectively. Our results contribute to FLOSS research and politeness theory. }, keywords = {Core-periphery structure, Open source software development, Politeness behavior}, doi = {10.1016/j.im.2016.11.006}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Group_maintenance\%20paper\%20to\%20share.pdf}, author = {Kangning Wei and Kevin Crowston and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Heckman, Robert} } @article {2017, title = {Work~features to support stigmergic coordination in distributed teams}, year = {2017}, type = {Interactive paper}, abstract = {

When work products are shared via a computer system, members of distributed teams can see the work products produced by remote colleagues as easily as those from local colleagues. Drawing on coordination theory and work in computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), we theorize that these work products can provide information to support team coordination, that is, that work can be coordinated through the outcome of the work itself, a mode of coordination analogous to the biological process of stigmergy. Based on studies of documents and work, we postulate three features of work products that enable them to support team coordination, namely having a clear genre, being visible and mobile, and being combinable. These claims are illustrated with examples drawn from free/libre open source software development teams. We conclude by discussing how the proposed theory might be empirically tested.

}, keywords = {Coordination, Stigmergy}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Stigmergy\%20theory\%20paper\%20to\%20share.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Bolici, Francesco and Carsten {\O}sterlund} } @conference {2016, title = {Core-Periphery Communication and the Success of Free/Libre Open Source Software Projects}, booktitle = {IFIP International Conference on Open Source Systems}, year = {2016}, pages = {45{\textendash}56}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, abstract = {We examine the relationship between communications by core and peripheral members and Free/Libre Open Source Software project success. The study uses data from 74 projects in the Apache Software Foundation Incubator. We conceptualize project success in terms of success building a community, as assessed by graduation from the Incubator. We compare successful and unsuccessful projects on volume of communication by core (committer) and peripheral community members and on use of inclusive pronouns as an indication of efforts to create intimacy among team members. An innovation of the paper is that use of inclusive pronouns is measured using natural language processing techniques. We find that core and peripheral members differ in their volume of contribution and in their use of inclusive pronouns, and that volume of communication is related to project success. }, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-39225-7_4}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/OSS2016.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Shamshurin, Ivan} } @article {2016, title = {Manifesto on Engineering Academic Software (Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 16252)}, volume = {6}, year = {2016}, month = {12/2106}, institution = {Schloss Dagstuhl {\textendash} Leibniz Center for Informatics}, address = {Wadern, Germany}, abstract = {

Software is often a critical component of scientific research. It can be a component of the academic research methods used to produce research results, or it may itself be an academic research result. Software, however, has rarely been considered to be a citable artifact in its own right. With the advent of open-source software, artifact evaluation committees of conferences, and journals that include source code and running systems as part of the published artifacts, we foresee that software will increasingly be recognized as part of the academic process. The quality and sustainability of this software must be accounted for, both a priori and a posteriori. The Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop on {\textquotedblleft}Engineering Academic Software{\textquotedblright} has examined the strengths, weaknesses, risks, and opportunities of academic software engineering. A key outcome of the workshop is this Dagstuhl Manifesto, serving as a roadmap towards future professional software engineering for software-based research instruments and other software produced and used in an academic context. The manifesto is expressed in terms of a series of actionable {\textquotedblleft}pledges{\textquotedblright} that users and developers of academic research software can take as concrete steps towards improving the environment in which that software is produced.

}, doi = {10.4230/DagMan.6.1.1}, author = {Alice Allen and Cecilia Aragon and Christoph Becker and Jeffrey Carver and Andrei Chi{\c s} and Benoit Combemale and Mike Croucher and Kevin Crowston and Daniel Garijo and Ashish Gehani and Carole Goble and Robert Haines and Robert Hirschfeld and James Howison and Kathryn Huff and Caroline Jay and Daniel S. Katz and Claude Kirchner and Katie Kuksenok and Ralf L{\"a}mmel and Oscar Nierstrasz and Matt Turk and van Nieuwpoort, Rob and Matthew Vaughn and Jurgen Vinju} } @article {9998, title = {Stigmergic coordination in FLOSS development teams: Integrating explicit and implicit mechanisms}, journal = {Cognitive Systems Research}, volume = {38}, year = {2016}, pages = {14{\textendash}22}, keywords = {Coordination, Stigmergy}, doi = {10.1016/j.cogsys.2015.12.003}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/COGSYS-RS-\%28HHS\%29-\%282015\%29-\%283\%29.pdf}, author = {Bolici, Francesco and James Howison and Kevin Crowston} } @inbook {2015, title = {Open Source Technology Development}, booktitle = {Handbook of Science and Technology Convergence}, year = {2015}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, organization = {Springer International Publishing}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-319-04033-2}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-04033-2_29-1}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/chp\%253A10.1007\%252F978-3-319-04033-2_29-1.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston}, editor = {Bainbridge, William Sims and Roco, Mihail C.} } @proceedings {9999, title = {The Rise and Fall of an Online Project. Is Bureaucracy Killing Efficiency in Open Knowledge Production?}, year = {2015}, address = {San Francisco, CA}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CrowstonJullienOrtegawork_2014_life-cycle.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/OpenSym\%20presentation\%20NJKCFO\%2008-20-15.pdf}, author = {Nicolas Jullien and Kevin Crowston and Felipe Ortega} } @article {9999, title = {Collaboration through superposition: How the IT artifact as an object of collaboration affords technical interdependence without organizational interdependence}, journal = {MIS Quarterly}, volume = {38}, year = {2014}, month = {3/2104}, pages = {29-50}, abstract = {This paper develops a theory of collaboration through superposition: the process of depositing separate layers on top of each other over time. The theory is developed in a study of development of community-based Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS), through a research arc of discovery (participant observation), replication (two archival case studies) and formalization (a model of developer choices). The theory explains two key findings: 1) the overwhelming majority of work is accomplished with only a single programmer working on a task and 2) when tasks appear too large for an individual they are more likely to be deferred until they are easier, rather than being undertaken through structured teamwork. It is theorized that this way of organizing is key to successful open collaboration where the IT artifact is the object of collaboration, because it allows the co-production of technically interdependent artifacts through motivationally interdependent work. The affordances of software as an object of collaboration are used as a framework to analyze efforts to learn from FLOSS in other domains of work and in the IS function of for-profit organizations.}, doi = {10.25300/MISQ/2014/38.1.02}, url = {http://misq.org/collaboration-through-open-superposition.html}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CollaborationThroughSuperposition-WorkingPaper.pdf}, author = {James Howison and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2014, title = {Editorial: The role of information systems in enabling open innovation}, journal = {Journal of the Association for Information Systems }, volume = {15}, year = {2014}, month = {11/2014}, chapter = {Article 4}, doi = {10.17705/1jais.00381}, url = {http://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1692\&context=jais}, author = {Eoin Whelan and Kieran Conboy and Kevin Crowston and Lorraine Morgan and Matti Rossi} } @article {9998, title = {Group maintenance in technology-supported distributed teams}, journal = {Information \& Management}, volume = {51}, year = {2014}, month = {4/2014}, pages = {297-309}, abstract = {In this paper we investigate group maintenance behavior in community-based Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams. Adopting a sociolinguistic perspective, we conceptualize group maintenance behavior as interpersonal communication tactics{\textemdash}specifically, social presence and politeness tactics{\textemdash}that help maintain relationships among group members. Developer email messages were collected from two FLOSS projects with different development status and content-analyzed to identify frequently-used group maintenance tactics. We then compared the two projects on the group maintenance tactics used, finding differences that reflect changes in the project work practices. Our work contributes theoretically to FLOSS research and has practical implications for FLOSS practitioners. }, doi = {10.1016/j.im.2014.02.001}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Group_maintenance\%20paper_part\%20I_20140122_final.pdf}, author = {Kangning Wei and Kevin Crowston and Li, Na and Heckman, Robert} } @proceedings {568, title = {Boundary-Spanning Documents in Online FLOSS Communities: Does One Size Fit All?