TY - JOUR T1 - How Firms Relate to Open Source Communities JF - Open Source Business Resource Y1 - 2011 A1 - Michael Ayukawa A1 - Mohammed Al-Sanabani A1 - Adefemi Debo-Omidokun AB - This article explores the relationship between firms and open source communities. Open source communities create, adopt, adapt, or disseminate innovation in a manner very different from a proprietary approach. To put this in context, we first define what is meant by open source community and then examine the roles members may play in these communities. Next, we illustrate that a firm can participate in an open source development community in different ways, depending on its level of sponsorship of that community. We assert that the degree of influence desired by the firm should connect to its business strategy and the firm needs to determine how its participation and support can be used to enhance its competitive position and provide new value to its customers. We next explore three main strategies to leverage and engage communities. We also examine how community interactions are affected by the degree of openness when engaging the community and how this relates to the firm's ability to protect the competitive advantage of its proprietary assets. This discussion will help firms with strategic planning when considering how to tap into this source of technical innovation that lies outside their boundaries. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa UR - http://timreview.ca/article/410 IS - January 2011 U1 - Cornerportal Michael Ayukawa is a Master's student in the Technology Innovation Management program at Carleton University and plays an active in several emerging business ecosystem projects, including co-founding Cornerportal Inc., a company that will help bring economic opportunity to more individuals in more communities worldwide. U2 - Education for Yemen Mohammed Al-Sanabani is a Professional Engineer and a Master's student in the Technology Innovation Management program at Carleton University. His interests include charitable education foundations. His initiatives include establishing an education foundation for graduate students in Yemen: http://www.education4yemen.org U3 - Carleton University Adefemi `Debo-Omidokun is a graduate of Electrical/Electronics Engineering, a telecommunications professional, and a Master's student in the Technology Innovation Management program at Carleton University. He is a motivational speaker, founder and the President of the "Hero Mentors" young heroes development and international mentoring initiative, a non-govermental organization with the vision of raising heroes. ER -