What did 4 Academics Learn from Studying eZ Systems?

February 2014

Robin TeiglandStockholm School of Economics

Sweden

Paul M. Di GangiLoyola University of Maryland

USA

Björn-Tore FlåtenUniversity of Agder

Norway

Elia GiovacchiniStockholm University

Sweden

Nicolas PastorinoeZ Systems

Director Community

Presentation StructureStart

Finish

Key Findings

Methodology

Conclusions

Opportunities and Challenges

Motivation of the Study

Motivation for Our Study

• eZ Systems wants to create a killer community

• Research team interested in learning how a firm can sponsor an Open Source Software (OSS) community

• Discussions with eZ Share Director led to the questions: – How does the firm’s involvement impact

the innovation capacity of the community?

– How is the firm’s learning ability impacted by the involvement with the community?

Opportunities and Challenges with Firm-sponsored OSS Communities

OSS communities as complementary asset for firms with great potential for firms to turn community outputs into new service offerings

BUT, potential for goal conflict between the firm and the community since firms in control– Firm’s goal is to profit from the

investment– Community’s goal is to improve the

shared technology

DefinitionsBoundary managementThe set of activities involved in defining, negotiating, and protecting organizationalresources and domains of action as well asmanaging external stakeholder relationships to achieve organizational goals

Four boundary management logics:1. Boundary of power2. Boundary of identity3. Boundary of competence4. Boundary of transactional efficiency

These four cannot be studied in isolation as it is their integrative management that influencesthe community’s innovation capacity

Absorptive capacityThe firm’s ability to continuously transform knowledge and ideas (e.g., learn) into new innovations

Please see our paper for references: Teigland, R., Di Gangi, P., Flåten, B-T., Giovacchini, E., Pastorino, N. (2014). Balancing on a tightrope: Managing the boundaries of a firm-sponsored OSS community and its impact on innovation and absorptive capacity. Information & Organization, 24, 25–47.

Research Methodology

• Case study of eZ Systems and its firm-sponsored OSS community

• 19 semi-structured interviews– 5 eZ employees– 14 affiliated partners, entrepreneurs, or OSS hobbyists– On average, interviewees were 34,9 years old, were male,

and held a minimum of an undergraduate degree (typically Computer Science)

– Interviews lasting 45-120 minutes each– All interviews recorded and transcribed

• Literature-driven thematic analysis with coding of the transcripts 6

Key Findings

eZ’s boundary management of the community plays a crucial role in community’s innovation capacity, with Power having the most importance.

Importance of maintaining relationships not only within eZ to understand and absorb ideas and knowledge from community but also with the larger OSS and business community.

Community’s innovation capacity directly impacts eZ’s learning ability. Additionally, an integrative IT platform supports the development of community innovation capacity and firm learning ability.

123

Findings – Research Model from Research Point of View

Conclusions• The study extends our understanding of

boundary management of firm-sponsored OSS communities.

• Firms interested in leveraging a firm-sponsored community must balance on a tightrope since tension between the firm’s goals and the community’s goals.

Further research should investigate how firms that want to sponsor or engage communities can adapt their internal organizations to better fit with community-intensive innovation activities.

Thank You!

If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate contacting us:

pdigangi@gmail.comrobin.teigland@hhs.se

bjorn-tore.flaten@uia.noegi@fek.su.se