01653nas a2200121   4500008004100000022001400041245004800055210004800103260004200151520128300193100001901476856003601495       2009                        eng d  a1913-610200aHow Open Source Strengthens Business Models0 aHow Open Source Strengthens Business Models  aOttawabTalent First Networkc02/20093 aFor a company's commercialization efforts to succeed, it needs to come up with great market offers which have great business models. Open source (OS) is neither a business model nor a market offer. A market offer with a weak business model will derive little benefit from OS regardless of how good the OS may be.

Little is known about how OS strengthens the business model of a company's market offer. This article provide a conceptual tool that can be used to capture, share and communicate the strength of a company's business model and help articulate tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. The second half of the article provides many examples that show how OS strengthens a company's business model.

This paper is relevant to: i) top management teams who must formulate their companies' business models clearly and communicate what is expected from OS; ii) top management teams who are considering investing in OS projects, participating in OS development, or influencing schedules and priorities of OS projects; iii) staff of OS foundations who must attract company investment and participation in their OS projects; and iv) academics who undertake research in the alignment of product development and OS evolution for the purpose of improving business performance1 aBailetti, Tony  uhttp://timreview.ca/article/226