The open source model is a form of software development with source code that is typically made available to all interested parties. At the core of this process is a decentralized production process: open source software development is done by a network of unpaid software developers. Using data...

The global adoption of RFID technology presents a number of challenges to IT architecture design. This paper identifies important requirements for RFID data provisioning at an abstract architecture level. A non-invasive architecture style is proposed to satisfy these requirements. Our proposed...

Many successful open source projects have been developed by who were employed by firms but worked on the open source projects on the side due to economic incentives like career improvement benefits. Such side work may be a good thing for the employing firms too if they get some strategic value...

As software ages, it is increasingly unable to leverage new technologies and fulfill evolving user requirements. Firms producing software products therefore get an opportunity to introduce and sell upgrades. Our research looks at the optimal intervals between upgrades, and whether these...

Despite the availability of source code, deploying open source software (OSS) in an enterprise environment requires expertise. Recent surveys and case studies show that the skills of IT staff in an organization are one of the key factors in OSS adoption decisions. Another important factor...

Upgrades are endemic in the software industry and create the possibility that customers might either postpone purchase or buy early on and never upgrade: When will a customer upgrade? Is it better to upgrade now or to wait for an improved version? When should we release an improved product? How...

We analyze the relation between patents and the different business models available to firms in the software industry. The paper builds on Cusumano's work defining the differences among firms that sell products, those that provide services, and the hybrid firms that fall between those polar...

We investigate the value creation or destruction associated with the introduction of software patents in the United States in two ways. The first looks at the cumulative abnormal returns to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms around the time of important court decisions that...

The recent demise of the proposed Directive on Computer-Implemented Inventions has overshadowed its complex background and the interplay of conflicting interests that it brought into play. Copyright (which already protects all software) and patent law (which protects much software in the United...

The incentive to copy software depends on publishers' price and monitoring strategy. This paper analyzes how a publisher's strategy depends on the penalty for copyright violation and the cost of copying. It shows that changes in price and monitoring have qualitatively different effects on...