Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Case Study of How Consumer Innovations Disrupt Markets

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This project studies the interaction between social movements and markets in the information technology (IT) sector. Using the specific case of the adoption of free and open source software (FOSS) by the IT industry between 1998-2006, three processes are investigated: 1) the transition of FOSS from the fringes of the IT industry, to being the cornerstone of IT development; 2) the reconciliation in companies of market motives with the morality often connected with FOSS; 3) the cultural effects of FOSS on the IT industry. Findings will increase understanding of the relationship between consumers, innovators, and large companies.The research questions will be investigated through analysis of primary and secondary documents associated both with the FOSS movement and the firms which first adopted the approach and through interviews. A wide assortment of documents from various sources related to the history of FOSS, alongside white papers, advertising materials, and other documents produced by a key firm regarding its early involvement with FOSS, will be collected, categorized, and analyzed. Document analysis will be supplemented by 60 in-depth, semi-structured interviews of executives involved with FOSS, as well as participants in select FOSS projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.