}, year = {2013}, month = {1/2013}, address = {Wailea, HI}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/floss\%20documents\%20to\%20distribute.pdf}, author = {Carsten {\O}sterlund and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {2013, title = {Open Source Software Adoption: A Technological Innovation Perspective}, year = {2013}, month = {5/2013}, address = {Lyon, France}, abstract = {This research-in-progress aims to indentify the salient factors explaining adoption of open source software (OSS), as a technological innovation. The theoretical background of the paper is based on the technological innovation literature. We choose to focus on the open ERP case, as it is considered as a promising innovation for firms {\textendash} especially medium firms - but open ERP also faces numerous challenges. The paper provides a framework and a method for investigation that has to be implemented.}, url = {http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2244222}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Fran{\c c}ois Deltour and Nicolas Jullien} } @article {646, title = {Sustainability of Open Collaborative Communities: Analyzing Recruitment Efficiency}, journal = {Technology Innovation Management Review}, year = {2013}, month = {01/2013}, pages = {20{\textendash}26}, publisher = {Talent First Network}, address = {Ottawa}, abstract = {Extensive research has been conducted over the past years to improve our understanding of sustainability conditions for large-scale collaborative projects, especially from an economic and governance perspective. However, the influence of recruitment and retention of participants in these projects has received comparatively less attention from researchers. Nevertheless, these concerns are significant for practitioners, especially regarding the apparently decreasing ability of the main open online projects to attract and retain new contributors. A possible explanation for this decrease is that those projects have simply reached a mature state of development. Marwell and Oliver (1993) and Oliver, Marwell, and Teixeira (1985) note that, at the initial stage in collective projects, participants are few and efforts are costly; in the diffusion phase, the number of participants grows, as their efforts are rewarding; and in the mature phase, some inefficiency may appear as the number of contributors is greater than required for the work. In this article, we examine this possibility. We use original data from 36 Wikipedias in different languages to compare their efficiency in recruiting participants. We chose Wikipedia because the different language projects are at different states of development, but are quite comparable on the other aspects, providing a test of the impact of development on efficiency. Results confirm that most of the largest Wikipedias seem to be characterized by a reduced return to scale. As a result, we can draw interesting conclusions that can be useful for practitioners, facilitators, and managers of collaborative projects in order to identify key factors potentially influencing the adequate development of their communities over the medium-to-long term.}, issn = {1927-0321}, url = {http://timreview.ca/article/646}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Nicolas Jullien and Felipe Ortega} } @proceedings {438, title = {Is Wikipedia Inefficient? Modelling Effort and Participation in Wikipedia}, year = {2013}, month = {1/2013}, address = {Wailea, HI}, url = {http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1960696}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/hicss2013_CrowstonJullienOrtegawork_revised.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Nicolas Jullien and Felipe Ortega} } @proceedings {crowston2012, title = {Amazon Mechanical Turk: A research tool for organizations and information systems scholars}, volume = {389}, year = {2012}, month = {12/2012}, pages = {210-221}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Tampa, FL}, isbn = {978-3-642-35141-9}, issn = {1868-4238}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-35141-9}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/3890210.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston}, editor = {Anol Bhattacherjee and Brian Fitzgerald} } @article {Crowston:2009, title = {Free/Libre Open Source Software Development: What we know and what we do not know}, journal = {ACM Computing Surveys}, volume = {44}, year = {2012}, month = {02/2012}, edition = {2}, abstract = {We review the empirical research on Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and assess the state of the literature. We develop a framework for organizing the literature based on the input-mediator-output- input (IMOI) model from the small groups literature. We present a quantitative summary of articles selected for the review and then discuss findings of this literature categorized into issues pertaining to inputs (e.g., member characteristics, technology use and project characteristics), processes (software development and social processes), emergent states (e.g., trust and task related states) and outputs (e.g. team performance, FLOSS implementation and project evolution). Based on this review, we suggest topics for future research, as well as identifying methodological and theoretical issues for future inquiry in this area, including issues relating to sampling and the need for more longitudinal studies.}, doi = {10.1145/2089125.2089127}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CrowstonFLOSSReviewPaperPreprint.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Appendix\%201\%20Journal\%20and\%20Conference\%20Names.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Appendix\%202\%20Coding\%20Scheme.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Appendix\%203\%20Studies\%20included\%20in\%20the\%20review.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Kangning Wei and James Howison and Wiggins, Andrea} } @article {9999, title = {Using natural language processing for qualitative data analysis}, journal = {International Journal of Social Research Methodology}, volume = {15}, year = {2012}, month = {2012}, chapter = {523-543}, abstract = {Social researchers often apply qualitative research methods to study groups and their communications artefacts. The use of computer-mediated communications has dramatically increased the volume of text available, but coding such text requires considerable manual effort. We discuss how systems that process text in human languages (i.e., natural language processing, NLP) might partially automate content analysis by extracting theoretical evidence. We present a case study of the use of NLP for qualitative analysis in which the NLP rules showed good performance on a number of codes. With the current level of performance, use of an NLP system could reduce the amount of text to be examined by a human coder by an order of magnitude or more, potentially increasing the speed of coding by a comparable degree. The paper is significant as it is one of the first to demonstrate the use of high-level NLP techniques for qualitative data analysis.}, doi = {10.1080/13645579.2011.625764}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/NLP_for_qualitative_analysis.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Allen, Eileen E. and Heckman, Robert} } @proceedings {9999, title = {Lessons from volunteering and free/libre open source software development for the future of work}, year = {2011}, month = {6/2011}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Turku, Finland}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ifipwg82paper_final.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston} } @article {9999, title = {Validity issues in the use of social network analysis with digital trace data}, journal = {Journal of the Association for Information Systems}, volume = {12}, year = {2011}, month = {12/2011}, chapter = {Article 2}, abstract = {

There is an exciting natural match between social network analysis methods and the growth of data sources produced by social interactions via information technologies, from online communities to corporate information systems. Information Systems researchers have not been slow to embrace this combination of method and data. Such systems increasingly provide "digital trace data" that provide new research opportunities. Yet digital trace data are substantively different from the survey and interview data for which network analysis measures and interpretations were originally developed. This paper examines ten validity issues associated with the combination of data digital trace data and social network analysis methods, with examples from the IS literature, to provide recommendations for improving the validity of research using this combination.

