Industry Standards Use and Adaptive Knowledge Creation: a Study Based on Industry Consortium Perspective

In order to facilitate the rapid development of B2B e-business and supply chain, many industry consortia develop industry-specific standards. This paper differentiates between two distinct dimensions characterizing organizations’ standards use: breadth and depth. We examine how industry consortia’ promotion strategies influence the breadth and depth of standards use, and how standards use influences adaptive knowledge creation. We also examine how firm size moderates the relationship between promotion strategies and standards use. The hypotheses are tested using survey data collected from organizations in China who have implemented RosettaNet standards. The empirical results show that relationship, policies, and technology strategies significantly affect standards use, and firm size moderates the influence. Further, only the depth of standards use influence adaptive knowledge creation.