Premium
On the open design of tangible goods
Author(s) -
Raasch Christina,
Herstatt Cornelius,
Balka Kerstin
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9310.2009.00567.x
Subject(s) - presumption , variety (cybernetics) , open source , software deployment , open innovation , computer science , open source software , exploratory research , open data , software , knowledge management , software engineering , business , world wide web , political science , sociology , artificial intelligence , anthropology , law , programming language
Open source software development has received considerable scholarly attention, much of which is based on the presumption that the ‘open source model’ holds some lessons of broader applicability. Nonetheless, our knowledge of its deployment outside the software industry is very limited. This paper focuses on the open source development of tangible objects, the so‐called open design. We propose a generalised definition of open source development. Drawing on 27 exploratory interviews and six comparative case studies selected from a pool of more than 75 projects, we analyse the workings of open design. The analysis reveals that open design is already being implemented in a substantial variety of projects with different organisational and institutional structures.