}, doi = {10.17705/1jais.00282 }, url = {http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol12/iss12/2/}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/JAIS.RA-JAIS-08-0130-ReferencesFixed.pdf}, author = {James Howison and Kevin Crowston and Wiggins, Andrea} } @proceedings {2011, title = {What characterizes documents that bridge boundaries compared to documents that do not? An exploratory study of documentation in FLOSS teams}, year = {2011}, month = {1/2011}, edition = {44th}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/paper1029.pdf}, author = {Carsten {\O}sterlund and Kevin Crowston} } @conference {2011, title = {Work as coordination and coordination as work: A process perspective on FLOSS development projects}, booktitle = {Third International Symposium on Process Organization Studies}, year = {2011}, month = {6/2011}, address = {Corfu, Greece}, url = {http://www.process-symposium.com/}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/PROS-134.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Carsten {\O}sterlund and James Howison and Bolici, Francesco} } @article {9999, title = {Leadership in self-managing virtual teams}, year = {2010}, month = {12/2010}, publisher = {Syracuse University School of Information Studies}, abstract = {In this paper, we present a theory of leadership in self-managing virtual teams. We are particularly interested in self-managing virtual teams because self-management seems to be a common phenomenon in teams that interact primarily through information technology (so-called virtual teams). Building on leadership theory and structuration theory, the theory describes leadership as a process that results in the reinforcement, creation and evolution of ongoing structures and distinguishes between two types of leadership. We identify first-order leadership as leadership that works within and reinforces existing structures to elicit and guide group contributions. We define second-order leadership as behavior that effects changes in the structure that guides group action. We argue that second-order leadership is enabled by first-order leadership, is therefore action embedded, and is grounded in processes that define the social identity of the team. We propose that effective self-managing virtual teams will exhibit a paradoxical combination of shared, distributed first-order leadership complemented by strong, concentrated, and centralized second-order leadership. We conclude by presenting a set of research questions and suggestions for future research.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/JOB\%20REVISED\%20to\%20distribute.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Heckman, Robert and Misiolek, Nora} } @proceedings {2010, title = {Machine Learning and Rule-Based Automated Coding of Qualitative Data}, year = {2010}, month = {10/2010}, address = {Pittsburgh, PA}, abstract = {Researchers often employ qualitative research approaches but large volumes of textual data pose considerable challenges to manual coding. In this research, we explore how to implement fully or semi-automatic coding on textual data (specifically, electronic messages) by leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP). In particular, we compare the performance of human-developed NLP rules to those inferred by machine learning algorithms. The experimental results suggest that NLP with machine learning can be an effective way to assist researchers in coding qualitative data. }, keywords = {FLOSS, NLP}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ml_nlp.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ASIST\%20poster\%202p\%20final.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Xiaozhong Liu and Allen, Eileen E. and Heckman, Robert} } @proceedings {Wiggins:2010, title = {Reclassifying Success and Tragedy in FLOSS Projects}, year = {2010}, note = {The attached zip file (OSS2010AnalysisScripts.zip) contains scripts for replicating the research. The data files for this analysis can be retrieved from: http://flossdb.syr.edu/classifier_summary_data.sql.gz (10 MB) http://flossdb.syr.edu/classifier_results.sql.gz (6 MB)}, month = {6/2010}, address = {Notre Dame, IN, USA}, abstract = {This paper presents the results of a replication of English \& Schweik{\textquoteright}s 2007 paper classifying FLOSS projects according to their stage of growth and indicators of success. We recreated the analysis using a comparable data set from 2006, with one additional point in time. We also expanded upon the original results by applying different criteria for evaluating the rate of new software releases for sustainability of project activity. We discuss the points of convergence and divergence from the original work from these extensions of the classification, and their implications for studying FLOSS development using archival data. The paper contributes new analysis of operationalizing success in FLOSS projects, with discussion of implications of the findings.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/awigginsOSS2010Reclassifying.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/OSS2010AnalysisScripts.zip}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2010, title = {The under-appreciated role of stigmergic coordination in software development}, year = {2010}, abstract = {

Coordination in software development teams has been a topic of perennial interest in empirical software engineering research. The vast majority of this literature has drawn on a conceptual separation between work and coordination mechanisms, separate from the work itself, which enable groups to achieve coordination. Traditional recommendations and software methods focused on planning: using analysis to predict and manage dependencies. Empirical research has demonstrated the limits of this approach, showing that many important dependencies are emergent and pointing to the persistent importance of explicit discussion to managing these dependencies as they arise. Drawing on work in Computer-Supported Collaborative Work and building from an analogy to collaboration amongst insects (stigmergy), we argue that the work product itself plays an under-appreciated role in helping software developers manage dependencies as they arise. This short paper presents the conceptual argument with empirical illustrations and explains why this mechanism would have significant implications for Software Engineering coordination research. We discuss issues in marshaling clear positive evidence, arguing that these issues are responsible, in part, for the under-consideration of this mechanism in software engineering and outlining research strategies which may overcome these issues.

}, keywords = {Coordination, FLOSS, Stigmergy}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/stigmergy-short.pdf}, author = {Bolici, Francesco and James Howison and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {Scialdone:2009, title = {Group Maintenance Behaviours of Core and Peripheral Members of Free/Libre Open Source Software Teams}, year = {2009}, address = {Skövde, Sweden, 3-6 June}, abstract = {Group Maintenance is pro-social, discretionary, and relation-building behavior that occurs between members of groups in order to maintain reciprocal trust and cooperation. This paper considers how Free/libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) teams demonstrate such behaviors within the context of e-mail, as this is the primary medium through which such teams communicate. We compare group maintenance behaviors between both core and peripheral members of these groups, as well as behaviors between a group that remains producing software today and one which has since dissolved. Our findings indicate that negative politeness tactics (those which show respect for the autonomy of others) may be the most instrumental group maintenance behaviors that contribute to a FLOSS group{\textquoteleft}s ability to survive and continue software production. }, keywords = {FLOSS, Group Maintenance}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/34finalmjs.pdf}, author = {Scialdone, Michael J. and Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston}, editor = {Boldyreff, Cornelia and Kevin Crowston and Lundell, Bj{\"o}rn and Wasserman, Tony} } @proceedings {Wiggins:2009, title = {Heartbeat: Measuring Active User Base and Potential User Interest in FLOSS Projects}, volume = {299}, year = {2009}, pages = {94-104}, publisher = {Springer Boston}, address = {Skövde, Sweden, 3-6 June}, abstract = {This paper presents a novel method and algorithm to measure the size of an open source project{\textquoteright}s user base and the level of potential user interest that it generates. Previously unavailable download data at a daily resolution confirms hypothesized patterns related to release cycles. In short, regular users rapidly download the software after a new release giving a way to measure the active user base. In contrast, potential new users download the application independently of the release cycle, and the daily download figures tend to plateau at this rate when a release has not been made for some time. An algorithm for estimating these measures from download time series is demonstrated and the measures are examined over time in two open source projects.}, isbn = {978-3-642-02031-5}, issn = {978-3-642-02031-5}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-02032-2\%5f10}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/heartbeat.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and James Howison and Kevin Crowston}, editor = {Boldyreff, Cornelia and Kevin Crowston and Lundell, Bj{\"o}rn and Wasserman, Tony} } @conference {2009, title = {Tales of the Field: Building Small Science Cyberinfrastructure}, booktitle = {4S conference}, year = {2009}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/BuildingSmallScienceCyberinfrastructureFinal.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea} } @article {Li:2008a, title = {Asynchronous Decision-Making in Distributed Teams (Poster)}, year = {2008}, month = {8{\textendash}12 November}, address = {San Diego, CA}, keywords = {Decision-Making, FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CSCW2008Poster11x17Draft.pdf}, author = {Li, Qing and Heckman, Robert and Allen, Eileen E. and Kevin Crowston and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and James Howison and Wiggins, Andrea} } @article {Crowston:2008, title = {Bug Fixing Practices within Free/Libre Open Source Software Development Teams}, journal = {Journal of Database Management}, volume = {19}, number = {2}, year = {2008}, pages = {1{\textendash}30}, abstract = {Free/libre open source software (FLOSS, e.g., Linux or Apache) is primarily developed by distributed teams. Developers contribute from around the world and coordinate their activity almost exclusively by means of email and bulletin boards, yet some how profit from the advantages and evade the challenges of distributed software development. In this article we investigate the structure and the coordination practices adopted by development teams during the bug-fixing process, which is considered one of main areas of FLOSS project success. In particular, based on a codification of the messages recorded in the bug tracking system of four projects, we identify the accomplished tasks, the adopted coordination mechanisms, and the role undertaken by both the FLOSS development team and the FLOSS community. We conclude with suggestions for further research.