Free/Libre/Open Works (FLOW) Management Education Questionnaire and Analysis

Version 16.2 by Joseph Potvin on 2014/01/14 23:55

Project Dates & Current Status

  • 27 Nov. 2013 through 31 January 2014
  • Paper drafted and undergoing limited review prior to wider circulation for comment, and ahead of submission to a journal

Abstract (12 January 2014)

The majority of project management education currently offered has not kept pace with the evolution of the successful free/libre/open source business culture, processes and methods which have come to prominence in the past decade. This research provides an initial cursory assessment of priorities for including it in management education in academic and business markets. Based on a semi-structured survey of fourteen subject matter experts in seven countries, preliminary findings suggest that this involves more than techniques. Choices amongst free/libre/open solutons and restrictive solutions involve not only different technical and financial options, but different business cultures. The very words “project” and “management” carry different meanings in the free/libre/open community than in the wider business field. Participants in free/libre/open communities typically do not surrender to being managed, though they accept that someone should coordinate their efforts. In this paper we adopt the terms coordination and coordinator in relation to free/libre/open works, rather than management and manager. 

Initial Description (November 2013)

To what extent has mainstream management education kept abreast of industry's engagement of free/libre/open source software development methodologies? Do the widely used educational materials by managers — such as the PMP (Project Management Professional) and PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments, v.2) certifications — effectively include or ignore free/libre/open project management competencies, including: ethics, methods, processes, governance, HR management, corporate strategy, law, and financing?

A mini-survey will be conducted to assess if manager competencies for free/libre/open source software projects, portfolios or foundations are sufficiently distinct from those appropriate to work under restrictive software business models, as to require the adaptation and/or extension of current mainstream project management training resources, programs and certifications.

This survey will serve as a foundation, to guide further discussions and understanding in preparing an “OSI Management Education Working Group”, a new Working Group under the Outreach and Learning Committee of the Open Source Initiative (OSI). In addition, responses should be useful to advance Version 1.0 (cc-by-sa & gnu-fdl) of the ”Free/Libre/Open Works Management Syllabus” to Version 2.0 as a generic community asset for ongoing extension and evolution under auspices of the OSI Management Education Working Group. Results can, of course, be used in academic studies.

This initial mini-survey may lead to consideration and planning of a broader questionnaire by the OSI Management Education Working Group. For the moment, it will include only a small number of:

  • Managers of major free/libre/open source software projects or portfolios or foundations;
  • Business management educators with awareness of free/libre/open business models;
  • Academic theorists of project management with awareness of free/libre/open business models.

Alignment to OSI Mission

This working group serves the OSI's educational mission through the discovery and contribution of evidence towards best practice in the adoption and management of free/libre/open source software. Surveying managers and management educators communities will help improve the public understanding generally, and decision-makers at all levels in many kinds of organizations (not just IT), about the benefits of the range of free/libre/open source approaches, and will serve as contribution to further research.

The target groups identified for the survey represent key decision-makers in the assessment and adoption of free/libre/open source software.

Initial Group Members

Resourcing (mailing list, virtual server, budget etc)

  1. Referrals for candidate interviewees from OSI Directors, staff and members.
    • OSI time: 5 hours
    • OSI costs: $0.00
  2. Email generation, distribution and forwarding for communicating related interview requests and referrals.
    • OSI time: 1 hour
    • OSI costs: $0.00
  3. File/web server space to upload and distribute deliverables.
    • OSI time: 2 hours
    • OSI costs: $0.00

Deliverable(s)

  1. Survey results (raw data) from interviews and questionnaires (respondent identities will not be associated with responses)
  2. Survey analysis
  3. Project notes and related resources
  4. Academic research paper

Completion Date/Milestones

  • 22-27 Nov 2013: Recruitment of 14 interviewees;
  • 22-27 Nov 2013: Finalization of questionnaire/interview protocol;
  • 27 Nov-3 Dec 2013: 14 questionnaire/interviews conducted; 
  • 5 Jan 2014: Version 1.0 paper submitted with UQuebec advisors for initial (academic) review;
  • 8 Jan 2014: Version 2.0 paper shared with WG Members for review;
  • 12 Jan 2014: Version 2.1 paper shared with the 14 respondents for review
  • To receive a pre-publication copy of the most recent version for review and feedback, please contact <[email protected]>

Sustainability

OSI staff responsibilities

Suggest references and provide contact information to Joseph Potvin for potential interviewees.

OSI infrastructure needs

Web hosting of Working Group related artifacts, i.e. survey results and analysis, interview notes, completed questionnaires, links to resources, etc.

Ongoing member community

None.

Ongoing budgeting/revenue

None.

Resources

OSI Evaluation: Discussions and Voting

In order to provide a forum for the evaluation, discussion and ultimately, voting on this Working Group proposal, a separate space is available to the OSI Board. Please visit here to undertake confidential discussions around the proposal. OSI Directors will also vote here. Any questions or comments related to the proposal directly should asked here in the comments section.

~

Description

For this initial mini-survey of 12 respondents, and given my own pending deadline at U Quebec, I reckon it will be most efficient after all to run it via email, which will also be straightforward for the respondents.

Below is the email-adapted questionnaire. I'll start sending it out to target people Wed mid-afternoon. For those of you on the west coast, if you have any tweaks to recommend, please let me know by 10:30 am. Advise if I should wait to Thursday. The questionnaire asks for 10 minutes of the respondents' time, and I will be requesting a reply from them by end of day Saturday if possible. Since they will promptly receive the aggregated results, I anticipate a high response rate.

