%0 Generic %D 2017 %T Work features to support stigmergic coordination in distributed teams %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Bolici, Francesco %A Carsten Østerlund %K Coordination %K Stigmergy %X

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.

%B Academy of Management Annual Meeting %G eng %9 Interactive paper %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Stigmergy%20theory%20paper%20to%20share.pdf %0 Report %D 2016 %T Manifesto on Engineering Academic Software (Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 16252) %A Alice Allen %A Cecilia Aragon %A Christoph Becker %A Jeffrey Carver %A Andrei Chiş %A Benoit Combemale %A Mike Croucher %A Kevin Crowston %A Daniel Garijo %A Ashish Gehani %A Carole Goble %A Robert Haines %A Robert Hirschfeld %A James Howison %A Kathryn Huff %A Caroline Jay %A Daniel S. Katz %A Claude Kirchner %A Katie Kuksenok %A Ralf Lämmel %A Oscar Nierstrasz %A Matt Turk %A van Nieuwpoort, Rob %A Matthew Vaughn %A Jurgen Vinju %X 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 “Engineering Academic Software” 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 “pledges” that users and developers of academic research software can take as concrete steps towards improving the environment in which that software is produced. %B Dagstuhl Manifestos %I Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Center for Informatics %C Wadern, Germany %V 6 %8 12/2106 %G eng %N 1 %0 Journal Article %J Cognitive Systems Research %D 2016 %T Stigmergic coordination in FLOSS development teams: Integrating explicit and implicit mechanisms %A Bolici, Francesco %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %K Coordination %K Stigmergy %B Cognitive Systems Research %V 38 %P 14–22 %R 10.1016/j.cogsys.2015.12.003 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/COGSYS-RS-%28HHS%29-%282015%29-%283%29.pdf %0 Journal Article %J MIS Quarterly %D 2014 %T Collaboration through superposition: How the IT artifact as an object of collaboration affords technical interdependence without organizational interdependence %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %X 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. %B MIS Quarterly %V 38 %P 29-50 %8 3/2104 %U http://misq.org/collaboration-through-open-superposition.html %N 1 %1 R&R at MISQ %R 10.25300/MISQ/2014/38.1.02 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CollaborationThroughSuperposition-WorkingPaper.pdf %0 Journal Article %J ACM Computing Surveys %D 2012 %T Free/Libre Open Source Software Development: What we know and what we do not know %A Kevin Crowston %A Kangning Wei %A James Howison %A Wiggins, Andrea %X 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. %B ACM Computing Surveys %7 2 %V 44 %8 02/2012 %G eng %R 10.1145/2089125.2089127 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CrowstonFLOSSReviewPaperPreprint.pdf %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Appendix%201%20Journal%20and%20Conference%20Names.pdf %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Appendix%202%20Coding%20Scheme.pdf %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Appendix%203%20Studies%20included%20in%20the%20review.pdf %0 Journal Article %J Journal of the Association for Information Systems %D 2011 %T Validity issues in the use of social network analysis with digital trace data %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %A Wiggins, Andrea %X

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.

%B Journal of the Association for Information Systems %V 12 %8 12/2011 %U http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol12/iss12/2/ %N 12 %& Article 2 %R 10.17705/1jais.00282 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/JAIS.RA-JAIS-08-0130-ReferencesFixed.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B Third International Symposium on Process Organization Studies %D 2011 %T Work as coordination and coordination as work: A process perspective on FLOSS development projects %A Kevin Crowston %A Carsten Østerlund %A James Howison %A Bolici, Francesco %B Third International Symposium on Process Organization Studies %C Corfu, Greece %8 6/2011 %U http://www.process-symposium.com/ %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/PROS-134.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the Forty-third Hawaiʼi International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-43) %D 2010 %T Analyzing Leadership Dynamics in Distributed Group Communication %A Kevin Crowston %A Wiggins, Andrea %A James Howison %K FLOSS %K Leadership %X We apply social network analysis (SNA) to examine the dynamics of leadership in distributed groups, specifically Free/Libre Open Source Software development projects, and its relation to group performance. Based on prior work on leadership in distributed groups, we identify leaders with those who make the highest level of contribution to the group and assess the degree of leadership by measuring centralization of communications. We compare the dynamics of leadership in two FLOSS projects, one more and one less effective. We find that in both projects, centralization was higher in developer-oriented communications venues than in user-oriented venues, suggesting higher degrees of leadership in developer venues. However, we do not find a consistent relation between centralization and effectiveness. We suggest that SNA can instead be useful for identifying interesting periods in the history of the project, e.g., periods where the leadership of the project is in transition. %B Proceedings of the Forty-third Hawaiʼi International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-43) %C Kauai, HI, 5–8 January %R 10.1109/HICSS.2010.62 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/07-06-02.pdf %0 Generic %D 2010 %T The under-appreciated role of stigmergic coordination in software development %A Bolici, Francesco %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %K Coordination %K FLOSS %K Stigmergy %X

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.

%> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/stigmergy-short.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B 2nd International Workshop on Socio-Technical Congruence, ICSE %D 2009 %T Coordination without discussion? Socio-technical congruence and Stigmergy in Free and Open Source Software projects %A Bolici, Francesco %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %K Coordination %K FLOSS %B 2nd International Workshop on Socio-Technical Congruence, ICSE %C Vancouver, Canada %8 19 May %U http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhncd3jd_405fzt842gv %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Coordination%20without%20discussion%3F%20Socio-technical%20congruence.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) %D 2009 %T Heartbeat: Measuring Active User Base and Potential User Interest in FLOSS Projects %A Wiggins, Andrea %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %E Boldyreff, Cornelia %E Kevin Crowston %E Lundell, Björn %E Wasserman, Tony %X This paper presents a novel method and algorithm to measure the size of an open source project’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. %B Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) %I Springer Boston %C Skövde, Sweden, 3-6 June %V 299 %P 94-104 %@ 978-3-642-02031-5 %G eng %R 10.1007/978-3-642-02032-2%5f10 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/heartbeat.pdf %0 Generic %D 2008 %T Asynchronous Decision-Making in Distributed Teams (Poster) %A Li, Qing %A Heckman, Robert %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Kevin Crowston %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %A Wiggins, Andrea %K Decision-Making %K FLOSS %B Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work %C San Diego, CA %8 8–12 November %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CSCW2008Poster11x17Draft.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Open Source Systems %D 2008 %T Decision Making Paths in Self-Organizing Technology-Mediated Distributed Teams %A Li, Qing %A Heckman, Robert %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %X 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. %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Open Source Systems %C Paris, France, 14-17 December %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Decision%20Making%20Paths%20in%20Self%20Organizing%20Technology%20Mediated%20Dist.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the IFIP 2.13 Working Conference on Open Source Software (OSS) %D 2008 %T eResearch workflows for studying free and open source software development %A James Howison %A Wiggins, Andrea %A Kevin Crowston %K eResearch %K FLOSS %K Workflow %X 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. %B Proceedings of the IFIP 2.13 Working Conference on Open Source Software (OSS) %C Milan, Italy, 7-10 September %G eng %R 10.1007/978-0-387-09684-1_39 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/eResearchWorkflows.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on e-Social Science %D 2008 %T eSocialScience for Free/Libre Open Source Software researchers %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Wiggins, Andrea %K eScience %K FLOSS %X 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. %B Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on e-Social Science %C Manchester, UK, 18-20 June %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/NCeSS2008CrowstonHowisonWiggins.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the Best Paper Proceedings, Academy of Management Annual Meeting %D 2008 %T Group Maintenance in Technology-Supported Distributed Teams %A Scialdone, Michael J. %A Li, Na %A James Howison %A Heckman, Robert %A Kevin Crowston %K FLOSS %K Group Maintenance %X 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. %B Proceedings of the Best Paper Proceedings, Academy of Management Annual Meeting %C Anaheim, CA, 9-13 August %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/GroupMaintenance.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the Oxford e-Research 08 Conference %D 2008 %T Opportunities for eScience research on Free/Libre Open Source Software %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Wiggins, Andrea %B Proceedings of the Oxford e-Research 08 Conference %C Oxford, England, 11-13 September %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Opportunities%20for%20eScience%20research%20on%20Free.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the Oxford e-Research Conference 08 %D 2008 %T Replication of FLOSS Research as eResearch %A Wiggins, Andrea %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %X 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. %B Proceedings of the Oxford e-Research Conference 08 %C Oxford, England, 11-13 September %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ReplicationOfFLOSSResearch.