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Business Standards and Government: The Roles taken by the British Government in the Formation of British Standards

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  • Robert Mc William

    (National Museum of Science and Industry, London, UK)

Abstract

This paper identifies the British Standards Institution (BSI) as the world's first centralised national standards body. It began in 1901 as a small committee concerned only with rolled steel sections. It was primarily the involvement of various parts of the British Government which widened the scope of its products and the variety of its participants, and began to distance it from its initiators. By 1935 general management techniques had begun to be standardised. The tools used by the British Government to develop the Institution included not only the direct use of public funds, but also the availability of expert staff and specialised facilities, the Government to develop the Institution included not only the direct use of public funds, but also the availability of expert staff and specialised facilities, the Government's legal, or official, authority and unique position within an informal network of information. Much of the way that BSI pioneered has been taken up elsewhere, notably in the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO).

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Mc William, 2000. "Business Standards and Government: The Roles taken by the British Government in the Formation of British Standards," Homo Oeconomicus, Institute of SocioEconomics, vol. 17, pages 323-343.
    • Handle: RePEc:hom:homoec:v:17:y:2000:p:323-343
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