Uncovering leadership styles performed in Open Source Software Communities

Basic data for this project

Description

Firstly, the integrative framework will be developed to provide a more coherent understanding of OSS leadership. Furthermore, this framework will seek to organize and synthesize all the findings relating to OSS leader skills. Three main dimensions will be identified - these are, behavioural approach, sociable approach, and network approach. The behavioural approach covers the competence and expertise of OSS leaders. Similarly, the sociable approach involves the social intelligence of OSS leaders. The network approach deals with the communication network positioning of the leaders in the community. This part of the research will also develop a pluralistic methodological approach that resonates with the findings of the integrative framework. Secondly, empirical data will be collected and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. By using the insights from the developed conceptual framework the findings will be analyzed with a view to developing a more granular understanding of particular OSS practices. This analysis is expected to offer important insights into the combination of skills or styles of leadership that are manifested in the OSS community under scrutiny.