Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University CEPRIN Dissertations Center for Process Innovation Fall 12-10-2018 Polycentric Information Commons: A Theory Development and Empirical Investigation Vitali Mindel Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ceprin_diss Recommended Citation Mindel, Vitali, "Polycentric Information Commons: A Theory Development and Empirical Investigation." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2018. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ceprin_diss/5 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Process Innovation at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in CEPRIN Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Polycentric Information Commons: A Theory Development and Empirical Investigation By VITALI MINDEL A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE ROBINSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS OF GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY ROBINSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS 2018 Polycentric Information Commons V. Mindel 2018 Copyright by Vitali Mindel 2018 2 Polycentric Information Commons V. Mindel 2018 ACCEPTANCE This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the Vitali Mindel Dissertation Committee. It has been approved and accepted by all members of that committee, and it has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business of Georgia State University. Richard Phillips, Dean DISSERTATION COMMITTEE Chair: Dr. Lars Mathiassen (Center for Process Innovation & Computer Information Systems Department, Georgia State University) Chair: Dr. Arun Rai (Center for Process Innovation & Computer Information Systems Department, Georgia State University) Dr. Likoebe Maruping (Center for Process Innovation & Computer Information Systems Department, Georgia State University) Dr. Brian Butler (College of Information Studies, University of Maryland) 3 Polycentric Information Commons V. Mindel 2018 ABSTRACT Polycentric Information Commons: A Theory Development and Empirical Investigation BY VITALI MINDEL 11/26/2018 Committee Chair: Lars Mathiassen & Arun Rai Major Academic Unit: Center for Process Innovation & Computer Information Systems Decentralized systems online—such as open source software (OSS) development, online communities, wikis, and social media—often experience decline in participation which threatens their long-terms sustainability. Building on a rich body of research on the sustainability of physical resource systems, this dissertation presents a novel theoretical framing that addresses the sustainability issues arising in decentralized systems online and which are amplified because of their open nature. The first essay develops the theory of polycentric information commons (PIC) which conceptualizes decentralized systems online as “information commons”. The theory defines information commons, the stakeholders that participate in them, the sustainability indicators of information commons and the collective-action threats putting pressure on their long-term sustainability. Drawing on Ostrom’s factors associated with stable common pool resource systems, PIC theory specifies four polycentric governance practices that can help information commons reduce the magnitude and impact of collective-action threats while improving the information commons’ sustainability. The second essay further develops PIC theory by applying it in an empirical context of “digital activism”. Specifically, it examines the role of polycentric governance in reducing the threats to the legitimacy of digital activism—a type of information commons with an overarching objective of instigating societal change. As such, it illustrates the applicability of PIC theory in the study of digital activism. The third essay focuses on the threat of “information pollution” and its impact on open collaboration, a type of information commons dedicated to the creation of value through open participation online. It uncovers the way polycentric governance mechanism help reduce the duration of pollution events. This essay contributes to PIC theory by expanding it to the realm of operational governance in open collaboration. 4 Polycentric Information Commons V. Mindel 2018 Acknowledgments As corny as it may seem, I would like first and foremost to acknowledge the American Dream. I came to this country in 2007 and had to start from the bottom. For almost two years, I worked as a housekeeping aid in a hospital in Springfield, Illinois, cleaning surgery rooms for minimum wage on the evening shift while taking classes at the local community college during the day. I then moved to Atlanta, where I worked as a daytime groundskeeper in an apartment complex for three years, cleaning the pool and hallways. After taking a year off of my education to avoid paying out- of-state tuition, I began taking evening classes and completed my bachelor’s degree at Georgia State University. To this day, when I see housekeepers in office buildings pushing carts equipped with spray bottles, paper towels, mop buckets, and other cleaning supplies, I get emotional. I pushed one of those carts for almost five years. Now, on my way to be a college professor in one of the premier higher education institutions in the land, I feel extremely fortunate and grateful to all the experiences and people that helped and inspired me along the way. I want to thank Hanny, my mentor in the housekeeping department at Memorial Hospital in Springfield. For some reason, she took me under her wings, making sure I got the “easier” assignments so that I had extra time to do my college class work. I want to thank the crew at the hospital’s Cath-Lab for being nice to me and being understanding of my slacking while I was buried in textbooks. I want to thank Dr. Ellen Watkins, my sociology professor at Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC), for not laughing at me when I told her that I wanted to become a college professor. She and other professors I encountered in LLCC—especially Dr. Mark Roehrs and Dr. John Vinzant—were all very encouraging. The quality of courses at LLCC was the best I have experienced in my long journey as a student, and though I did not receive my degree there, I still regard LLCC as my alma mater. I want to thank Cedrick, the maintenance 5 Polycentric Information Commons V. Mindel 2018 manager in the Atlanta apartment complex where I worked, for turning a blind eye when I was often doing homework instead of my job. All of these people noticed the drive in me and implicitly and explicitly supported my efforts. I thank you all for that. I want to thank Dr. Jeannie Grussendorf, who was my favorite professor at Georgia State University and who’s teaching style inspires me now when designing my own classes. She was the one who told me about the internship opportunity with the World Affairs Council of Atlanta (WACA), and who connected me to the right people and wrote my recommendation letter. I would like to thank Dr. Wayne Lord, the president of WACA at the time, for hiring me as his assistant and introducing me to Dr. Lars Mathiassen, the academic director of Georgia State University’s Executive Doctorate Program, which shared office space with WACA. Without this introduction, I would not be writing these acknowledgments. This brings me to Lars, my advisor and mentor. No words of gratitude can express how I feel about this man. I know for sure that I owe EVERYTHING to him. Before meeting Lars, I applied for dozens of jobs and graduate programs, thinking that graduating at the top of my class would help get my foot in the door. I was wrong; almost everyone shut the door on me. For some reason that is not entirely clear to me to this day, Lars took a chance on me, giving me the opportunity I needed to advance from cleaning floors to having a fulfilling life. I had no master’s degree, no background in the discipline, and no industry experience, and still this man saw something in me. Working with Lars was incredible, and I will cherish this for the rest of my career. Thank you for taking the chance on me, Lars. Hope you don’t regret it. Over the five years we spent together, I learned so much from you—the most important thing being that successful academic pursuit is not only about doing research, but also about cultivating friendships and relationships. I am truly inspired by the way in which you treat everyone you encounter with respect and genuine friendliness. 6 Polycentric Information Commons V. Mindel 2018 I know that Lars would not have admitted me to the program without the blessing of his close colleague, Dr. Arun Rai. Having worked mostly with Lars, I was at first intimidated by Arun. Not because of his status in the field (which I was unaware of) but because he seemed to be fiercely brilliant, intense, and unabashedly confident. I kept my distance for a while, but over time I was very happy to discover the true Arun Rai—brilliant, intense, and confident, yes, but also very much an outstanding human being who deeply cares about others. One should see the sparkle in his eyes when he talks about his students and other young aspiring academics! I learned a lot from working with Arun, including the importance of seeking constant inspiration and cultivating your passion for the academic pursuit. It is a little funny to me now to acknowledge how clueless I was when I started the program, with no idea who Arun Rai or Lars Mathiassen were; it was only after a while into the PhD program that I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I was being mentored by some of the most esteemed scholars in the IS field. It was a little like realizing that, after years jamming with Paul and John, I was actually making music with the Beatles.