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[Master Thesis] Master Thesis The influence of social network structure on the chance of success of Open Source software project communities Name Bart Vreugdenhil Email [email protected] University RSM Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands MSc Program Business Information Management, Business Administration Coach Drs. R. Smit Department of Decision and Information Sciences Co-reader Prof.dr.ir. J. Dul Department of Management of Technology and Innovation Version 1.01 Final - March 31, 2009 1 Preface The author declares that the text and work presented in this Master thesis is original and that no other sources than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating the Master thesis. The copyright of the Master thesis rests with the author. The author is responsible for its contents. RSM Erasmus University is only responsible for the educational coaching and beyond that cannot be held responsible for the content. Cover logo © 2005-2009 Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University 2 Acknowledgments Hereby, I wish to thank, in random order, all people who in one way or another supported and guided me through my Master Thesis research project. First, I want to thank David Hinds, and his Major Professor Ronald M. Lee, for the inspiring dissertation which I used as a guideline for conducting research and writing my Thesis. Their work provided me with a stable fundament necessary to fulfill my research project. I want to thank them as well for answering several questions I proposed during this project. Next, I want to thank the University of the Notre Dame and all the people working on the SourceForge Research Data Archive. Especially, I want to thank Greg Madey who permitted me access to these vast Open Source databases. Thirdly, I would like to thank all the scientists I have referred to in my Thesis. I literally spent hours and hours reading and studying these sources. They supported me with well-funded theories and useful insights. Fourthly, I am very grateful to my Master Thesis coach Ruud Smit and my co-reader Jan Dul who coached and guided me during my Thesis project. Without their endless supports and thoughts I could not have successfully completed the final phase of my Master degree project. I thank all professors and employees of the RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam of the last few years for their education and support activities. Finally, I am grateful to my parents, my family and my close friends. Without their support, and their love, I would not be able to complete this project. Bart Vreugdenhil 3 Executive summary The internet technology have caused a huge impact on the way people can communicate and exchange information. New forms of collective action and collaboration have arisen. One of these new forms is the development and organization of Open Source software. Open Source software is software which is freely redistributable and can be adapted to individual needs. Businesses, institutions and individuals all have recognized the potential of Open Source software, and each type of people may contribute to these projects for various reasons. Not much is known about the conditions which lead to success of Open Source software projects (OSSPs). Current research is of exploratory or descriptive nature and generally has focused on large projects. However, it appears most Open Source software is created by individuals and small teams. Here, an attempt is done to find out why some Open Source projects succeed while others fail. As the internet technology provides the infrastructure for project members to connect with each other, here is focused on the (pattern of) interactions between the individuals of a project community. Based on social network theory three constructs representing this community structure of Open Source software projects is investigated by using social network analysis. Closure represents the density of the relationships in a project community, bridging represents the degree of relationships of a community to other communities, and centrality of the project takes the effect of project leaders on the community into account. Surprisingly, the social network structure of an Open Source software project community has no significant relationship with community success. Therefore, various factors are proposed which may both affect success and the structural properties of Open Source software projects. Closure and success of an Open Source project community may be affected by the choice of software design, the use of software documentation and the existing etiquette, called netiquette. Bridging and success may be affected by the set of marketing activities and stakeholder management, where centrality and success may be affected by the adoption of accepted standards and tools, the very own Open Source culture including skilled developers and the fact these developers are often users of their software as well. Due to the exploratory and limited research scope it is plausible a measuring problem exists, which implies Open Source project communities may use substitutes to communicate and exchange information and knowledge. Or, the relationships between project members are of indirect nature and therefore information and knowledge are (temporary) stored, 'embedded', in the network, thus are difficult to measure. 4 Four main conclusions can be drawn based on the unexpected research findings. First, although here the social network structure of an Open Source software project community has no significant relationship with community success, it does not necessarily mean it is not of importance. Apparently, social network analysis cannot solely explain factors affecting the chance on success of an OSSP community. Though, relationships between OSSP members are important, the individuals (and their characteristics) establishing these relationships need to be taken into account as well. Secondly, the Open Source software project community is a new kind of social entity, because current theory of virtual communities and traditional teams and groups creating information and knowledge products cannot explain the exceptional performance levels OSSPs can achieve. Here, the premature theory of smart business networks is presented as linking-pin to further explore these kind of social entities. Thirdly, although a premature theory is supplied to further describe the Open Source phenomenon, it cannot explain the difference in research findings between large and small OSSP communities. Here, an attempt is done to explain this difference. Where small OSSP communities can be conceived of as operating similar to traditional groups and teams, though their mode of communication is electronic, large OSSP communities can be conceived of as virtual communities. However, it is also generally noted large OSSP communities have onion-like structures including a core of developers and are surrounded by a crowd of interested people. Thus, the difference between small and large OSSP communities is this crowd. Apparently, large OSSP communities are able to deal with this crowd, without the disadvantages related to the management and organization of (growth of) traditional teams and groups. By using the 'Long Tail', a popular description of the impact of the internet's infrastructure and technology on business models, is tried to explain the difference in the basic principles of small and large OSSPs. Where large OSSPs, due to their popularity, are positioned in the hit market and are generally focused on community outcome by trying to optimally incorporate the 'wisdom of the crowds-effect' to improve their software product, small OSSPs operate in niche markets and are generally focused on individual outcome. Lastly, although researchers have not reached consensus on how to measure success of OSSP communities, here is concluded the current set of indicators for measuring the success of OSSP communities are focused on the hit markets in which large OSSPs operate, and are not suitable for the endless variety of niche markets in which small OSSPs. A new approach is needed, in which success factors for hit markets may be focused on the level of community success, and success factors for niche markets may be focused on the level of individual success of project members. 5 Table of contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 10 1.1. RESEARCH APPROACH .......................................................................................................................... 11 1.2. RESEARCH QUESTION ........................................................................................................................... 12 1.3. DEFINITIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 13 1.4. MASTER THESIS STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................ 14 2. LITERATURE ........................................................................................................................ 16 2.1. SOCIAL NETWORKS .............................................................................................................................. 16 2.1.1. New media and the network model ............................................................................................. 16 2.1.2. Social network analysis .............................................................................................................
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