Wearing multiple hats—The role of working group chairs’ affiliation in standards development

Standards Development Organizations (SDO) make critical decisions shaping the direction of technological innovation. SDOs are usually considered to offer a neutral venue for the collaborative efforts of different stakeholders, which often pursue competing particular interests. Nevertheless, individuals acting on behalf of the SDO, such as working group chairs, are themselves often employees of individual SDO stakeholders. Recently, there have been concerns that over-representation of the employees of certain powerful stakeholders in SDO leadership positions may undermine the objectivity of SDO decision making. Nevertheless, to date, there exists no empirical evidence to corroborate these concerns. We find that being affiliated with one of the largest SDO stakeholders significantly increases an individual’s likelihood of being appointed to a leadership position at IETF, but not at 3GPP. At the same time, in both SDOs, working groups whose chairs are affiliated with leading stakeholders produce standards that are less cited and less referenced than standards produced by other working groups, in particular those chaired by university affiliates. Our findings suggest that the commercial interests of individuals’ employers may facilitate these individuals’ ascension to SDO leadership positions, but the potential for conflicts between these commercial interests of chairs’ employers and the organizational goals of the SDO may negatively impact the success of the working group’s standards.