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(1,296)
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- Faculty Publications (267)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,296)
- People (4)
- News (314)
- Research (800)
- Events (4)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (267)
- 2005
- Book
Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software
By: Joe Feller, Brian Fitzgerald, Scott Hissam and Karim R. Lakhani
Feller, Joe, Brian Fitzgerald, Scott Hissam and Karim R. Lakhani, eds. Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.
- Article
The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software
By: Frank Nagle and Jennifer L. Hoffman
Nagle, Frank, and Jennifer L. Hoffman. "The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (February 24, 2020).
- 2024
- Working Paper
Contributing to Growth? The Role of Open Source Software for Global Startups
By: Nataliya Langburd Wright, Frank Nagle and Shane Greenstein
How does participating in open source software (OSS) communities spur entrepreneurial growth?
To address this question, we analyze novel data matching accounts from GitHub—the largest OSS
hosting platform—to the universe of global software venture-backed firms... View Details
Keywords: Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Human Capital; Valuation; Corporate Strategy
Wright, Nataliya Langburd, Frank Nagle, and Shane Greenstein. "Contributing to Growth? The Role of Open Source Software for Global Startups." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-040, January 2024. (Revised August 2024.)
- June 2003
- Article
How Open Source Software Works: "Free" User-to-User Assistance
By: Karim R. Lakhani and Eric von Hippel
Lakhani, Karim R., and Eric von Hippel. How Open Source Software Works: "Free" User-to-User Assistance. Research Policy 32, no. 6 (June 2003): 923–943.
- 2015
- Working Paper
Crowdsourced Digital Goods and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Open Source Software
By: Frank Nagle
As firms increasingly rely on crowdsourced digital goods, understanding their impact on productivity becomes critical. This study measures the firm-level productivity impact of one such good, non-pecuniary (free) open source software (OSS). The results show a... View Details
Nagle, Frank. "Crowdsourced Digital Goods and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Open Source Software." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-062, January 2015. (Revised June 2015.)
- July–August 2025
- Article
Beefing IT Up for Your Investor? Engagement with Open Source Communities, Innovation, and Startup Funding: Evidence from GitHub
By: Annamaria Conti, Christian Peukert and Maria P. Roche
We study the engagement of nascent firms with open source communities and its implications for innovation and attracting funding. To do so, we link data on 160,065 U.S. startups from Crunchbase to their activities on the open source software development platform... View Details
Keywords: Startups; Knowledge; Open Source Communities; GitHub; Machine Learning; Innovation; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Information Technology; Strategy
Conti, Annamaria, Christian Peukert, and Maria P. Roche. "Beefing IT Up for Your Investor? Engagement with Open Source Communities, Innovation, and Startup Funding: Evidence from GitHub." Organization Science 36, no. 4 (July–August 2025): 1551–1573.
- 07 Jul 2003
- Research & Ideas
The Organizational Model for Open Source
Programmers contribute to free software and open source projects for many reasons—some for the fun of it, some to improve their skills, others for a paycheck. Many people have... View Details
Keywords: by Mallory Stark
- 16 May 2000
- Research & Ideas
The Simple Economics of Open Source
sensible, potentially quite lucrative and, in a word, simple. Altruism is just a nice by-product. Looking For Drivers The phenomenon of open source has roots in a long tradition of sharing and cooperation in... View Details
- November 2023
- Case
Open Source Machine Learning at Google
Set in early 2023, the case exposes students to the challenges of managing open source software at Google. The case focuses on the challenges for Alex Spinelli, Vice President of Product Management for Core Machine Learning. He must set priorities for Google’s efforts... View Details
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Open Source Distribution; Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Technology Industry; United States
Greenstein, Shane, Martin Wattenberg, Fernanda B. Viégas, Daniel Yue, and James Barnett. "Open Source Machine Learning at Google." Harvard Business School Case 624-015, November 2023.
