Exploring the Organization-user Relationship in Private-Collective Knowledge Communities

Robin TeiglandStockholm School of Economics

Paul M. Di GangiLoyola University Maryland

Björn-Tore FlåtenUniversity of Agder

Elia GiovacchiniStockholm University

Nicolas PastorinoeZ Systems

Director Community

04/11/2023

Nicolas Pastorino@jeanvoye Lyon, FranceDirector Community at eZ Systems

Open-source, eZ Publish, PHP, CMS, Content Management

http://share.ez.no,

Community management, mountaineering and climbing

But how to balance the needs of the community with the needs of the

firm in this co-creation model?

The Study – Data Collection

Online Survey• 18 responses

Interviews• 16 interviews of 45-120 min

Multiple types of actors (key players) affect development of eZ Community

Preliminary Finding

3OA

CM OA

OA

3OA

CM

eZ Organizational Agent

3rd Party Organizational Agent

Community Member

eZ

OACM

eZ eZ Systems - Organization

Model of relational dynamics

• Communication Dynamics

• Decision Making Process

• Member Development

Preliminary Finding

3OA

CM OA

eZ

OACM

Communication Dynamics

“Did you mean the communication between Nicholas and the eZ publish community? Yes, it’s very nice!”

“I think the communication by Andre, Lucaz, Nicolas… is great, but one gets the feeling that they may not

have the best communication with eZ Systems.”

Decision Making Process

“Maybe more trusted people could make/develop eZ Publish. More people from community could become

professional or ‘half-professional’ eZ partners, developers…”

“… It’s harder to give confidence to an open-source community driven by an editor than a community driven

by a democratic or autocratic authority.”

Member Development

“Creating the badge/grade/xp/achievement system…”

“Focus heavily on the noob. Hard core devs are already here, but there are not that many in the world. Grooming noobs is a growth opportunity.”

Action items to improve communication relations, decision making process, and member development.

Benefits to eZ

eZ Publish Community represents new form of organizing and network of relationships. Results can help researchers and

practitioners understand how to operate this model effectively.

Uniqueness Value

eZ Publish Community is complex network of relationships driven by multiple motivation factors that

are dependent on individual actor’s goals.

Overarching Finding

Thank You!

If you have any question regarding this research and to learn more about the researchers managing this study, please see our websites below:

www.paulmdigangi.comwww.knowledgenetworking.org

twitter.com/bjorntfltwitter.com/eliagh

twitter.com/robinteigland