}, issn = {1063-8016 }, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/jdbm2008.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Scozzi, Barbara} } @inbook {Crowston:2008b, title = {The bug fixing process in proprietary and free/libre open source software: A coordination theory analysis}, booktitle = {Business Process Transformation}, year = {2008}, pages = {69-99}, publisher = {M. E. Sharpe}, organization = {M. E. Sharpe}, address = {Armonk, NY}, abstract = {To support business process transformation, we must first be able to represent business processes in a way that allows us to compare and contrast them or to design new ones. In this paper, I use coordination theory to analyze the bug fixing processes in the proprietary operating system development group of a large mini-computer manufacturer and for the Free/Libre Open Source Software Linux operating system kernel. Three approaches to identifying dependencies and coordination mechanisms are presented. Mechanisms analyzed include those for task assignment, resource sharing and managing dependencies between modules of source code. The proprietary development organization assigned problem reports to engineers based on the module that appeared to be in error, since engineers only worked on particular modules. Alternative task assignment mechanisms include assignment to engineers based on workload or voluntary assignment, as in Linux. In the proprietary process, modules of source code were not shared, but rather {\textquotedblleft}owned{\textquotedblright} by one engineer, thus reducing the need for coordination. In Linux, where multiple developers can work on the same modules, alternative resource sharing mechanisms have been developed to manage source code. Finally, the proprietary developers managed dependencies between modules informally, relying on their personal knowledge of which other engineers used their code. The Linux process allows developers to change code in multiple modules, but emphasizes modularity to reduce the need to do so.}, keywords = {Coordination, FLOSS}, isbn = {9780765611918}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/The\%20bug\%20fixing\%20process\%20in\%20proprietary\%20.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston}, editor = {Grover, Varun and Markus, M. Lynne} } @conference {2008, title = {Cross-repository data linking with {RDF} and {OWL}: Towards common ontologies for representing {FLOSS} data}, booktitle = {WoPDaSD (Workshop on Public Data at International Conference on Open Source Software)}, year = {2008}, abstract = {This paper provides an approach to the problem of integrating data from multiple research repositories for FLOSS data. It introduces semantic web technologies (RDF, OWL, OWL-DL reasoners and SPARQL) to argue that these are useful for building shared research infrastructure. The paper illustrates its point by describing parts of an ontology developed for the integration and analysis of project communications drawn from FLOSSmole, the Notre Dame archive and direct collection of data. RDF vocabularies provide a way to agree on things we agree about as well as a way to be clearer about ways in which we disagree.}, keywords = {FLOSS, FLOSSmole}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/howison2008cross-repositor_0.pdf}, author = {James Howison} } @proceedings {Li:2008, title = {Decision Making Paths in Self-Organizing Technology-Mediated Distributed Teams}, year = {2008}, address = {Paris, France, 14-17 December}, abstract = {This paper investigates decision making in self-organizing technology-mediated distributed teams. This context provides an opportunity to examine how the use of technological support to span temporal and organizational discontinuities affects decision-making processes. 258 software-modification decision episodes were collected from the public emailing lists of six Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects over a span of five years. Six decision-making paths were identified as 1) short-cut decision-making path; 2) implicit-development decision-making path; 3) implicit-evaluation decision-making path; 4) normative decision-making path; 5) dynamic decision-making path; and 6) interrupted/delayed decision-making path. We suggest that the nature of the tasks and the affordances of the technology used reduce the need for explicit coordination, resulting in a broader range of possible decision processes than are observed in face-to-face groups.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Decision\%20Making\%20Paths\%20in\%20Self\%20Organizing\%20Technology\%20Mediated\%20Dist.pdf}, author = {Li, Qing and Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Allen, Eileen E. and Eseryel, U. Yeliz} } @proceedings {Howison:2008, title = {e{R}esearch workflows for studying free and open source software development}, year = {2008}, note = {Slides from the presentation at the Oxford eResearch Conference of lessons learned in replicating research in eResearch workflows.}, address = {Milan, Italy, 7-10 September}, abstract = {This paper proposes a demonstration of eResearch workflow tools as a model for the research community studying free and open source software and its development. For purposes of background and justification, the paper first introduces eResearch as increasingly practiced in fields such as astrophysics and biology, then contrasts the practice of research on free and open source software. After outlining the suitable public data sources the paper introduces a class of tools known as scientific workflow frameworks, specifically focusing on one---Taverna---and introducing its features. To further explain the tool a complete workflow used for original research on FLOSS is described and the agenda for the live demonstration is outlined. }, keywords = {eResearch, FLOSS, Workflow}, doi = {10.1007/978-0-387-09684-1_39}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/eResearchWorkflows.pdf}, author = {James Howison and Wiggins, Andrea and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {, title = {eSocialScience for Free/Libre Open Source Software researchers}, year = {2008}, address = {Manchester, UK, 18-20 June}, abstract = {This abstract presents a case study of the potential application of eScience tools and practices for the social science research community studying Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development practices. We first describe the practice of research on FLOSS to motivate the need for eScience. After outlining suitable public data sources, we describe our initial efforts to introduce eScience tools for FLOSS research, potential obstacles and how the use of such tools might affect the practice of research in this field.}, keywords = {eScience, FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/NCeSS2008CrowstonHowisonWiggins.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Wiggins, Andrea} } @proceedings {Scialdone:2008, title = {Group Maintenance in Technology-Supported Distributed Teams}, year = {2008}, address = {Anaheim, CA, 9-13 August}, abstract = {Are geographically-distributed teams which exhibit high levels of group maintenance between members successful? We answer this through content analysis of emails from two Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) teams. Our results illustrate that the groups utilize low levels of organizational citizenship behaviors and high levels of positive politeness actions.}, keywords = {FLOSS, Group Maintenance}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/GroupMaintenance.pdf}, author = {Scialdone, Michael J. and Li, Na and James Howison and Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {Crowston:2008c, title = {The motivational arc of massive virtual collaboration}, year = {2008}, note = {Please refer to the more recent version of the paper. }, month = {1{\textendash}2 July}, address = {L{\"u}neberg, Germany}, abstract = {Massive virtual collaborations (MVC) involve large numbers of mostly unpaid contributors collectively creating new content. Wikipedia is the most dramatic example of MVC; smaller-scale examples include blogs and discussion groups and free/libre open source software (FLOSS) projects. In this paper, we propose a model of motivations for contribution to MVC that integrates various theoretical perspectives to extend prior work. Specifically, we distinguish three different levels of contribution to projects (initial, sustained and meta) and capture the dynamic and recursive effects of contributions on emergent individual and project states.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/MortivationalArc.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Fagnot, Isabelle} } @proceedings {Crowston:2008a, title = {Opportunities for eScience research on Free/Libre Open Source Software}, year = {2008}, address = {Oxford, England, 11-13 September}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Opportunities\%20for\%20eScience\%20research\%20on\%20Free.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Wiggins, Andrea} } @proceedings {Wiggins:2008, title = {Replication of FLOSS Research as eResearch}, year = {2008}, address = {Oxford, England, 11-13 September}, abstract = {We are working to introduce the ideas of eResearch to a multi-disciplinary research domain: those researchers examining Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) and its development (Howison, Wiggins, \& Crowston, 2008). The first phase of this work focused on building a repository for data on FLOSS teams, FLOSSmole (Howison, Conklin, \& Crowston, 2006), and collaborating with other nascent data repositories in the field. Recently we have begun a second phase, which is to introduce another established principle of eResearch, that of broader collaboration through shared workflows accessing these data repositories. To provide an example of the potential value of this principle, we are replicating seminal FLOSS papers using eResearch approaches. This paper describes research outcomes and lessons learned from translating published literature into eResearch workflows.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ReplicationOfFLOSSResearch.