Standardization: Research Trends, Current Debates, and Interdisciplinarity

Standards are ubiquitous in contemporary society and play a clear role in technological development, organizational functioning, and business success. Standards are very diverse and often boundary crossing in terms of stakeholders and impact, but are such diversity and range reflected by academic studies? We take stock of standardization research over the past decade, considering the full interdisciplinary breadth of this growing field. We use bibliometrics and network analysis to map emergent trends, and conduct an in-depth review of the literature. In doing so, we find that management science, along with economics, is at the core of work on standardization, bridging academic disciplines, and leading theoretical development. Technical disciplines, such as engineering and computer science, supply the largest body of literature, but rarely cross disciplinary boundaries and remain rather isolated. Building on our review, we discuss current debates and controversies and distill four interpretative perspectives on the recent and current developments of standardization research. Finally, we propose a research agenda for standardization research and practice for the years to come.