This paper discusses strategic issues related to technological de facto standards. Based on our historical and empirical analyses of 13 cases mainly observed in the Japanese audio-visual and IT-related fields, we pose the following six propositions on de facto standard-based competition:
1. User will benefit by utilising and exchanging skill/software based on de facto standards, and manufacturers will benefit by forming de facto standards through their market dominance and licensing income;
2. A product which requires a high level of connectivity and accumulated skill/software is likely to form a de facto technological standard.
3. The earlier a firm establishes a majority of the market share, the more likely it is to establish a technological de facto standard.
4. A de facto standard is likely to be fixed when its diffusion (share) reaches 2-3% of the market.
5. The more killer applications a firm can introduce the more likely it is to establish/maintain/profit from a technological de facto standard.
6. The more efforts a firm makes to promote its technology/product to its competitors, suppliers and distributors, the more likely it is to establish/maintain/profit from a technological de facto standard.
URL (Inderscience Publishers)
Competitive strategy, De facto standards, Japan, Japanese management, Standards-based competition, Technological standards, Technology management, Technology strategy
| Language(s): | English |
| Authors | Yamada, Hideo (Business School, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan), Kurokawa, Sam (Dept of Management, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University, PA, USA) |
| Publisher: | Inderscience Publishers |
| Keywords: | Competitive strategy, De facto standards, Japan, Japanese management, Standards-based competition, Technological standards, Technology management, Technology strategy |
| Last update: | 2005 |