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and James Howison and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {Scozzi:2008, title = {Shared mental models among open source software developers}, year = {2008}, address = {Big Island, Hawai{\textquoteright}i, 7-10 January}, abstract = {Shared understandings are important for software development as they guide to effective individual contributions to, and coordination of, the software development process. In this paper, we present the results of a preliminary analysis on shared mental models within Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams. Based on structuration theory and by adopting cognitive mapping and process analysis, we represented and com-pared the mental models of some developers of the Lucene Java project. Our analysis suggests that there is a high-level of sharing among core developers but the shar-ing is not complete, with some differences related to ten-ure in the project.}, doi = {10.1109/HICSS.2008.391}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/SharedMntalModels.pdf}, author = {Scozzi, Barbara and Kevin Crowston and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Li, Qing} } @proceedings {Wiggins:2008a, title = {Social dynamics of FLOSS team communication across channels}, year = {2008}, pages = {131-142}, publisher = {Springer Boston}, address = {Milan, Italy, 7-10 September}, abstract = {This paper extends prior investigation into the social dynamics of free and open source (FLOSS) teams by examining the methodological questions arising from research using social network analysis on open source projects. We evaluate the validity of data sampling by examining dynamics of communication centralization, which vary across multiple communication channels. We also introduce a method for intensity-based smoothing in dynamic social network analysis.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, isbn = {978-0-387-09683-4}, issn = {1571-5736 (Print) 1861-2288 (Online)}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/DSNAWigginsIFIP.pdf}, author = {Wiggins, Andrea and James Howison and Kevin Crowston} } @booklet {2008, title = {Taverna Demo Screencast Redux}, year = {2008}, abstract = {This is a shortened version of the Taverna Demo screencast by James Howison. It was edited by Andrea Wiggins for use in a data analysis lecture for the IST 400/600 course on Science Data Management. The reduced version is just over 14 minutes long and omits some of the more technical discussion to focus on the tool demo for a general audience. }, keywords = {Data Management, FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/TavernaDemoRedux.m4v}, author = {James Howison}, editor = {Wiggins, Andrea} } @booklet {2008, title = {Taverna Demonstration Screencast}, year = {2008}, abstract = {A screencast prepared for the Irvine workshop on FLOSS data repositories. }, keywords = {Data Management, FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/tavernaDemoScreencast.mov}, author = {James Howison} } @article {Howison:2008a, title = {Towards a data and workflow collaboratory for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster)}, year = {2008}, address = {Los Angeles, CA}, keywords = {eScience, FLOSS, Workflow}, author = {James Howison and Squire, Megan and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2008, title = {Towards A review of the empirical FLOSS literature}, year = {2008}, note = {Towards A review of the empirical FLOSS literature}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ReviewProgressReport.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Kangning Wei and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Li, Qing} } @article {Howison:2007, title = {Building a collaboratory for research on open source software development (Poster)}, year = {2007}, address = {Ann Arbor, MI}, keywords = {eScience, FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Howison_eSocSciPoster-small.pdf}, author = {James Howison and Squire, Megan and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2007, title = {Effective organization for uncertain collaborations: Lessons from Free (Libre) and Open Source (Poster)}, year = {2007}, abstract = {James Howison presented this poster of his dissertation work at the conference on the Institutional Foundations of Industry Self-regulation: http://www.hbs.edu/units/tom/conferences/isr2007agenda.html}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Howison_HBS_self_reg_poster2.pdf}, author = {James Howison} } @proceedings {Heckman:2007, title = {Emergent decision-making practices in Free/Libre Open Source Software FLOSS development teams}, year = {2007}, address = {Limerick, Ireland, 10-14 June}, abstract = {We seek to identify work practices that make Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams effective. Particularly important to team effectiveness is decision making. In this paper, we report on an inductive qualitative analysis of 360 decision episodes of six FLOSS development teams. Our analysis revealed diversity in decision-making practices that seem to be related to differences in overall team characteristics and effectiveness. }, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/20070320\%20OSS\%20Conference_v15_final\%20submitted.pdf}, author = {Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and James Howison and Allen, Eileen E. and Li, Qing} } @article {2007, title = {Emergent leadership in self-organizing virtual teams (Poster)}, year = {2007}, address = {Montr{\'e}al, Qu{\'e}bec, Canada, 9{\textendash}12 Dec}, keywords = {FLOSS, Leadership}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/20081204\%20ICIS\%20Poster_v.5.1.pdf}, author = {Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston and Misiolek, Nora and Eseryel, U. Yeliz} } @article {2007, title = {Investigating the Dynamics of FLOSS Development Teams (Poster)}, year = {2007}, note = {SD 2007 poster - Full Adobe PDF 2007 HSD PI{\textquoteright}s conference poster reporting on the grant project work to date in a full Adobe PDF file. HSD 2007 poster - Small PDF HSD 2007 conference grant progress reporting poster in a smaller PDF file. }, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HSDposter_8.ai_.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HSDposter_8.pdf}, author = {Li, Na and Li, Qing and Kangning Wei and Heckman, Robert and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Liddy, Elizabeth D. and James Howison and Kevin Crowston and Allen, Eileen E. and Scialdone, Michael J. and Inoue, Keisuke and Harwell, Sarah and Rowe, Steven and McCracken, Nancy and Wiggins, Andrea} } @article {2007, title = {A proposed data and analysis archive for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster)}, year = {2007}, keywords = {FLOSS}, author = {James Howison and Squire, Megan and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2007, title = {A proposed data and analysis archive for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster)}, year = {2007}, address = {Ann Arbor, MI}, keywords = {FLOSS}, author = {James Howison and Squire, Megan and Kevin Crowston} } @article {Crowston:2007, title = {The role of face-to-face meetings in technology-supported self-organizing distributed teams}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications}, volume = {50}, number = {3}, year = {2007}, pages = {185{\textendash}203}, abstract = {We examine the role of face-to-face meetings in the context of technology-supported self-organizing distributed or virtual teams, specifically Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams. Based on a qualitative inductive analysis of data from interviews and observations at FLOSS conferences, we identify a variety of settings in which developers meet face-to-face, activities performed in these settings and benefits obtained. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, FLOSS developers generally do not meet face-to-face until the project is well under way. An additional benefit of face-to-face meetings is time away from a regular job and speed of interaction for certain kinds of tasks.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, doi = {10.1109/TPC.2007.902654}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/070122.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Masango, Chengetai and Eseryel, U. Yeliz} } @article {Crowston:2007b, title = {Self-organization of teams in free/libre open source software development}, journal = {Information and Software Technology Journal: Special issue on Understanding the Social Side of Software Engineering, Qualitative Software Engineering Research}, volume = {49}, year = {2007}, pages = {564{\textendash}575}, abstract = {This paper provides empirical evidence about how free/libre open source software development teams self-organize their work, specifically, how tasks are assigned to project team members. Following a case study methodology, we examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects using qualitative research methods, specifically inductive content analysis, to identify the task-assignment mechanisms used by the participants. We found that {\textquoteleft}self-assignment{\textquoteright} was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects. This mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research.}, doi = {10.1016/j.infsof.2007.02.004}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/060918.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Kangning Wei and Li, Qing and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and James Howison} } @proceedings {Heckman:2007a, title = {A structurational perspective on leadership in virtual teams}, year = {2007}, pages = {151{\textendash}168}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Portland, OR}, abstract = {Building on behavioural leadership theory and structuration theory, we present a two-order theory of leadership. It describes four classes of first-order leadership behaviours (task coordination, substantive task contribution, group maintenance and boundary spanning) and defines second-order leadership as behaviour that influences changes in the structure that guides group action. We argue that second-order leadership is enabled by first-order leadership and is therefore action embedded and grounded in processes that define the social identity of the group. We propose that effective virtual teams will exhibit a paradoxical combination of shared, distributed first-order leadership complemented by strong, concentrated, and centralized second-order leadership. We conclude by suggesting future research that might be conducted to test and further elaborate our theory.}, keywords = {FLOSS, Leadership}, doi = {10.1007/978-0-387-73025-7_12}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/AStructurationalPerspectiveOnLeadership.pdf}, author = {Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston and Misiolek, Nora}, editor = {Kevin Crowston and Seiber, Sandra} } @article {Crowston:2006d, title = {Assessing the health of open source communities}, journal = {IEEE Computer}, volume = {39}, number = {5}, year = {2006}, month = {May}, pages = {89-91}, abstract = {An invited column that discusses what a healthy FLOSS community looks like, and how one ought to go about assessing it (particularly in the context of software specification).}, doi = {10.1109/MC.2006.152}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HealthOfAFlossCommunity.