Let me know if I'm correctly referencing the OSI, or if this should be done differently. Does the “Management Education Working Group" exist now, and am I Co-Chair of it? Or will it exist as of your meeting on Wed?)

I can easily pick 12 target respondents, but for two reasons I'd like to ask each of you to provide just one or two targets:
(a) The roster of respondents should represent people *you* would like to hear from on this topic;
 (b) The substantive value of this quick study would benefit from a bit of separation from my biases in selection.

Since I require 12, I'll invite 16. If they all respond, I can handle that and report on them all. The minimum target profile of 12 interviewees is:
1. Six managers of major free/libre/open source software projects or portfolios or foundations;
2. Four business management educators with awareness of free/libre/open business models;
3. Two academic theorists of project management with awareness of free/libre/open business models (I'll look after these, unless any of you have a specific person of this category to suggest.)

OSI Survey Respondent Recommendation

Six managers of major free/libre/open source software projects or portfolios or foundations;

Four business management educators with awareness of free/libre/open business models;

  • Karim Lakhani, HBS (though perhaps better in the next group?)

Two academic theorists of project management with awareness of free/libre/open business models.

  • Benjamin Mako Hill, U. Washington


Letter of Introduction & Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE—INTERVIEW ON MANAGEMENT EDUCATION RELEVANCE UNDER FREE/LIBRE/OPEN BUSINESS MODELS Open Source Initiative (Outreach and Learning Committee) and University of Québec (Department of Administrative Sciences)Researcher: Joseph Potvin

PURPOSE: The results of this mini-survey will be used towards: 1. Refining the “Management Education Working Group Charter” of the Outreach and Learning Committee, Open Source Initiative (OSI)2. Planning the OSI's "Free/Libre/Open Works Management Education Syllabus" 3. Data in a short academic research paper at University of Québec.

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Thank you for taking the time to assist. We expect this questionnaire will take 10 minutes to complete.
  • Only 12 interviewees have been invited at this time. 
  • Please answer each question between the square brackets [  ] with an X or with text as appropriate to the question. 
  • We are conducting this questionnaire/interview via email to eliminate your need to subscribe to anything, and to eliminate the need for the coordination and transcription required with audio interviews.
  • The lead researcher will be happy to speak with you by phone if you prefer: 1-819-593-5983. 
  1. Identification and Contact Information (This will NOT appear in the report on results.)
    First Name [  ] Last Name [  ] Your Email (for confirmation and follow-up) [  ]  
  2. Do you have experience serving in a leadership role with any free/libre/open source software projects, portfolios or foundations?
    [  ]  No   (We have intentionally invited some interviewees who we expect do not.)
    [  ]  Yes  (Please indicate your most significant) → [  ]
  3. Do you have experience designing or delivering management training for professional project managers in any types of projects or organizations?
    [  ]  No   (We have intentionally invited some interviewees who we expect do not.)
    [  ]  Yes  (Please indicate your most significant) → [  ] 
  4. Do you have experience designing and/or delivering academic (university or college) education towards degrees or diplomas in the fields of management, administration, engineering or law?
    [  ]  No    (We have intentionally invited some interviewees who we expect do not.)
    [  ]  Yes  (Please indicate your most significant) → [  ]
  5. In you experience, to what extent do generally-available management training courses and certification programs address the applied competencies and knowledge areas that professional project managers actually require to perform effectively with complex projects, portfolios or organizations?
    [  ]  Very Comprehensively
    [  ]  Adequately
    [  ]  Poorly
    [  ]  No Opinion
    Please comment: →  [  ]
  6. In you experience, to what extent do generally-available management training courses and certification programs address the applied competencies and knowledge areas that professional project managers actually require to perform effectively with free/libre/open source software projects, portfolios or foundations in particular?
    [  ]  Very Comprehensively
    [  ]  Adequately
    [  ]  Poorly
    [  ]  No Opinion
    Please comment: →  [  ] 
  7. What is your assessment of the following statement? “Manager competencies in methods and processes for software projects, portfolios or foundations under free/libre/open source business models are sufficiently distinct from those appropriate to work under restrictive software business models, as to require the adaptation and/or extension of current mainstream project management training resources, programs and certifications.”
    [  ]  Strongly agree
    [  ]  Agree
    [  ]  Disagree
    [  ]  Strongly disagree
    [  ]  No Opinion
    Please comment: →  [  ] 
  8. Within the scope of your replies above, what competencies and/or topics (if any) do you think should be strengthened in professional learning materials, certification programs and/or academic courses relating to the management of free/libre/open source software projects, portfolios or foundations.
    Please comment: →  [  ]
    Do you think you would make direct use of materials supporting advanced manager training tailored specifically to the management of free/libre/open source software projects, portfolios and foundations?
    [  ]  Likely
    [  ]  Not likely 
  9. Would you like to participate in developing materials for advanced manager training tailored specifically to the management of free/libre/open source software projects, portfolios and foundations?
    [  ]  Likely
    [  ]  Not likely

Thank you for taking the time to respond. We will share back with you the results of all 12 anonymous interviewees. In closing, please let us know of any questions that you think we should have asked in this brief questionnaire, but did not.  →  [  ]

If you agree, we would like to briefly discuss your response with you via a 10-15 minute online chat. Please suggest your preferred date/time IN YOUR LOCATION http://www.thetimenow.com/meeting-planner.php  together with a telephone number for coordination if necessary.   →  [  ]

Please review your responses and return to <[email protected]>. Thanks for your participation! 

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Created by Patrick Masson on 2014/01/12 19:46
    

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