Analyzing leadership dynamics in distributed group communication

Kevin Crowston, Andrea Wiggins, James Howison

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemConference contribution

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

We apply social network analysis (SNA) to examine the dynamics of leadership in distributed groups, specifically Free/Libre Open Source Software development projects, and its relation to group performance. Based on prior work on leadership in distributed groups, we identify leaders with those who make the highest level of contribution to the group and assess the degree of leadership by measuring centralization of communications. We compare the dynamics of leadership in two FLOSS projects, one more and one less effective. We find that in both projects, centralization was higher in developer-oriented communications venues than in user-oriented venues, suggesting higher degrees of leadership in developer venues. However, we do not find a consistent relation between centralization and effectiveness. We suggest that SNA can instead be useful for identifying interesting periods in the history of the project, e.g., periods where the leadership of the project is in transition.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 43rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS-43
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Event43rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS-43 - Koloa, Kauai, HI, United States
Duration: Jan 5 2010Jan 8 2010

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
ISSN (Print)1530-1605

Other

Other43rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS-43
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityKoloa, Kauai, HI
Period1/5/101/8/10

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering

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