An industrial governance perspective on three ways of standard-making in the United States information technology industry

This dissertation has two purposes. One is to apply, theoretically, the industrial governance perspective to technological standardization. The other is to examine historically and explain comparatively the governance of standardization in the US information technology industry during the 1980s.; This dissertation derives two theoretical propositions about technological standardization from the industrial governance perspective. The first is that a technological standard is a collective good for the industry. The second is that standardization is a social process of coordinating the conflicting private interests and collective interests surrounding technological innovation.; The industrial governance perspective is concerned with identifying the industrial configurations by which economic activity is coordinated. Both institutional arrangements and industrial structure constrain the selection of governance mechanisms. Firms' strategies, which embody private interests, are then coordinated by these governance mechanisms. This industrial innovation system provides the social context of technological innovation. Distinctive standardization patterns and technological trajectories are generated by each industry's own set of governance mechanisms.; This dissertation found three distinctive standardization histories in the information technology industry. The telecommunications sector illustrated an institutionalized coordination mechanism embedded in associations and the state. In contrast, the computer sector showed a distinctive market-network governance mechanism, under which standardization emerged as a result of firms' strategic promotion of open proprietary technology, in an "architectural game." The Standardization of the Internet was governed by a mixture of community and state mechanisms, which produced an "institution-led" innovation system.; In a comparative analysis, three ways of standardization are illustrated through the cross-sectional relationships between governance mechanisms and industrial configurations, as well as through the dynamics of a technological trajectories. At the same time, limited commonalties can be seen in the coordination problems of standardization posed by the convergence of information technology across all three sectors. Nonetheless, differences are found in the industrial practices regarding technological innovation and standardization under differing industrial configurations. Distinctive governance mechanisms generated distinctive technological standards. Each sector manifested a unique technological trajectory with regard to innovation, diffusion, and standardization.