Date of Graduation

5-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Information Systems

Advisor/Mentor

Setia, Pankaj

Committee Member

Sabherwal, Rajiv

Second Committee Member

Cronan, Timothy P.

Third Committee Member

Johnson, Jon

Keywords

Engagement; Information Systems; Information Systems Professional; Information Technology; Open Source

Abstract

Open source (OS) development of software is becoming increasingly desirable for individuals and organizations alike. Organizations that heavily resisted this new way of developing software are now actively participating in this process. Participation of information systems (IS) professionals in the open source environment has been a focal point in this stream of research in information systems. The dissertation goes beyond participation and examines engagement of IS professionals in the open source environment. The concept of engagement facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between a person and a his or her work. The three essays in the dissertation examine three aspects of IS professional’s engagement in the open source domain: job engagement, platform engagement, and continued participation. The first essay, using the job characteristics model as a theoretical framework, explores the role of job characteristics in driving job engagement and job satisfaction in open source projects. The second essay examines factors that can influence IS professionals continued contribution to future activities of an open source development platform. Using the social exchange theory, the second essay examines how perceived justice of rewards in OS projects can impact IS professionals’ platform engagement and intention to participate in future platform activities. The third essay explores the role of external feedbacks in open source projects. Using the signaling theory, this essay examines how characteristics of external feedback can interact with motivations to influence continued participation intention. The three essays are expected to enrich the information systems literature by providing new insights on various factors that can enhance engagement of IS professionals in the open source domain. The essays also contribute to the IS literature by applying the job characteristics model, social exchange theory, and signaling theory in the context of open source development.

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