In recent years, consortium-based open source software (COSS) development has emerged as a strategic alternative to resource-intensive in-house development and misaligned commercial software acquisition. Yet consortia undertaking such collaborative efforts struggle to balance the oft-competing demands of innovation and sustainability. Drawing upon a longitudinal case study of the Kuali initiative, this analysis examines the mechanisms of exploration and exploitation involved in developing and sustaining a COSS approach. Based on our findings in the Kuali case, we develop a conceptual framework to discern whether and how COSS development initiatives can achieve contextual ambidexterity, balancing the strategic goals of innovation and sustainability over time. While exploration- and exploitation-oriented efforts compete for resources, our analysis reveals that they may also complement one another across distinct layers of institutional activity. The contextual ambidexterity is achieved through multi-level collaboration enabled by a modular technical and organizational design.

近年来，基于联盟的开源软件 (COSS) 开发已成为资源密集型内部开发和错位商业软件采购的战略替代方案。然而，进行此类合作的财团努力平衡创新和可持续性的经常竞争需求。利用 Kuali 计划的纵向案例研究，该分析检查了开发和维持 COSS 方法所涉及的探索和利用机制。根据我们在 Kuali 案例中的发现，我们开发了一个概念框架，以辨别 COSS 开发计划是否以及如何实现上下文的二元性，随着时间的推移平衡创新和可持续性的战略目标。在以勘探和开发为导向的努力争夺资源的同时，我们的分析表明，它们也可能在不同层次的机构活动中相互补充。上下文的二元性是通过模块化技术和组织设计实现的多层次协作来实现的。