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison} } @article {2006, title = {Audio of ICIS 2006 Presentation}, year = {2006}, note = {Audio of Kevin, Yeliz and Qing presenting our paper at ICIS 2006. The audio is ok, but next time I{\textquoteright}m definitely going to put the recorder nearer the speakers!}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ICIS-2006-Kevin-Yeliz-Qing-fixed.mp3}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Li, Qing} } @article {2006, title = {Business Partnering with Open Source Communities:Opportunities, Perils and Pitfalls}, year = {2006}, note = {In July 2006 James Howison presented a tutorial at OSCON in Portland Oregon}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Howison_OSCON_tutorial.pdf}, author = {James Howison} } @article {2006, title = {Coordinating and motivating open source contributors}, year = {2006}, note = {LinuxWorld Asia Presentation Slides from James Howison{\textquoteright}s LinuxWorld Asia Workshop A Black and White version of the slides from the workshop.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Howison_LinuxWorldAsiaBW.pdf}, author = {James Howison} } @proceedings {Crowston:2006b, title = {Core and periphery in Free/Libre and Open Source software team communications}, year = {2006}, address = {Kaua{\textquoteright}i, Hawai{\textquoteright}i, January}, abstract = {The concept of the core group of developers is important and often discussed in empirical studies of FLOSS projects. This paper examines the question, {\textquotedblleft}how does one empirically distinguish the core?{\textquotedblright} Being able to identify the core members of a FLOSS development project is important because many of the processes necessary for successful projects likely involve core members differently than peripheral members, so analyses that mix the two groups will likely yield invalid results. We compare 3 analysis approaches to identify the core: the named list of developers, a Bradford{\textquoteright}s law analysis that takes as the core the most frequent contributors and a social network analysis of the interaction pattern that identifies the core in a core-and-periphery structure. We apply these measures to the interactions around bug fixing for 116 SourceForge projects. The 3 techniques identify different individuals as core members; examination of which individuals are identified leads to suggestions for refining the measures. All 3 measures though suggest that the core of FLOSS projects is a small fraction of the total number of contributors.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CoreAndPeripheryInFreeLibre.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Kangning Wei and Li, Qing and James Howison} } @proceedings {Heckman:2006b, title = {Emergent decision-making practices in technology-supported self-organizing distributed teams}, year = {2006}, address = {Milwaukee, WI, 10{\textendash}13 Dec}, abstract = {We seek to identify work practices that make technology-supported self-organizing distributed (or virtual) teams (TSSODT for short) effective in producing outputs satisfactory to their sponsors, meeting the needs of their members and continuing to function. A particularly important practice for team effectiveness is decision making: are the right decisions made at the right time to get the work done in a way that satisfies team sponsors, keeps contributors happy and engaged, and enables continued team success? In this research-in-progress paper, we report on an inductive qualitative analysis of 120 decision episodes taken by 2 Free/libre Open Source Software development teams. Our analysis revealed differences in decision-making practices that seem to be related to differences in overall team effectiveness.}, keywords = {Decision-Making, FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Emergent\%20Decision\%20Making\%20Practices\%20In\%20Technology\%20Supported\%20Self\%20O.pdf}, author = {Heckman, Robert and Kevin Crowston and Li, Qing and Allen, Eileen E. and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and James Howison and Kangning Wei} } @proceedings {Annabi:2006, title = {From Individual Contribution to Group learning: the Early Years of Apache Web Server}, year = {2006}, pages = {77{\textendash}90}, address = {Lake Como, Italy, 8{\textendash}9 June}, abstract = {Open Source Software (OSS) groups experience many benefits and challenges with respect to the core group{\textquoteright}s effectiveness. In order to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the challenges, OSS groups must learn not only on the individual level, but also on the group level. OSS groups learn by integrating individual contributions into the group{\textquoteright}s product and processes. This paper reports on the characteristics of the learning process in OSS groups. The study utilized an embedded single case study design that observed and analyzed group learning processes in the Apache Web server OSS project. The study used learning opportunity episodes (LOE) as the embedded unit of analysis and developed and utilized three content analytic schemes to describe the characteristics of the learning process and the factors affecting this process.}, keywords = {FLOSS, Learning}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/FromIndividualContributionToGroup.pdf}, author = {Annabi, Hala and Kevin Crowston and Heckman, Robert} } @article {Crowston:2006a, title = {Hierarchy and centralization in Free and Open Source Software team communications}, journal = {Knowledge, Technology \& Policy}, volume = {18}, number = {4}, year = {2006}, pages = {65{\textendash}85}, abstract = {Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams provide an interesting and convenient setting for studying distributed work. We begin by answering perhaps the most basic question: what is the social structure of these teams? Based on a social network analysis of interactions represented in 62,110 bug reports from 122 large and active projects, we find that some OSS teams are highly centralized, but contrary to expectation, others are not. Projects are mostly quite hierarchical on four measures of hierarchy, consistent with past research but contrary to the popular image of these projects. Furthermore, we find that the level of centralization is negatively correlated with project size, suggesting that larger projects become more modular. The paper makes a further methodological contribution by identifying appropriate analysis approaches for interaction data. We conclude by sketching directions for future research.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HierarchyAndCentralization.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison} } @article {Crowston:2006, title = {Information systems success in Free and Open Source Software development: Theory and measures}, journal = {Software Process{\textendash}Improvement and Practice}, volume = {11}, number = {2}, year = {2006}, pages = {123{\textendash}148}, abstract = {Information systems success is one of the most widely used dependent variables in information systems (IS) research, but research on Free/Libre and Open Source software (FLOSS) often fails to appropriately conceptualize this important concept. In this paper, we reconsider what success means within a FLOSS context. We first review existing models of IS success and success variables used in FLOSS research and assess them for their usefulness, practicality and fit to the FLOSS context. Then, drawing on a theoretical model of group effectiveness in the FLOSS development process, as well as an online discussion group with developers, we present additional concepts that are central to an appropriate understanding of success for FLOSS. In order to examine the practicality and validity of this conceptual scheme, the second half of our paper presents an empirical study that demonstrates its operationalization of the chosen measures and assesses their internal validity. We use data from SourceForge to measure the project{\textquoteright}s effectiveness in team building, the speed of the project at responding to bug reports and the project{\textquoteright}s popularity. We conclude by discussing the implications of this study for our proposed extension of IS success in the context of FLOSS development and highlight future directions for research.}, keywords = {FLOSS, Success}, doi = {10.1002/spip.259}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/InformationSystemsSuccessInFree.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Annabi, Hala} } @article {2006, title = {Investigating the Dynamics of FLOSS Development Teams (Poster)}, year = {2006}, note = {Poster describing the current state of the project for the HSD Principal Investigators{\textquoteright} conference, 14-15 September 2006, Washington DC.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/hsd2006poster.pdf}, author = {Li, Qing and Kangning Wei and Heckman, Robert and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and Liddy, Elizabeth D. and James Howison and Kevin Crowston and Allen, Eileen E. and Inoue, Keisuke and Harwell, Sarah and Rowe, Steven and McCracken, Nancy} } @conference {Li:2006, title = {Language and power in self-organizing distributed teams}, booktitle = {OCIS Division, Academy of Management Conference}, year = {2006}, address = {Atlanta, GA}, abstract = {In this paper, a comparative case study is conducted to explore the way power is expressed and exercised through language use in distributed or virtual teams. Our research questions are {\textquotedblleft}how is power expressed in online interactions in self-organizing distributed teams, in a context without formal authority or hierarchy?{\textquotedblright} and {\textquotedblleft}What effects do expressions of power have on team outcomes?{\textquotedblright} To fully understand the role of power in self-organizing teams, we apply an input-process-output model on two open source projects-one successful and the other less successful. Two set of codes (source of power and power mechanism) are drawn from the data, and different power patterns interestingly show up between them. The findings lead us to speculate that strong, centralized leadership, the assertive exercise of power, and direct language may contribute to effectiveness in FLOSS teams. And the relevant conclusions and suggestions are provided for further research.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/LanguageAndPowerInSelf-organizing.pdf}, author = {Li, Qing and Kevin Crowston and Heckman, Robert and James Howison} } @article {2006, title = {Open Source Data Sources}, year = {2006}, note = {James Howison presented a short tutorial on FLOSS data sources at the 2006 Academy of Management conference in Atlanta.