Wikipedia Admins and Templates: The Organizational Capabilities of a Peer Production Effort
9 Pages Posted: 7 Apr 2008
Date Written: April 3, 2008
Abstract
Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia, is a phenomenal success. It is tempting to think that Wikipedia owes its success to the special and innovative way in which it gathers and integrates content. However, it might just as well be that the contrary is the case: that, through a process of trial and error, Wikipedia has strayed from its idealistic origins and has been able to sustain itself only by adapting more and more of the features found in regular firms. In this paper, we point out some similarities between Wikipedia and project based firms and we discuss what research would be needed to determine whether these similarities matter.
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