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the IFIP 2.13 Working Conference on Open Source Software (OSS) %D 2008 %T Social dynamics of FLOSS team communication across channels %A Wiggins, Andrea %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %K FLOSS %X 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. %B Proceedings of the IFIP 2.13 Working Conference on Open Source Software (OSS) %I Springer Boston %C Milan, Italy, 7-10 September %P 131-142 %@ 978-0-387-09683-4 %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/DSNAWigginsIFIP.pdf %0 Generic %D 2008 %T Towards a data and workflow collaboratory for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster) %A James Howison %A Squire, Megan %A Kevin Crowston %K eScience %K FLOSS %K Workflow %B iConference %C Los Angeles, CA %G eng %0 Generic %D 2007 %T Building a collaboratory for research on open source software development (Poster) %A James Howison %A Squire, Megan %A Kevin Crowston %K eScience %K FLOSS %B eSocial Science Conference %C Ann Arbor, MI %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Howison_eSocSciPoster-small.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the IFIP 3rd International Conference on Open Source Software %D 2007 %T Emergent decision-making practices in Free/Libre Open Source Software FLOSS development teams %A Heckman, Robert %A Kevin Crowston %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Li, Qing %X 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. %B Proceedings of the IFIP 3rd International Conference on Open Source Software %C Limerick, Ireland, 10-14 June %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/20070320%20OSS%20Conference_v15_final%20submitted.pdf %0 Generic %D 2007 %T Investigating the Dynamics of FLOSS Development Teams (Poster) %A Li, Na %A Li, Qing %A Kangning Wei %A Heckman, Robert %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A Liddy, Elizabeth D. %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Scialdone, Michael J. %A Inoue, Keisuke %A Harwell, Sarah %A Rowe, Steven %A McCracken, Nancy %A Wiggins, Andrea %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HSDposter_8.ai_.pdf %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HSDposter_8.pdf %0 Generic %D 2007 %T A proposed data and analysis archive for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster) %A James Howison %A Squire, Megan %A Kevin Crowston %K FLOSS %B eSocial Science Conference %C Ann Arbor, MI %0 Generic %D 2007 %T A proposed data and analysis archive for research on Free and Open Source Software and its development (Poster) %A James Howison %A Squire, Megan %A Kevin Crowston %K FLOSS %0 Journal Article %J IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications %D 2007 %T The role of face-to-face meetings in technology-supported self-organizing distributed teams %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Masango, Chengetai %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %K FLOSS %X 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. %B IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications %V 50 %P 185–203 %G eng %R 10.1109/TPC.2007.902654 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/070122.pdf %0 Journal Article %J Information and Software Technology Journal: Special issue on Understanding the Social Side of Software Engineering, Qualitative Software Engineering Research %D 2007 %T Self-organization of teams in free/libre open source software development %A Kevin Crowston %A Kangning Wei %A Li, Qing %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %X 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 ‘self-assignment’ 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. %B Information and Software Technology Journal: Special issue on Understanding the Social Side of Software Engineering, Qualitative Software Engineering Research %V 49 %P 564–575 %G eng %N 6 %R 10.1016/j.infsof.2007.02.004 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/060918.pdf %0 Journal Article %J IEEE Computer %D 2006 %T Assessing the health of open source communities %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %X 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). %B IEEE Computer %V 39 %P 89-91 %8 May %G eng %N 5 %R 10.1109/MC.2006.152 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HealthOfAFlossCommunity.pdf %0 Book Section %B Human-Computer Interaction in Management Information Systems %D 2006 %T Coordination theory: A ten-year retrospective %A Kevin Crowston %A Rubleske, Joe %A James Howison %E Zhang, P. %E Galletta, D. %K Coordination %X Since the initial publication in 1994, Coordination Theory has been referenced in nearly 300 journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and theses. Coordination Theory provides an approach to a core problem in HCI: analyzing group work to suggest alternative approaches involving computer support. Coordination Theory suggests identifying the dependencies between the tasks the different group members are carrying out and the coordination mechanisms the group use to coordinate their work and then considering alternative mechanisms. This chapter will analyze the contribution of this body of research to determine how Coordination Theory has been used for user task analysis and modelling for HCI. Issues that will be addressed include: 1)how the theory has been applied; 2) factors that led to the success of the theory; and 3)identification of areas needing further research. %B Human-Computer Interaction in Management Information Systems %I M. E. Sharpe, Inc. %P 120-138 %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CT%20Review%20to%20distribute.