Managing In-Company Standardisation while Avoiding Resistance

Standards may be an advantage for a company but employees often resist them because they feel they are forced to behave in a certain way. This chapter uses a philosophical approach to study why staff tend to resist company standardisation initiatives. Foucault and Habermas provide insights into the reasons for this resistance but do not solve the tension between freedom and control. Dooyeweerd's philosophy seems to be more promising. This chapter uses a company standardisation project of an automotive supplier to examine three philosophical approaches to understand resistance to standards and to investigate how this resistance can be avoided by managing in-company standardisation in a more holistic way.

Standardization, Not Standards, Matters

This chapter looks at ways to actually use the art of Standardization (since there is not enough data to make this a discipline yet) within the Information Technology sector and within a commercial organization to effect change of some type. Note that this is not about Standards - which are relatively sterile documents - but rather a description of how to manage (some might say manipulate) cooperative action which will result, in some manner, in a Standard which can be used to create Standardization to further a defined policy, legal, social, or business management goal.

Business Benefits through Company IT Standardization

Many companies have embarked on IT standardization initiatives with specific benefits in mind, but some projects fail dramatically whereas others are very successful. Our research suggests that successful standardization projects require good governance and management across distinct lifecycle phases: selection, implementation, and use and change. We present a case study from a financial services company to demonstrate effective practices that have led to significant financial benefits, to improved service delivery and support, and to a more stable IT environment.

An Innovative Approach to the Development of Project Management Processes for Small-Scale Projects in a Large Engineering Company

A 400-employee Canadian division of a large American engineering company has developed and implemented project management processes for their small-scale and medium-scale projects. The company was already using a robust project management process for their large-scale projects. The objectives of this project were to reduce cost overruns and project delays, standardize practices to facilitate the integration of new managers, increase the level of customer satisfaction and to reduce risk-related planning deviations. For this project, the engineering organization used the ISO/IEC 29110 standards developed specifically for very small entities, i.e. organizations, having up to 25 people. An analysis of the cost and the benefits of the implementation of small and medium scale project management processes was performed using the ISO economic benefits of standard methodology. The engineering enterprise estimated that, over a three-year timeframe, savings of about 780,000$ would be realized due to the implementation of project management processes using the ISO/IEC 29110 standard.

A Primer on Intellectual Property Policies of Standards Bodies

This chapter offers business managers an introduction to the intellectual property rights (IPR) issues that should be taken into account when an organization is considering joining or participating in a standards development organization. Copyright, trademark and patent issues, particularly patent disclosure and licensing, are addressed with an emphasis on the potential benefits and risks offered by the most common policy approaches today. Managers are encouraged to review the IPR policies of standards organizations with a view toward their own organizations' preferred IPR strategies and approaches, whether these tend toward product manufacture and distribution without significant attention to IPR monetization, research and development with a focus on IPR generation, or the generation of substantial revenue through IPR licensing.

Standardizing Knowledge Work

This chapter analyzes how standards were implemented among design engineers in two divisions of the same corporation. Although both divisions achieved ISO 9000 certification, engineers in one of the divisions resisted the standard work practices and a culture of cynicism developed. In the other division, the standardized work practices were internalized by engineers and are still voluntarily, and often enthusiastically, followed. Analysis of the contrasting cases results in three recommendations for managers who wish to increase the acceptance of external work standards among professional workers.

Strategic Development and Implementation of Company Standards

This chapter provides a thorough introduction to the development of company standards for strategic purposes with specific focus on the use of company standards in the manufacturing sector. It gives an overview of the different types of company standards that are implemented by a company and its supply chain partners. By highlighting similarities with and distinctions from formal standards, this chapter carves out different economic effects of company standards. This allows the authors to develop different strategies a company can follow with the development of company standards. These strategies, however, are not confined for internal aspects. They also include the impacts of company standards on others, such as suppliers. This book chapter aims to aid companies and their supply chain partners to optimally use company standards for economic optimization.

The Role of Internal Standardization in Business Models

This chapter focuses on business models and the role of internal standardization in business models. We develop a typology that outlines the role of internal standardization for a set of value configurations that serve as representations of generic business models. The topic is of importance for both managers and researchers in relation to firm level innovation and strategy, as well as how business models relate to internal and external standardization. With regard to business model innovation, this chapter can aid in identifying shifts in the firm's internal standardization focus associated with changes in its business model.

Predatory Strategies in Standards Wars

In standards wars, FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) is sometimes created to weaken the opponent's market position. Little is known about these strategies, their use in committee standardization settings and how to respond to them. This chapter explores this phenomenon. It (1) identifies various FUD strategies, (2) their context of emergence, and (3) their effect on the dynamics of a standards war in a historical case study: the European standards war on digital mobile radio communication in the 1990s. The study highlights the need to distinguish ‘FUD as perceived' from ‘FUD as intended'. FUD strategies and case-specific characteristics of their emergence are illustrated. The chapter shows that perceived FUD polarizes and entrenches positions of warring parties thereby affecting the course of the standards war. The authors conclude that, given its impact, reflection by corporate standardization managers on (perceived) FUD, preclusion, counter-strategies and the downscaling of standards wars is warranted.

Standardization, Innovation, and Organization

Companies that intend to leverage standardization to drive innovation have to set up their organizations appropriately. Data from four German companies reveal different ways for organizing the standardization activities. Companies may allocate a high level of resources by dedicating a specialized department; they may assign the standardization task to top managers; they may treat standardization within occasional projects; or create sophisticated solutions to facilitate the use of standards. Contingency theory is used to narrow down the number of factors that influence the organization of the standardization function. There are three relevant contingency factors: competition, size, and strategy. Company's age, technological complexity and volatility of customer demand are found to be less important. Instead, maturity of technology and the period of time, during which the company has been actively engaged in standardization work seem to be better contingencies. Another finding is that innovation appears to be a by-product and not the main driver of standardization work.