How do firms influence open source software communities? A framework and empirical analysis of different governance modes

• We differentiate four types of open source software development.
• We develop the notion of resource deployment control as an extension of clan control.
• We use data from Eclipse projects to test five resulting hypotheses.

This paper explores how software firms can apply different types of governance approaches to open source software development projects (OSSDPs) and draws on control theory to propose that firms may influence OSSDPs by employing either leadership or resource deployment control. A matrix differentiating four types of OSSDPs: firm- versus community-initiated projects and one participating firm (single-vendor projects) versus many firms (multivendor projects), and accompanying hypotheses regarding a firm's participation for each type are developed. Using data from 83 Eclipse projects to test the hypotheses, findings indicate that (1) firms more actively employ both leadership and resource deployment in firm-initiated projects than in community-initiated ones and (2) firms are more likely to use resource deployment control over leadership control in multivendor projects. Key theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.