A Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective of Software Reuse in the Digital Age: An Agenda for IS Research

Software is instrumental to the accelerated pace of digital innovation, and our ability to rapidly develop and deliver digital products and services is largely based on the reuse of existing software. In recent years, packaged software reuse has emerged as an important phenomenon driving the creation of new software, both proprietary and open source, as well as the emergence and evolution of entire software ecosystems. Arguing that our theoretical understanding of the nature and the magnitude of current packaged software reuse practice remains limited, our objective with this research commentary is twofold. First, we draw attention to the importance of packaged software reuse and its relevance as a promising phenomenon of interest for information systems (IS) researchers. Second, we mobilize the concept of generativity to conceptualize packaged software as a form of technological innovation that fosters large-scale (re)combination and propose complex adaptive systems (CAS) as a theoretical foundation to help us engage with the current nature of the phenomenon. Using key principles of CAS as the generative foundation for our conceptual scaffolding, we offer a research framework for packaged software reuse and develop an agenda for IS research organized across three main axes. For each axis, we outline relevant research themes and research questions leveraging the nature of software as objects constituted of other pieces of software developed and maintained by heterogeneous groups of software developers. Shedding light on the renewed role of software reuse, our work contributes to ongoing conversations on generativity and software ecosystems as well as the design of digital products and services.