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

该项目研究信息技术(IT)领域的社会运动和市场之间的互动。利用1998-2006年间IT行业采用免费开放源码软件(FOSS)的具体案例，研究了三个过程：1)自由和开放源码软件从IT行业的边缘转变为IT发展的基石；2)公司内部市场动机与通常与自由和开放源码软件有关的道德的调和；3)自由和开放源码软件对IT行业的文化影响。研究结果将增加对消费者、创新者和大公司之间关系的理解。研究问题将通过分析与自由/开源软件运动和第一次采用这种方法的公司有关的主要和次要文件并通过采访进行调查。将收集、分类和分析来自不同来源的与自由和开放源码软件历史有关的各种文件，以及白皮书、广告材料和关键公司制作的关于其早期参与自由和开放源码软件的其他文件。文件分析将通过对参与自由和开源软件的高管以及选定的自由和开放源码软件项目的参与者进行60次深入的、半结构化的访谈来补充。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.