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 39th Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-39) %D 2006 %T Core and periphery in Free/Libre and Open Source software team communications %A Kevin Crowston %A Kangning Wei %A Li, Qing %A James Howison %K FLOSS %X The concept of the core group of developers is important and often discussed in empirical studies of FLOSS projects. This paper examines the question, “how does one empirically distinguish the core?” 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’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. %B Proceedings of the 39th Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-39) %C Kaua'i, Hawai'i, January %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CoreAndPeripheryInFreeLibre.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %D 2006 %T Emergent decision-making practices in technology-supported self-organizing distributed teams %A Heckman, Robert %A Kevin Crowston %A Li, Qing %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %A Kangning Wei %K Decision-Making %K FLOSS %X 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. %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %C Milwaukee, WI, 10–13 Dec %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Emergent%20Decision%20Making%20Practices%20In%20Technology%20Supported%20Self%20O.pdf %0 Journal Article %J International Journal of Information Technology and Web Engineering %D 2006 %T FLOSSmole: A collaborative repository for FLOSS research data and analyses %A James Howison %A Conklin, Megan S. %A Kevin Crowston %K FLOSSmole %X This paper introduces and expands on previous work on a collaborative project, called FLOSSmole (formerly OSSmole), 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. %B International Journal of Information Technology and Web Engineering %V 1 %P 17–26 %G eng %N 3 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/FLOSSmole.pdf %0 Journal Article %J Knowledge, Technology & Policy %D 2006 %T Hierarchy and centralization in Free and Open Source Software team communications %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %K FLOSS %X 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. %B Knowledge, Technology & Policy %V 18 %P 65–85 %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HierarchyAndCentralization.pdf %0 Journal Article %J Software Process–Improvement and Practice %D 2006 %T Information systems success in Free and Open Source Software development: Theory and measures %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Annabi, Hala %K FLOSS %K Success %X 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’s effectiveness in team building, the speed of the project at responding to bug reports and the project’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. %B Software Process–Improvement and Practice %V 11 %P 123–148 %G eng %R 10.1002/spip.259 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/InformationSystemsSuccessInFree.pdf %0 Generic %D 2006 %T Investigating the Dynamics of FLOSS Development Teams (Poster) %A Li, Qing %A Kangning Wei %A Heckman, Robert %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A Liddy, Elizabeth D. %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Inoue, Keisuke %A Harwell, Sarah %A Rowe, Steven %A McCracken, Nancy %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/hsd2006poster.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B OCIS Division, Academy of Management Conference %D 2006 %T Language and power in self-organizing distributed teams %A Li, Qing %A Kevin Crowston %A Heckman, Robert %A James Howison %K FLOSS %X 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 “how is power expressed in online interactions in self-organizing distributed teams, in a context without formal authority or hierarchy?” and “What effects do expressions of power have on team outcomes?” 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. %B OCIS Division, Academy of Management Conference %C Atlanta, GA %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/LanguageAndPowerInSelf-organizing.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the IFIP Second International Conference on Open Source Systems %D 2006 %T Social dynamics of free and open source team communications %A James Howison %A Inoue, Keisuke %A Kevin Crowston %K FLOSS %X 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. %B Proceedings of the IFIP Second International Conference on Open Source Systems %C Lake Como, Italy, 8-9 June %P 319-330 %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/SocialDynamics.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B Symposium on Mining Software Repositories %D 2005 %T Collaboration Using OSSmole: A repository of FLOSS data and analyses %A Conklin, Megan S. %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %X 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. %B Symposium on Mining Software Repositories %C St. Louis %8 05/2005 %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CollaborationUsingOSSmole.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %D 2005 %T Coordination of Free/Libre Open Source Software development %A Kevin Crowston %A Kangning Wei %A Li, Qing %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %K Coordination %K FLOSS %X 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 “self-assignment” 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. %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %C Las Vegas, NV, USA, December %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Coordination%20of%20Free%20Libre%20Open%20Source%20Software%20Development.pdf %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CoordinationFreeLibreOSSDevSlides.