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Howison_OpenSourceData_AcademyOpenSourcePDW2006.pdf}, author = {James Howison} } @proceedings {, title = {The role of mental models in FLOSS development work practices}, year = {2006}, pages = {91-97}, address = {Lake Como, Italy, 8{\textendash}9 June}, abstract = {Shared understandings are important for software development as they guide to effective individual contributions to, and coordination of, the software development process. In this paper, we present the theoretical background and research design for a proposed study on shared mental models within Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams. In particular, we plan to perform case studies on several projects and to use cognitive maps analysis to represent and compare the mental models of the involved members so as to gauge the degree of common knowledge and the development of a collective mind as well as to better understand the reasons that underlie team members actions and the way common mental models, if any, arise.}, keywords = {FLOSS, Mental Model}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/oss2006crowstonscozzi.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Scozzi, Barbara} } @proceedings {Howison:2006sd, title = {Social dynamics of free and open source team communications}, year = {2006}, pages = {319-330}, address = {Lake Como, Italy, 8-9 June}, abstract = {This paper furthers inquiry into the social structure of free and open source software (FLOSS) teams by undertaking social network analysis across time. Contrary to expectations, we confirmed earlier findings of a wide distribution of centralizations even when examining the networks over time. The paper also provides empirical evidence that while change at the center of FLOSS projects is relatively uncommon, participation across the project communities is highly skewed, with many participants appearing for only one period. Surprisingly, large project teams are not more likely to undergo change at their centers.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/SocialDynamics.pdf}, author = {James Howison and Inoue, Keisuke and Kevin Crowston} } @conference {Conklin:2005, title = {Collaboration Using OSSmole: A repository of FLOSS data and analyses}, booktitle = {Symposium on Mining Software Repositories}, year = {2005}, month = {05/2005}, address = {St. Louis}, abstract = {This paper introduces a collaborative project OSSmole designed to collect, share, and store comparable data and analyses of free, libre and open source software (FLOSS) development for research purposes. The project is designed to be a clearinghouse for data from the ongoing collection and analysis efforts of many disparate research groups. A collaborative data repository will reduce duplication and promote compatibility both across sources of FLOSS data and across research groups and analyses. The primary objective of OSSmole is to mine FLOSS source code repositories and provide the resulting data and summary analyses as open source products. However, the OSSmole data model additionally supports donated raw and summary data from a variety of open source researchers and other software repositories. The paper first outlines current difficulties with the typical quantitative FLOSS research process and uses these to develop requirements for such a collaborative data repository. Finally, the design of the OSSmole system is presented, as well as examples of current research and analyses using OSSmole.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CollaborationUsingOSSmole.pdf}, author = {Conklin, Megan S. and James Howison and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {Crowston:2005, title = {Coordination of Free/Libre Open Source Software development}, year = {2005}, address = {Las Vegas, NV, USA, December}, abstract = {The apparent success of free/libre open source software (FLOSS) development projects such as Linux, Apache, and many others has raised the question, what lessons from FLOSS development can be transferred to mainstream software development? In this paper, we use coordination theory to analyze coordination mechanisms in FLOSS development and compare our analysis with existing literature on coordination in proprietary software development. We examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects and used content analysis to identify the coordination mechanisms used by the participants. We found that there were similarities between the FLOSS groups and the reported practices of the proprietary project in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-task dependencies. However, we found clear differences in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-actor dependencies. While published descriptions of proprietary software development involved an elaborate system to locate the developer who owned the relevant piece of code, we found that {\textquotedblleft}self-assignment{\textquotedblright} was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects. This coordination mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research.}, keywords = {Coordination, FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Coordination\%20of\%20Free\%20Libre\%20Open\%20Source\%20Software\%20Development.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CoordinationFreeLibreOSSDevSlides.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Kangning Wei and Li, Qing and Eseryel, U. Yeliz and James Howison} } @proceedings {Crowston:2005e, title = {Effective work practices for FLOSS development: A model and propositions}, year = {2005}, note = {"Effective work practices for Software Engineering: Free/Libre Open Source Software Development". Presentation at the Workshop on Interdisciplinary Software Engineering 2004, SIGSOFT 2004/FSE-12 Conference, Newport Beach, CA, 5 November. Powerpoint file.}, address = {Big Island, Hawai{\textquoteright}i, January}, abstract = {We review the literature on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and on software development, distributed work and teams more generally to develop a theoretical model to explain the performance of FLOSS teams. The proposed model is based on Hackman{\textquoteright}s [1] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [2] and collective mind [3] to extend Hackman{\textquoteright}s model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research.}, doi = {10.1109/HICSS.2005.222}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/22680197a.pdf , https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/041101\%20Wiser\%20Presentation.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Annabi, Hala and James Howison and Masango, Chengetai} } @article {2005, title = {An exploratory study of factors related to effectiveness of Free/Libre Open Source Software teams}, year = {2005}, note = {Talk at the Padua Open Source Software Symposium, 14-15 April 2005.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/050415\%20padua\%20presentation.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Eseryel, U. Yeliz} } @conference {Crowston:2005b, title = {Face-to-face interactions in self-organizing distributed teams}, booktitle = {Academy of Management Conference}, year = {2005}, address = {Honolulu, HI}, abstract = {We explore the role of face-to-face meetings in the life of distributed teams using data from Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams. Such distributed teams are part of many organizations{\textquoteright} new vision of management in the 21st century. Practitioner research has suggested the need for face-to-face meetings when a team is formed, but few studies have considered the role of face-to-face meetings during a team{\textquoteright}s life. Based on a qualitative inductive analysis of data from interviews and observations at FLOSS conferences, we identify a variety of settings in which FLOSS developers meet face-to-face, activities performed in these settings and benefits obtained. Contrary to prior research, we find that FLOSS developers generally do not meet until the project is well under way. We also find that an additional benefit of face-to-face meetings is time away from a regular job. We conclude by noting limitations in our data collection due to a focus on core developers in large projects and with directions for further research.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/FaceToFace\%20Interactions.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison and Masango, Chengetai and Eseryel, U. Yeliz} } @article {Crowston:2005d, title = {Future research on FLOSS development}, journal = {First Monday}, volume = {10}, year = {2005}, issn = {13960466}, doi = {10.5210/fm.v0i0.1465 }, author = {Kevin Crowston} } @conference {2005, title = {OSSmole: A collaborative repository for FLOSS research data and analyses}, booktitle = {1st International Conference on Open Source Software}, year = {2005}, address = {Genova, Italy}, abstract = {This paper introduces a collaborative project, {\textquotedblleft}OSSmole{\textquotedblright}, designed to gather, share and store comparable data and analyses of free and open source software development for academic research. The project draws on the ongoing collection and analysis efforts of many research groups, reducing duplication, and promoting compatibility both across sources of FLOSS data and across research groups and analyses. The paper outlines current difficulties with the current typical quantitative FLOSS research process and uses these to develop requirements and presents the design of the system. }, keywords = {FLOSSmole}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/OSSmole\%20\%20A\%20collaborative\%20repository_0.pdf}, author = {James Howison and Conklin, Megan S.} } @article {222, title = {SE, IS \& (FL)OSS @ EASE}, year = {2005}, note = {A keynote address at the Conference on Empirical Assessment of Software Engineering at Keele University, 11-13 April 2005.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/crowston_EASE_talk.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston} } @article {Crowston:2005c, title = {The social structure of Free and Open Source Software development}, journal = {First Monday}, volume = {10}, number = {2}, year = {2005}, note = {First Monday, Special Issue $\#$2: Open Source {\textemdash} 3 October 2005 The social structure of free and open source software development (originally published in Volume 10, Number 2, February 2005)}, abstract = {Metaphors, such as the Cathedral and Bazaar, used to describe the organization of FLOSS projects typically place them in sharp contrast to proprietary development by emphasizing FLOSS{\textquoteright}s distinctive social and communications structures. But what do we really know about the communication patterns of FLOSS projects? How generalizable are the projects that have been studied? Is there consistency across FLOSS projects? Questioning the assumption of distinctiveness is important because practitioner{\textendash}advocates from within the FLOSS community rely on features of social structure to describe and account for some of the advantages of FLOSS production. To address this question, we examined 120 project teams from SourceForge, representing a wide range of FLOSS project types, for their communications centralization as revealed in the interactions in the bug tracking system. We found that FLOSS development teams vary widely in their communications centralization, from projects completely centered on one developer to projects that are highly decentralized and exhibit a distributed pattern of conversation between developers and active users. We suggest, therefore, that it is wrong to assume that FLOSS projects are distinguished by a particular social structure merely because they are FLOSS. Our findings suggest that FLOSS projects might have to work hard to achieve the expected development advantages which have been assumed to flow from "going open." In addition, the variation in communications structure across projects means that communications centralization is useful for comparisons between FLOSS teams. We found that larger FLOSS teams tend to have more decentralized communication patterns, a finding that suggests interesting avenues for further research examining, for example, the relationship between communications structure and code modularity.