standardisation Research & Education

Standardisation + Resilience in manufacturing

Our research examines theoretically and empirically the dynamic evolution of these standard-setters as well as their rule-making output in relation to specific critical events in their regulatory environment (be it a financial crisis such as the Asian contagion of late 90s and the recent Great Recession, a product safety crisis, a large-scale manufacturing glitch or a pandemic).

Transnational private regulators and standard-setters have multiplied across different domains of the manufacturing sector. Some of these domains are traditionally associated with private rules such as technology standardisation, whilst others are considered as the preserve of public authority such as sustainability and food safety. Transnational standard-setters have acquired unrivalled influence. They have demonstrated flexibility in comparison to public institutions both in fulfilling rule-making functions and adapting and transforming in light of critical events calling for change.

This research addresses the external regulatory dynamics and drivers for change, including crises, interactions with, or requests from, public authority, rules and legal regimes at various regulatory level, as well as the heterogeneity and internal organisational dynamics of these organisations and the impact on their resilience. Our research focusses on ISO, GlobalGAP, ETSI, IEEE, FSC, IRMA and the ISEAL Alliance.