TY - BOOK AU - Schmidt,Susanne K. AU - Werle,Raymund TI - Coordinating technology: studies in the international standardization of telecommunications T2 - Inside technology SN - 0262193930 AV - TK5101 .S244 1998 U1 - 389.6 21 PY - 1998/// CY - Cambridge, Mass. PB - MIT Press KW - Telecommunication KW - Standards KW - International cooperation KW - Case studies N1 - Includes bibliographical references and index; Acknowledgements --; Introduction --; 1; Actor-Centered Institutionalism: A Social-Shaping Perspective on Standardization and the Coordination of Technology --; 2; Standards and Technical Development --; 3; Institutionalized and Alternative Modes of International Standardization --; 4; Standard Setting --; 5; Standardization in a Transitory Environment --; 6; The Institutional Framework --; 7; Interactive Videotex --; 8; Facsimile (Telefax) --; 9; Message Handling (X.400) --; 10; Standardization as Coordination --; 11; Coordination of Standardization --; 12; Sources and Effects of Variation in a Stable Framework --; Conclusion --; Notes --; References --; Index N2 - "In Coordinating Technology, Susanne Schmidt and Raymund Werle present three case studies that highlight the actors, the process, the politics, and the influence exerted by international organizations in the construction of standards. The case studies concern the standards for facsimile terminals and transmission, videotex (a service that, with the exception of the French Minitel service, largely failed), and electronic mail. Schmidt and Werle follow each story from the realization by certain actors of the need for a standard, through complex negotiation processes involving many economic, political, and social interests, to the final agreement on a standard. In their analysis of these cases, they emphasize the many ways in which the processes are embedded in institutional structures and argue for the value of an institutionalist approach to technology studies."--Jacket ER -