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, url = {http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1207/1127}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Social\%20structure\%20of\%20Free\%20and\%20Open\%20Source\%20Software\%20development.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and James Howison} } @proceedings {Crowston:2005a, title = {A structurational perspective on leadership in Free/Libre Open Source Software teams}, year = {2005}, address = {Genova, Italy}, abstract = {In this conceptual paper, we present a structuration-based theory of leadership behaviours in self-organizing virtual distributed teams such as Free/Libre Open Source Software development teams. Such teams are often composed of members of relatively equal status or who are so disparate in background that formal organizational status seems irrelevant, reducing the usual leadership cues provided by organizational status and title. Building on a functional view of leadership and structuration theory, we suggest that leaders are individuals who develop team structures that then guide the actions of team members. Specifically, we examine structures of signification in the form of shared mental models, structures of domination in the form of role structures and structures of legitimation in form of rules and norms. The main contribution of our paper is the integration of various social theories to describe emergent leadership behaviours in distributed teams. We develop a set of propositions and illustrate with examples taken from Free/Libre Open Source Software development teams. We conclude by suggesting future research that might be conducted to test and further elaborate our theory.}, keywords = {FLOSS, Leadership}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/crowston-final.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Heckman, Robert and Annabi, Hala and Masango, Chengetai} } @conference {Crowston:2004, title = {Coordination practices for bug fixing within FLOSS development teams}, booktitle = {1st International Workshop on Computer Supported Activity Coordination, 6th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems}, year = {2004}, address = {Porto, Portugal}, abstract = {Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is primarily developed by distributed teams. Developers contribute from around the world and coordinate their activity almost exclusively by means of email and bulletin boards. FLOSS development teams some how profit from the advantages and evade the challenges of distributed software development. Despite the relevance of the FLOSS both for research and practice, few studies have investigated the work practices adopted by these development teams. In this paper we investigate the structure and the coordination practices adopted by development teams during the bug-fixing process, which is considered one of main areas of FLOSS project success. In particular, based on a codification of the messages recorded in the bug tracking system of four projects, we identify the accomplished tasks, the adopted coordination mechanisms, and the role undertaken by both the FLOSS development team and the FLOSS community. We conclude with suggestions for further research.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/scozzi04coordination.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Scozzi, Barbara} } @conference {2004, title = {Effective work practices for software engineering}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2004 ACM workshop on Interdisciplinary software engineering research (WISER {\textquoteright}04)}, year = {2004}, pages = {18}, publisher = {ACM Press}, organization = {ACM Press}, address = {Newport Beach, CA, USA}, abstract = {We review the literature on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and on software development, distributed work and teams more generally to develop a theoretical model to explain the performance of FLOSS teams. The proposed model is based on Hackman{\textquoteright}s [34] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [52] and collective mind [79] to extend Hackman{\textquoteright}s model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, isbn = {1581139888}, doi = {10.1145/1029997.1030003}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/p18-crowston.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Annabi, Hala and James Howison and Masango, Chengetai} } @conference {Howison:2004, title = {The perils and pitfalls of mining SourceForge}, booktitle = {Workshop on Mining Software Repositories, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering}, year = {2004}, address = {Edinburgh, Scotland}, abstract = {SourceForge provides abundant accessible data from Open Source Software development projects, making it an attractive data source for software engineering research. However it is not without theoretical peril and practical pitfalls. In this paper, we outline practical lessons gained from our spidering, parsing and analysis of SourceForge data. SourceForge can be practically difficult: projects are defunct, data from earlier systems has been dumped in and crucial data is hosted outside SourceForge, dirtying the retrieved data. These practical issues play directly into analysis: decisions made in screening projects can reduce the range of variables, skewing data and biasing correlations. SourceForge is theoretically perilous: because it provides easily accessible data items for each project, tempting researchers to fit their theories to these limited data. Worse, few are plausible dependent variables. Studies are thus likely to test the same hypotheses even if they start from different theoretical bases. To avoid these problems, analyses of SourceForge projects should go beyond project level variables and carefully consider which variables are used for screening projects and which for testing hypotheses.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/The\%20perils\%20and\%20pitfalls\%20of\%20mining\%20SourceForge.pdf}, author = {James Howison and Kevin Crowston} } @article {2004, title = {A structurational model of leadership in virtual distributed groups}, year = {2004}, note = {"A structurational model of the dynamics of Free/Libre Open Source Software development teams". Presentation at the IFIP WG 8.2 OASIS Workshop 2004, Washington, DC, 12 December 2004. (Powerpoint file).}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/crowston_oasis_2004v3.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Annabi, Hala and Heckman, Robert} } @conference {Crowston:2004c, title = {Towards a portfolio of FLOSS project success measures}, booktitle = {Workshop on Open Source Software Engineering, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering}, year = {2004}, address = {Edinburgh}, abstract = {Project success is one of the most widely used dependent variables in information systems research. However, conventional measures of project success are difficult to apply to Free/Libre Open Source Software projects. In this paper, we present an analysis of four measures of success applied to SourceForge projects: number of members of the extended development community, project activity, bug fixing time and number of downloads. We argue that these four measures provide different insights into the collaboration and control mechanisms of the projects.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Towards_a_Portfolio_\%20of\%20_FLOSS_Project.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Annabi, Hala and James Howison and Masango, Chengetai} } @booklet {2003, title = {Collective Learning in Distributed Groups (Research in progress)}, year = {2003}, publisher = {Syracuse University School of Information Studies}, keywords = {FLOSS}, author = {Annabi, Hala and Kevin Crowston} } @proceedings {Crowston:2003c, title = {Defining Open Source Software project success}, year = {2003}, address = {Seattle, WA, December}, abstract = {Information systems success is one of the most widely used dependent variables in information systems research. In this paper, we identify a range of measures that can be used to assess the success of Open Source Software (OSS) projects. We identify measures based on a review of the literature, a consideration of the OSS development process and an analysis of the opinions of OSS developers. For each measure, we provide examples of how they might be used in a study of OSS development.}, keywords = {FLOSS}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/icis2003success.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Annabi, Hala and James Howison} } @article {Crowston:2002, title = {Open source software projects as virtual organizations: Competency rallying for software development}, journal = {IEE Proceedings Software}, volume = {149}, number = {1}, year = {2002}, pages = {3{\textendash}17}, abstract = {The contribution of this paper is the identification and testing of factors important for the success of Open Source Software (OSS) projects. We present an analysis of OSS communities as virtual organizations and apply Katzy and Crowston{\textquoteright}s competency rallying (CR) theory to the case of OSS development projects. CR theory suggests that project participants must develop necessary competencies, identify and understand market opportunities, marshal competencies to meet the opportunity and manage a short-term cooperative process. Using data collected from 7477 OSS projects hosted by the SourceForge system (http://sourceforge.net/), we formulate and test a set of specific hypotheses derived from CR theory. The empirical data analysis supports the majority of these hypotheses, suggesting that CR theory provides a useful lens for studying OSS projects.}, issn = {1462-5970 }, doi = {10.1049/ip-sen:20020197}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/iee2002.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Scozzi, Barbara} }