Standards, Strategy, and Policy Cases and Stories [Hardcover]

This book aims to help the business strategist and policy-maker understand how compatibility standards may be used to ensure business success. It provides a framework for standards strategy and policy, together with a series of case-studies which interpret the economics of standards in practical settings. The book considers the problems of establishing a new standard in the market and winning standards contests. It also studies questions of how to maintaining the profitability of a standard and how to compete within an established standard. It combines the strategic analysis with an evaluation of standards policy, and suggests ways in which markets and policy intervention may effectively be used together. Cases include contests for standards for video cassette recorders, digital audio tape, personal computers, open computer systems, high-definition television, and Telepoint cordless phones. Standards have long been seen as a technical problem, yet in a large number of industries they are central to business strategy and technical aspects are only part of the effort needed for product success. They imply very different strategies and policies than for conventional products.

List of Figures
List of Tables
1. An Introduction to Strategy and Policy:Winning with Standards
2. Framework for Standards Strategy:Establishing Standards and Maximizing Profits
3. Standards Policy and Regulation:Combining Committees and Markets
4. Video Cassette Recorder:The Value of Co-operation
5. Compact Disc and Digital Audio Tape:The Importance of Timing
6. Personal Computers:The Power of Open Standards
7. Open Computer Systems:A Standards Revolution
8. High-Definition Television:The Failure of International Co-operation
9. Telepoint Cordless Phone:Regulation, Markets, and Policy
References
Index