- June 2025
- Teaching Note
AI at QuantumBlack: McKinsey’s Open Source Dilemma
By: Frank Nagle, Sam Boysel and Susan Pinckney
In 2019, QuantumBlack by McKinsey considered releasing Kedro, a proprietary machine learning data pipeline tool as an open source software offering. View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Change Management; Transformation; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Making; Finance; Financial Strategy; Information Technology; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Platforms; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Copyright; Management; Growth and Development; Markets; Market Timing; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Competition; Computer Industry; Consulting Industry
- 09 Feb 2021
- News
Open Source Developers Could be Worth Billions
- 02 Mar 2011
- Research & Ideas
Managing the Open Source vs. Proprietary Decision
Editor's note: In their new book, The Comingled Code: Open Source and Economic Development, HBS professor Josh Lerner and London School of Economics professor Mark Schankerman look at the impact of View Details
The Comingled Code: Open Source and Economic Development
Discussions of the economic impact of open source software often generate more heat than light. Advocates passionately assert the benefits of open source while critics decry its effects. Missing from the debate is rigorous economic analysis and systematic economic... View Details
- 2010
- Book
The Comingled Code: Open Source and Economic Development
By: Josh Lerner and Mark Schankerman
Discussions of the economic impact of open source software often generate more heat than light. Advocates passionately assert the benefits of open source, while critics decry its effects. Missing from the debate is rigorous economic analysis and systematic... View Details
Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Policy; Government and Politics; Open Source Distribution; Software
Lerner, Josh, and Mark Schankerman. The Comingled Code: Open Source and Economic Development. MIT Press, 2010.
- March 2019 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
Global Sourcing at Nike
By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael W. Toffel and Olivia Hull
This case explores the evolution of Nike’s global product sourcing strategy, in particular ongoing efforts to improve working conditions at its suppliers’ factories. When the case opens in July 2018, Vice President of Sourcing Amanda Tucker and her colleagues in Nike’s... View Details
Keywords: Sourcing; Factory Conditions; Trade; Geography; Geographic Scope; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Labor; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Labor and Management Relations; Complexity; Sports Industry; Fashion Industry; Oregon; Portland; Asia; North and Central America
Hsieh, Nien-hê, Michael W. Toffel, and Olivia Hull. "Global Sourcing at Nike." Harvard Business School Case 619-008, March 2019. (Revised June 2019.)
- May 2001
- Article
The Open Source Movement: Key Research Questions
By: Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole
The paper analyzes the incentives of individual programmers and of commercial companies to participate in open source projects. While these incentives are in our opinion well accounted for by the economic paradigm, much empirical and theoretical work is still needed to... View Details
Lerner, Josh, and Jean Tirole. "The Open Source Movement: Key Research Questions." Special Issue on Papers and Proceedings of the 15th Congress of the European Economic Association European Economic Review 45, nos. 4-6 (May 2001): 819–826.
- 20 Nov 2006
- Research & Ideas
Open Source Science: A New Model for Innovation
scientific problem solving? Yes, and it comes from an unexpected and unrelated corner of the universe: open source software development. That's the view of Karim R. Lakhani, an... View Details
Keywords: by Martha Lagace
- 2021
- Working Paper
Hidden Software and Veiled Value Creation: Illustrations from Server Software Usage
By: Raviv Murciano-Goroff, Ran Zhuo and Shane Greenstein
How do you measure the value of a commodity that transacts at a price of zero from an economic standpoint? This study examines the potential for and extent of omission and misattribution in standard approaches to economic accounting with regards to open source... View Details
Keywords: Server Software; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Analytics and Data Science; Economics; Value Creation; Measurement and Metrics
Murciano-Goroff, Raviv, Ran Zhuo, and Shane Greenstein. "Hidden Software and Veiled Value Creation: Illustrations from Server Software Usage." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 28738, April 2021.
- July 2003
- Article
Community, Joining, and Specialization in Open Source Software Innovation: A Case Study
By: Georg von Krogh, Sebastian Spaeth and Karim R. Lakhani
Keywords: Civil Society or Community; Applications and Software; Information; Information Technology Industry
von Krogh, Georg, Sebastian Spaeth, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Community, Joining, and Specialization in Open Source Software Innovation: A Case Study." Research Policy 32, no. 7 (July 2003): 1217–1241.