TY - JOUR A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Quality assurance in supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic: Empirical evidence on organisational resilience of conformity assessment bodies JF - Total quality management & business excellence N2 - Global supply chains rely on the compliance and safety of their products, processes, and facilities. These vital services (often referred to as ‘quality assurance’ or ‘conformity assessment’ services) are provided by Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). This empirical study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CABs as well as their response to the resulting challenges. Data was gathered through an online survey among all accredited CABs in Germany, which resulted in 555 valid responses. Taking a resilience perspective, we reveal that CABs were hit hard by the disruptions caused by the pandemic, albeit to different degrees, in part due to their type of services, size, and sectors served. Furthermore, we find that contingency plans do not directly cushion order declines (as the main indicator of the economic impact of the pandemic) but rather indirectly through helping CABs respond more quickly, which in turn mitigates their order declines. However, our results show that contingency plans can also have adverse effects if they hinder flexible reaction to the crisis. The findings of our study help managers and policymakers learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the resilience of the conformity assessment sector and quality assurance in the event of future crises. KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Organizational resilience KW - COVID-19 KW - Conformity assessment PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2022.2078189 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Taylor & Francis AN - OPUS4-55066 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - Knowledge and technology transfer via publications, patents, standards: Exploring the hydrogen technological innovation system JF - Technological Forecasting and Social Change N2 - Clean technologies play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the climate. Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier and fuel that can be used in many applications. We explore the global hydrogen technological innovation system (TIS) by analyzing the three knowledge and technology transfer channels of publications, patents, and standards. Since the adoption of hydrogen technologies requires trust in their safety,this study specifically also focuses on hydrogen safety. Our results show that general and hydrogen safety research has increased significantly while patenting experienced stagnation. An analysis of the non-patent literature in safety patents shows little recognition of scientific publications. Similarly, publications are underrepresented in the analyzed 75 international hydrogen and fuel cell standards. This limited transfer of knowledge from published research to standards points to the necessity for greater involvement of researchers in standardization. We further derive implications for the hydrogen TIS and recommendations for a better and more impactful alignment of the three transfer channels. KW - Technological innovation system KW - Hydrogen safety KW - Knowledge and technology transfer KW - Publications KW - Patents KW - Standards PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-564250 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122201 SN - 0040-1625 VL - 187 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-56425 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Dudek, Gabriele T1 - Information security management in ICT and non-ICT sector companies: A preventive innovation perspective JF - Computers & Security N2 - Despite the growing dependence of companies on information technology and the increasingly negative impact of security incidents worldwide, there is little research on the management of information security at the company level. This paper seeks to expand knowledge on the implementation of an information security management system based on the widely used international standard ISO/IEC 27001. We present motives, experienced impacts, and obstacles related to ISO/IEC 27001 implementation using data from a survey of 125 ISO/IEC 27001 certified companies in Germany. Since adoption rates vary between ICT and non-ICT sector companies, we highlight sector-related variations. We classify the adoption of this standard as a preventive organizational innovation and apply Structural Equation Modeling to unearth explanations for the comparatively low adoption of this management system standard among companies outside the ICT sector. We, therefore, derive recommendations for policymakers, standardization, and certification bodies to foster its diffusion. KW - Information Security KW - ISO/IEC 27001 KW - Management system standard KW - Certification KW - Information security management system (ISMS) KW - Preventive Innovation KW - Resource-based-view KW - Institutional theory PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-531037 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2021.102383 SN - 0167-4048 VL - 109 IS - 10 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-53103 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on accredited conformity assessment bodies: insights from a multinational study JF - Accreditation and Quality Assurance N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic posed new and manifold challenges to organizations and their operations worldwide. Conformity assessment bodies (CABs), such as testing or medical laboratories, certification, and inspection bodies, were also affected by the associated disruptions. Their role in this crisis is highly relevant, as CABs are essential pillars of the quality infrastructure: their activities ensure that products and services meet requirements as defined in standards and regulations, thereby contributing to their safety and reliability. The question arises of how CABs and their operations were affected by the pandemic and how they responded. To this end, we present the results of an international survey of 986 CABs of all types in Germany, the UK, Italy, and New Zealand. Overall, CABs reported, on average, a reduction in demand for their