THE ROLE OF OWNERSHIP AND SOCIAL IDENTITY IN PREDICTING DEVELOPER TURNOVER IN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE PROJECTS

Sharma, Pratyush Nidhi (2013) THE ROLE OF OWNERSHIP AND SOCIAL IDENTITY IN PREDICTING DEVELOPER TURNOVER IN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE PROJECTS. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Open source software (OSS) development methodology that promises to produce reliable, flexible, and high quality software code, at minimal cost, by harnessing the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process and has become increasingly popular in the past few years. For-profit companies have increasingly adopted the OSS paradigm to produce quality software at low cost. A vast majority of OSS projects depend on voluntary contributions by developers to sustain their development. In this context, turnover of developers has been considered a critical issue hindering the success of projects. This dissertation develops two studies addressing the issue. The first study is a methodological pilot and lays the foundation of this research by focusing on modeling turnover behavior of core open source contributors using a logistic hierarchical linear modeling approach. It argues that argue that taking both the developer and the project level factors into account will lead to a richer understanding of the issue of turnover in open source projects. The second study provides a conceptual integration of developer and project level factors using the Ownership, Role theory and Social Identity literatures, and proposes testable hypotheses, methods and findings. The implications of this research are likely to benefit OSS managers in understanding the developer and project level factors associated with developer turnover and the contexts in which they interact.

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Details

Item Type:	University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status:	Unpublished
Creators/Authors:	Creators Email Pitt Username ORCID Sharma, Pratyush Nidhi pns9@pitt.edu PNS9
ETD Committee:	Title Member Email Address Pitt Username ORCID Committee Chair Galletta, Dennis F galletta@katz.pitt.edu GALLETTA Committee CoChair Butler, Brian S bsbutler@umd.edu Committee Member Hulland, John jhulland@uga.edu Committee Member Kim, Kevin H khkim@pitt.edu KHKIM Committee Member Daniel, Sherae sld54@pitt.edu SLD54
Date:	1 October 2013
Date Type:	Publication
Defense Date:	22 July 2013
Approval Date:	1 October 2013
Submission Date:	4 September 2013
Access Restriction:	1 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 1 year.
Number of Pages:	85
Institution:	University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs:	Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business > Management of Information Systems
Degree:	PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed:	Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Open Source Software Development
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2013 14:28
Last Modified:	15 Nov 2016 14:15
URI:	http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19847

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• THE ROLE OF OWNERSHIP AND SOCIAL IDENTITY IN PREDICTING DEVELOPER TURNOVER IN OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE PROJECTS. (deposited 01 Oct 2013 14:28) [Currently Displayed]

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