This document discusses a research project analyzing the standardization efforts of the Swedish road transport industry between 2002-2012. It aimed to study how open innovation processes affected the development of a vertical industry standard (VIS) through interviews and workshops. The research questions explored what factors initiate open innovation in standardization and how VISs are impacted. Relevant literature on topics like open innovation, standardization, and vertical information systems is also reviewed.

1. Fatemeh Saadatmand
University of Borås (HIT)
University of Gothenburg (Applied IT department)
fatemeh.saadatmand@hb.se
Supervisor: Rikard Lindgren

2.  Standardization is the activity of establishing
and recording a limited set of solutions to
actual or potential matching problems during
a certain period by a substantial number of
the parties (de Vries ,2003, p. 155: Hanseth
et al. 2006).

3. Of special interest in the ICT arena are anticipatory
standards that share three additional
characteristics (Lyytinen and king, 2006):
 Intended to guide future compatibility, or
interoperability (David 1995;Markus et al 2006;
Nickerson and zur Muehlen 2006);
 Created in international and/or national
institutional regulatory contexts (Hawkins 1995)
 Proprietary or public domain agreements (Gabel
1991).

4.  Vertical information systems (VIS) standards
are designed to promote communication and
coordination among the organizations
comprising a particular industry sector
(Wigand et al. 2005).

5.  Standardization occurs through the
widespread adoption of four kinds of
standards (Steinfield et al. 2006, David and
Greenstein 1990):
◦ Standards that exist in the public domain but are
not sponsored by an organization with proprietary
interest in them.
◦ Standards that are sponsored by one or more
organizations with a proprietary interest.
◦ Standards that are mandated by government.
◦ Standards that are published by voluntary
standard-developing organizations.

6. Open Innovation is a new way of thinking of
innovation for firms, where firms explicitly
cooperate with others to create new innovations
(Chesbrough, 2003).
Innovation studies have distinguished three different
innovations:
◦ Radical innovations (Christensen and Rosenbloom,
1995).
◦ Incremental innovations (Christensen and Rosenbloom,
1995).
◦ Architectural innovations (Henderson and Clark, 1990).
 A variant of architectural innovation is systemic innovation
(Maula et al., 2006), where both the technology and the
business system are altered.

7. Three core types of open innovation processes
(Gassmann and Enkel 2004):
 Outside-in process.
 Inside-out process.
 Coupled process.
*: Most research on open innovation has
focused on the firm.

8. Contribution:
 This research tends to broaden the intra-
organizational aspects of open innovation.
Research questions:
 What factors causes the initiation of open
innovation process in vertical
standardization?
 How is vertical standard affected by open
innovation processes?

9.  The 10-year project of standardization of the
Swedish road transport industry is used as
the empirical background of this research
especially the MSI standardization attempt.

10.  This research aims to analyze an ADR research
project which has been done as a vertical
standardization effort started in 2002.
 The ADR research project has been a
collaborative project between University of Borås,
University of Göteborg, Victoria Institute and a
large transport industry network consisting of IT
vendors, truck manufacturers and a consultative
organization owned by 16 Swedish transport
firms.

11.  Interviews
 Workshop-meetings

12.  Chesbrough, H. “Open Innovation: a new paradigm for
understanding industrial innovation”, in Chesbrough, H.,
Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J. (Eds), Open Innovation – Researching
a New Paradigm, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 2006
 Christensen, C.M. and Rosenbloom, R.S. “Explaining the attacker’s
advantage: technological paradigms, organizational dynamics, and
the value network”, Research Policy, Vol. 24, pp. 233-57. 1995
 David, P.A. and Greenstein, S. (1990), “The economics of
compatibility standards: an introduction to resent research”,
Economic of Innovation and New Technology, Vol. 1, pp. 3-41.
 De Vries, H. J. Standardization: A Business Approach to the Role of National
Standardization Organizations, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 2003.

13.  Gabel, H. L. Competitive strategies for product standards: The
strategic use of compatibility standards for competitive
advantage. London: McGraw-Hill Book Company. 1991.
 Gassmann, O. and Enkel, E. “Towards a theory of open
innovation: three core process archetypes”, Proceedings of the
R&D Management Conference, Sesimbra. 2004.
 Hanseth, O., Jacucci, E., Grisot, M., Aanestad, M. ” REFLEXIVE
STANDARDIZATION: SIDE EFFECTS AND COMPLEXITY IN
STANDARD MAKING”, MIS Quarterly Vol. 30 Special Issue, pp.
563-581, August 2006
 Hawkins, R. W. Introduction: Addressing the problématique of
standards and standardization. In R. W. Hawkins, R. Mansell, & J.
Skea (Eds.), Standards, innovation and competitiveness: The
politics and economics of standards in natural and technical
environments.Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar. 1995.

14.  Henderson, R.M.Clark, K.B “Architectural Innovation: The reconfiguration of
Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms”,
Administrative Science Quarterly (35) 1990, pp 9-30.
 Lyytinen, K., King, J. L. ” STANDARD MAKING: A CRITICAL RESEARCH FRONTIER
FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH”, MIS Quarterly Vol. 30 Special Issue,
pp.405-411, August 2006
 Markus, M. L., Steinfield, C. W. and Wigand, R. T. (2006). “Industry-Wide
Information Systems Standardization as Collective Action: The Case of the U.S.
Residential Mortgage Industry”, MIS Quarterly, 30 (special issue), pp. 439-465.
 Maula, M.V.J., Keil, T. and Salmenkaita, J-P. (2006), “Open Innovation in systemic
innovation contexts”, in Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J. (Eds),
Open Innovation Researching a New Paradigm, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
 Nickerson, J.V., Zur Muehlen, M. ” THE ECOLOGY OF STANDARDS PROCESSES:
INSIGHTS FROM INTERNET STANDARD MAKING1”,MIS Quarterly Vol. 30 Special
Issue, pp. 467-488, August 2006.
 Steinfield C.W., Wigand R., Lynne M. Promoting e-business through vertical IS
standards: lessons from the US home mortgage industry. 2006
 Wigand, R. T., Steinfield, C. W. and Markus, M. L. “Information Technology
Standards Choices and Industry Structure Outcomes”, Journal of Management
Information Systems, 22 (2), pp. 165-191. 2005.