business model is characterised by the traditional value chain, and the two- sided business model ‘brings together two groups of users, namely suppliers and customers’ (p. 22). In the platform economy, virtual organisations can be formed by members working apart while appearing unified to the outside world (Kuusisto, 2017).
Open source can thus be framed as a business model, where the software architect performs the boundary-spanning role through the contributions they accept through a digital platform, governed by their vision and strat- egy. The software architect, by soliciting and accepting contributions, is cap- turing the value created by contributors for the benefit of both contributors and users of the software. This value capture aspect of open source indicates that open source could be viewed as a business model. Framing open source as both a narrative and a business model opens up the potential for narra- tive forms of business model based on open source that could operate in the platform economy, enabling value capture for both the firm and a network of contributors. The next section summarises the research problem, of worker power in the digital platform economy, and introduces the research area, of narrative forms of open source business model.
2.6
Rationale for study
2.6.1
Worker power in the platform economy
The digital economy has led to new forms of working, where freelance work- ers perform a range of tasks that include transport, household repairs, infor- mation work and domestic service. These workers are matched with their temporary employers through software platforms such as Uber, Airbnb or Amazon Mechanical Turk, where Kenney and Zysman (2016, p. 61) note that these ‘digital platforms... shape the terms on which participants inter- act with one another’, giving power to the corporations that operate them. According to the OECD Employment Outlook 2017 report, the platform economy is only 1% of the total economy (OECD, 2017), but this propor- tion is growing rapidly, thus this issue is becoming significant. Individuals who interact with digital platforms to find temporary employers are now being seen as a new class of proletariat, or "precariat", who lack the legal and social protections of employees (Fuchs, 2014). The issue of power in the platform economy is one that is only just becoming a topic for academic re- search, such as the iLabour Project (2019), creating the opportunity to make a contribution. Power is exerted in the platform economy through the busi-
50CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH PROBLEM AND RATIONALE FOR STUDY
ness models adopted by platform firms, hence this study focuses on business models, in particular the research area of narrative forms of open source business model.
2.6.2
Research objective and initial research question
Benyayer and Kupp (2017, pp. 36-37) distinguish between centralised and distributed forms of governance in open business models, where centralised governance is where ‘a central company (e.g. a platform) defines for all the community’ and distributed governance is where ‘the rules are defined by the community itself through a collaborative process’. The perhaps unique quality of open source considered as a narrative form of business model is that it combines centralised and distributed governance in a power-balanced structure. This perspective on open source opens up an opportunity to in- vestigate the potential for narrative forms of open source business model, leading to the initial research objective and research question. At this stage, the research question is exploratory, and has thus been framed as a research proposition rather than in terms of hypothesis testing:
Research proposition: Open source can be framed as a narrative and as a business model. Linking these concepts could inspire narrative forms of business model.
RQ1: “How can open source inspire narrative forms of business model?”.
How examined: Through an integrative literature review that ex- amines how the concepts of narratives, open source and business models can connect.
This research question is the starting point for the Literature Review chap- ter, which explores related literature, identifies where a contribution can be made and offers a more specific research question that can be explored through empirical work.
2.7
Conclusion to the chapter
Following initial positive responses to the collaborative economy, made pos- sible by digital platforms operating over the Internet, increasing concern has been expressed about the rise of the “precariat”, or the new proletariat, undertaking a range of services for customers who are selected by a digital platform. The platform operator is able to extract value through adopting
2.7. CONCLUSION TO THE CHAPTER 51
a business model in which workers interact individually with the organi- sational boundary, thus deterring collective action. An alternative model of ownership is the generative model, characterised by a social and ethical mission rather than short-term profit maximisation. Generative models in- clude open source, a method of organising creative work that has unique characteristics.
Open source originated as a method of producing computer software, where any number of individuals or companies can view, use and contribute to the source code of a software project via a digital platform. Their sub- mission is accepted at the sole discretion of the software architect, in the process creating the boundary between code that is accepted and code that is not. This boundary framing, together with value creation and value cap- ture, characterises a business model. In open source, the value created by contributors in terms of improved software is captured by the software ar- chitect for the benefit of all contributors and users. However, there is a tension in open source between the power of the software architect to define the boundaries of the software code and the power of contributors to choose a new software architect.
Narratives can be a helpful way of looking at power relations in open source and in business models inspired by open source. Linking these con- cepts could inspire narrative forms of business model, leading to the re- search question RQ1, “How can open source inspire narrative forms of busi- ness model?”. The next chapter is the Literature Review, which aims to answer RQ1 by investigating related work in the area of narrative forms of organisation, open source and business models.
Chapter 3
Literature Review
3.1
Introduction to the chapter
The previous Research Problem and Rationale for Study chapter introduced the research problem as worker power in the growing digital platform econ- omy, where firms have adopted business models that extract value from workers via a digital platform, creating a power imbalance. The platform economy has also enabled the development of open source as a form of col- laboration, where the value generated by collaborators on an open source software project can be retained for their benefit by the software architect. In open source there is a balance of power between the software architect and contributors, which suggests that it could inspire business models that have a balance of power between workers and the firm. It is these new forms of business model that are examined in this study.
From a social constructionist theoretical stance, this literature review chapter takes an integrative approach to first consider the literature on nar- ratives to develop a framework to view entrepreneurship, open source and business models; then considers where these concepts can intersect. There appears to be a gap in the literature in this specific area, of narrative forms of business model based on the principles of open source. This gap in the literature offers a promising area for further theoretical and empirical work on business models as narratives, focusing on where this form of business model connects with open source. The chapter concludes by proposing the research area as this potential to create power-balanced narrative forms of business model.
54 CHAPTER 3. LITERATURE REVIEW