A Network Theory-Based Approach for Importance Assessment of Drafters in Standardization

In standardization, the selection of the most influential institutions in drafting standards of specific areas is essential for improving the structure of industrial standard system. However, this problem becomes highly complex due to the large number of drafters and their influences are difficult to measure. This paper presents a research framework for assessing the importance of drafters in standardization based on a two-layer network model formed by the citation relationship between standards and the co-authorship relationship between drafters. Firstly, multiple structural indicators are integrated by the AHP to evaluate the importance of standards. Secondly, the importance of drafters are assessed by designing multidimensional indicators and verified through the case study of China's mobile communication industry. The results show that our indicators can reflect the industrial leadership gained by the participation of standards-drafting. Finally, managerial recommendations are proposed for drafting standards.