ABSTRACT
The FL/OSS model of organization appears to be continuously adopted, adapted and extended in new contexts and domains of intellectual work. Modularity, peer review, transparency and the intensive use of an array of specialized and more widely distributed online tools are used to organize the contributions of hundreds and sometimes thousands of contributors. Wikipedia has applied the same principles of decentralization, peer review and open access to organize and mobilize volunteers to create the world’s largest and most contributed to encyclopaedia. Firms are releasing software under FL/OSS licences and adopting FL/OSS development tools to encourage innovation around their products, both within and across fi rm boundaries. ‘Crowdsourcing’, a novel problem-solving and production model, adopts the FL/OSS principle of decentralization for the completion of small, very precisely defi ned tasks that often do not require specialized skills (Brabham, 2008).
