Success in ICT standards setting - A closer look at some influencing factors

Abstract

In the field of Information and Communication Technologies, standards are of overriding importance. Accordingly, much has been written about their economic impact. Yet, comparably little is known about how firms manage their standardisation activities. This paper develops a framework as a basis for both practitioners and researchers to get a better understanding of how to improve a firms' performance in ICT standardisation. To this end, I offer a closer look at the major types of actors - firms, standards bodies and individual standards setters and at the links and similarities that exist between a firm's strategic behaviour in a market and its approach to standardisation. These aspects are integrated to form a framework for future research and practical deployment.