The problem of timing in standard-setting

It is a matter of evidence that in network markets (i.e. in markets in which the value of a technology for both vendors and buyers increases as the width of use of the technology does expand), a standard will eventually emerge among competing technologies. Even if standardization is unavoidable in network markets, firms cannot always manage for achieving it quickly. Hence, it is critical for firms to define correctly the timing of the standard-setting. By analyzing various case studies dealing with standardization which can be found in literature, we found evidence that there are no close relations between the choice of defining a standard during the product (technology) development or market phase (i.e. ex-ante or expost standardization) and the results of the standard-setting. Besides it seems that the final result of the standardization process would not even be related to the decision of standardizing early or late during the chosen phase