Standards and infrastructure flexibility: Literature review

Based on a literature review the paper investigates how standards influence flexibility of information technology (IT) infrastructures. Thereby we explore the concept of flexibility, the ways of achieving it and identify the characteristics of standards that influence flexibility. The existing literature regards standards both as a stabilizer of technology and as a means to increase flexibility. We conclude that both views are well supported and do not contradict each other, and both flexibility and stability are required for the development of infrastructures. Even though some characteristics of standards can directly influence infrastructure flexibility, the way standards are implemented will also determine their influence on flexibility. We exemplify the developed ideas with some examples from the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in supply chain infrastructures.