services during the pandemic, facing restrictions in all countries. In addition, the pandemic had an overall negative impact on the CABs’ investment and innovation activities. However, investments in digital infrastructure were increased as a countermeasure, with CABs reporting a higher need for digitalization. The paper highlights and discusses results from in-depth analyses relevant to policymakers and industry alike. KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Conformity assessment KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Corona KW - Covid-19 KW - Resilience PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-556396 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-022-01514-x SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-55639 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Kinne, J. A1 - Blind, K. T1 - Exploring the Adoption of the International Information Security Management System Standard ISO/IEC 27001: A Web Mining-Based Analysis JF - IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management N2 - In the light of digitalization and recent EU policy initiatives, information is an important asset that organizations of all sizes and from all sectors should secure. However, in order to provide common requirements for the implementation of an information security management system, the internationally well-accepted ISO/IEC 27001 standard has not shown the expected growth rate since its publication more than a decade ago.In this article, we apply web mining to explore the adoption of ISO/IEC 27001 through a series of 2664 out of more than 900 000 German firms from the Mannheim Enterprise Panel dataset that refers to this standard on their websites. As a result, we present a “landscape” of ISO/IEC 27001 in Germany, which shows that firms not only seek certifications themselves but often refer on their websites to partners who are certified instead. Consequently, we estimate a probit model and find that larger and more innovative firms are more likely to be certified to ISO/IEC 27001 and that almost half of all certified firms belong to the information and communications technology (ICT) service sector. Based on our findings, we derive implications for policymakers and management and critically assess the suitability of web mining to explore the adoption of management system standards. KW - Adoption KW - Information security KW - Management system standards KW - Standards KW - Web mining PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-513284 DO - https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.2977815 VL - 68 IS - 1 SP - 87 EP - 100 AN - OPUS4-51328 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Blind, K. T1 - Towards Agile Standardization: Testbeds in Support of Standardization for the IIoT JF - IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management N2 - The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) poses multiple challenges to traditional standardization, due to the complexity, dynamics, and accelerating speed of technological progress. The need for a timely availability of standards calls for new approaches and tools to enhance standardization processes for smart manufacturing. Industry and standards development organizations worldwide are seeking new solutions. Testbeds have been acknowledged in innovation policy as a powerful tool for knowledge transfer and the further development of emerging technologies. Lately, they have also attracted increasing attention from the standardization perspective as a promising tool for a more agile standards development process. Proponents of such testbeds expect them to support standardization by providing validated solutions and accelerating the processes to meet the growing demands for faster standardization without any detriment to quality. In an explorative, qualitative approach this article is the first to investigate the operation and impact of testbeds in standardization processes based on a multiple case study on testbeds implemented worldwide in the context of the IIoT. KW - Testumgebung KW - Reallabor KW - Normung KW - Standards KW - Standardization KW - Industrie 4.0 KW - Smart manufacturing KW - Industrial internet of things KW - Agility KW - Agile PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-513300 DO - https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.2979697 VL - 68 IS - 1 SP - 59 EP - 74 AN - OPUS4-51330 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gottinger, A. A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Blind, K. T1 - Standardization in the context of science and regulation: An analysis of the Bioeconomy JF - Environmental Science and Policy N2 - Standards play a crucial role in the transition to more sustainable production and consumption models by promoting the development of new markets for innovative products. In the case of the bioeconomy, standards are particularly relevant to ensure the sustainability of products and processes. Hence, standards represent an essential strategic tool to foster sustainable development. Furthermore, the standard-setting process brings together different stakeholders, which encourages research and the transfer of knowledge to industrial practice. In particular, scientific publications assist the standardisation process by providing scientific evidence. This study investigates the role of science and regulation in the bioeconomy standardisation process. It first provides a general analysis of bioeconomy-related standards, followed by an analysis of the regulations and publications referenced in the standards. Our analysis discloses a strong use of scientific knowledge in the bioeconomy standardisation process and demonstrates the readiness to integrate novel academic findings into revised versions of the standards. In addition, it reveals that the interaction between science and regulation is an important driver for standardisation activities around the bioeconomy, needed to support sustainable transitions. KW - Bioeconomy KW - Standardisation KW - Knowledge Use KW - Socio-technical Transition PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-599899 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.06.013 VL - 147 SP - 188 EP - 200 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-59989 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -