Fernandez, Juan Andrei VillarroelDreier, Stephan Alexander2012-12-172012-12-172012http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/9761With the current advancements in the area of ICT, the post-industrial-age concept of a firm is profoundly changed by the emergence of Online Distributed Organizations (ODOs). Research that specifically focuses on the explanation and categorization of this new organizational model is scarce. However, Malone, Laubacher and Dellarocas (2010) made a significant contribution towards a better understanding of this phenomenon, and put forward the notion of a Genome of Collective Intelligence. However, this framework was never tested empirically with regard to the link between genes, genomes and organizational survival. Thus, this thesis focuses on this link between features of taxonomy and survival rates of ODOs. The research sample consisted of 212 cases of considerable heterogeneity. In the first study, seven Dominant Genomes, i.e. bundles of genes that appear more often than other together, could be identified, profiled and named as being Contest Markets, Love’n’Glory Collaborations, Collection Markets, Sponsored Contests, Sponsored Love Collections, Opportunistic Love Collections or True Love Collections. In a second study, it was tested if an association between these Dominant Genomes and higher organizational survival rates. However, the analyses conducted were not able to prove that a statistically strong association between the Genome of Collective Intelligence in its current form and organizational survival rates exists. This thesis adds to literature by offering a possibility to categorize Online Distributed Organizations. Furthermore, it provides professionals with a more unified terminology. Moreover, the potential of an application of the ODO concept in the information and services industry, but also in the non-profit sector is highlightedpormaster thesis