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[ox-en] Management Science Special Issue On Open Source



From: "Karim R. Lakhani" <lakhani MIT.EDU>
Organization: http://spoudaiospaizen.net/

Hi All,

FYI,

CALL FOR PAPERS

Management Science
Special Issue on Open Source Software

Guest Editors
Eric von Hippel
Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and
Georg von Krogh
Institute of Management
University of St. Gallen

Submission deadline:
September 1, 2004

Free and open-source software (OSS) and the processes used to develop it
are very unusual in a number of ways. Such software is developed by
individuals and firms that freely reveal the code that they write,
releasing it under licenses that allow others to use it, to modify it as
they wish, and distribute their modifications to others.  Project
management methods used in open source software projects have proven
capable of converting the volunteer efforts of users and programmers who
come and go as they please into high quality software products - some
very large and complex.  The efforts of these volunteers are coordinated
with the aid of only very simple but powerful collaborative tools.
Thousands of such projects exist today, and the code they develop and
freely reveal can offer value to many.  (Well-known examples are the
GNU/Linux computer operating system, Apache server software and the Perl
programming language.)

Researchers in the social sciences have become aware of the very
interesting characteristics of F/OSS and its development system, and a
lively, interdisciplinary research community has sprung up to explore
the phenomenon and its implications for management.   The aim of this
special issue is to provide an appropriate forum for some of the very
exciting and high quality research now being done on OSS.  The
outstanding quality and interdisciplinary scope of Management Science
makes it an ideal journal for this purpose.

We wish to encourage authors rooted in multiple disciplines, such as
sociology, economics, social psychology, organization behavior,
information systems, innovation process research and strategic
management to consider submitting  their work to this special issue.  We
welcome both theoretical research and empirical research using
quantitative or qualitative methods.  All articles should, in line with
the editorial policy of Management Science, have clear relevance to
management practice.

Below we offer a sample listing of the broad range of OSS-related topics
that are appropriate for this special issue.

· How do OSS development projects originate and how do they "work?" What
are the incentives to contribute to OSS projects?  How do volunteers
find, join and leave projects?  How are the activities distributed among
contributors and how is the work of many volunteer contributors
coordinated or interlinked?  How are resources provided and allocated?
What is the nature of leadership in OSS projects?

· How do OSS practices compare with conventional product development
practices with respect to both processes used and outcomes attained -
such as relative development cost, performance and quality of software
developed.

· Intellectual property-related issues: What factor impact on the choice
of OSS licenses? How effective are the various OSS licensing
arrangements? What are lessons from OSS for the protection of digital
intellectual property and the intellectual commons more generally?

· Why do some OSS projects succeed and some fail?  What characterizes
the competition for talent and expertise between OSS projects, and
between OSS projects and proprietary software projects?

· What are the competitive dynamics introduced to markets by OSS? What
are the strategic implications:  How do firms compete with or
collaborate with the outputs of OSS projects? Do these lessons apply
generally across other fields of technological innovation?

Authors should prepare their manuscripts according to Management
Science's guidelines for authors. Every submission will be reviewed
according to the single-blind review process of Management Science. The
anticipated publication date of the special issue will be early 2006.

Papers should be submitted electronically at
informs.manuscriptcentral.com.  On the first screen of the submission
process, authors should select "Special Issue" as their manuscript type
and designate Georg von Krogh as the Department Editor.  Questions
should be directed to:

Professor Georg von Krogh
University of St.Gallen
Institute of Management
Dufourstrasse 48
CH-9010 St.Gallen
Switzerland
georg.vonkrogh unisg.ch



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