The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Standardization

Abstract

Standards played a central role in the quality infrastructure that supported the international reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and were a cornerstone in managing new technology in times of crisis. They fostered the resilience of value chains, enabled the global production and distribution of medical equipment, and supported the reliable operation of laboratories. To provide new and updated standards, the standardization system needed to restructure highly complex processes that relied on contributions from stakeholders who, themselves, were affected by the crisis. In this article, we generate new and unique evidence on the impact of the pandemic on standardization by using the assessments of nearly 2400 standardizing organizations from a dedicated survey in combination with an 8-year-long panel. Our results show that firms' changes to their standard-setting activities are moderate, especially as digitalization effects compensate for shrinking budgets. An increase in the usage of standards was only noticeable for areas directly implicated by the pandemic, e.g., medical equipment. Standardizing firms appear to 'sit out' the crisis while sinking costs for participation equip the system with resilience. However, the pandemic creates new challenges for standard-setting organizations due to disruptive effects on work in committees, where interpersonal exchange suffered, and introduced changes potentially cause creative destruction.