Institutional aspects of standardization: Jurisdictional conflicts and choice of standardization organizations

Standardization organizations in the area of information and telecommunications technology have mushroomed in the last two decades. In addition to new official organizations at the regional level, many private consortiums and forums have been set up that complement and compete with the incumbent national and international organizations. The organizational landscape and the relations between the standardization organizations are examined, and institutional reasons that could explain why the frequency and intensity of jurisdictional conflicts has remained low are considered. Institutional features do not only frame a standardization organization’s behavior toward other organizations, they also account for speed, exclusiveness, costs and market acceptance of standardization and thus influence firms’ decisions as to which organization to turn to with a standards issue.