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 38th Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) %D 2005 %T Effective work practices for FLOSS development: A model and propositions %A Kevin Crowston %A Annabi, Hala %A James Howison %A Masango, Chengetai %X 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’s [1] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [2] and collective mind [3] to extend Hackman’s model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research. %B Proceedings of the 38th Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) %C Big Island, Hawai'i, January %G eng %R 10.1109/HICSS.2005.222 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/22680197a.pdf %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/041101%20Wiser%20Presentation.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B Academy of Management Conference %D 2005 %T Face-to-face interactions in self-organizing distributed teams %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Masango, Chengetai %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %K FLOSS %X 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’ 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’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. %B Academy of Management Conference %C Honolulu, HI %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/FaceToFace%20Interactions.pdf %0 Journal Article %J First Monday %D 2005 %T The social structure of Free and Open Source Software development %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %K FLOSS %X 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’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–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. %B First Monday %V 10 %G eng %U http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1207/1127 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Social%20structure%20of%20Free%20and%20Open%20Source%20Software%20development.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B Proceedings of the 2004 ACM workshop on Interdisciplinary software engineering research (WISER '04) %D 2004 %T Effective work practices for software engineering %A Kevin Crowston %A Annabi, Hala %A James Howison %A Masango, Chengetai %Y Mehandjiev, Nikolay %Y Brereton, Pearl %Y Bennett, Keith %Y Budgen, David %Y Layzell, Paul %K FLOSS %X 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’s [34] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [52] and collective mind [79] to extend Hackman’s model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research. %B Proceedings of the 2004 ACM workshop on Interdisciplinary software engineering research (WISER '04) %I ACM Press %C Newport Beach, CA, USA %P 18 %@ 1581139888 %! WISER '04 %R 10.1145/1029997.1030003 %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/p18-crowston.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B Workshop on Mining Software Repositories, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering %D 2004 %T The perils and pitfalls of mining SourceForge %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %X 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. %B Workshop on Mining Software Repositories, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering %C Edinburgh, Scotland %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/The%20perils%20and%20pitfalls%20of%20mining%20SourceForge.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B Workshop on Open Source Software Engineering, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering %D 2004 %T Towards a portfolio of FLOSS project success measures %A Kevin Crowston %A Annabi, Hala %A James Howison %A Masango, Chengetai %X 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. %B Workshop on Open Source Software Engineering, 26th International Conference on Software Engineering %C Edinburgh %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Towards_a_Portfolio_%20of%20_FLOSS_Project.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %D 2003 %T Defining Open Source Software project success %A Kevin Crowston %A Annabi, Hala %A James Howison %K FLOSS %X 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. %B Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %C Seattle, WA, December %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/icis2003success.pdf %0 Conference Paper %B The IFIP 8.2 Working Group on Information Systems in Organizations Organizations and Society in Information Systems (OASIS) Workshop %D 2003 %T The social structure of Open Source Software development teams %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %K FLOSS %X Open Source Software 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. 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. %B The IFIP 8.2 Working Group on Information Systems in Organizations Organizations and Society in Information Systems (OASIS) Workshop %C Seattle, WA %G eng %> https://crowston.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/icis2003sna.pdf