The Dialectics of Technology Standardization

Abstract
Technology standardization unfolds as a process marked by dialectic tensions. However, prior research has hitherto failed to provide a dialectic analysis of how tensions and management responses interact recursively over time, and with what effect. In this paper, we apply foundational dialectic concepts to analyze a longitudinal action research study of a Swedish initiative that developed and diffused a technology standard to facilitate the integration of disparate IT systems in road haulage firms. Drawing on the standardization literature and our empirical analysis, we engage in midrange theorizing to capture the recursive dynamics through which standard-setters socially construct and respond to salient manifestations of the latent tensions that characterize standardization: development versus diffusion activities, private versus public interests, and local versus global solutions. We thus offer a dialectic model of technology standardization that explicates how standard-setters socially construct salient tensions through the oppositional logics of polarization, complementarity, and mutuality; how they manage these tensions through splitting, integrating, and suspension responses; and, how consequential functional, architectural and organizational standardization outcomes produce a new social order in which new tensions emerge. These theoretical insights contribute to both the standardization and dialectics literatures.

Biography
Lars Mathiassen is Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, Professor at the Computer Information Systems Department and Co-Founder of Center for Process Innovation at Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. His research focuses on digital innovation, on health informatics, and on IT development & management. He approaches innovation initiatives with a strong focus on people skills and collaboration while at the same time emphasizing adoption of state-of-the-art technologies and methods.

Lars has published extensively in leading academic journals, including MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of MIS, Research Policy, Journal of Business Ethics, Health Services Research, Communications of the ACM, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of Association for Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, Journal of Information Technology, and Journal of Strategic Information Systems. He has also co-authored several books including Professional Systems Development, Computers in Context: The Philosophy and Practice of Systems Design, Object Oriented Analysis & Design, and Improving Software Organizations: From Principles to Practice. Lars was a co-founder of Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, he has served as senior editor for MIS Quarterly, and he currently serves as senior editor for Journal of Information Technology, Information & Organization as well as Engaged Management Review. More information on Prof Mathiassen's website.