Achieving Consensus Despite Apposing Stakes

Decision-making in many standardization committees is consensus-based, but this can be difficult to achieve if stakeholders have conflicting interests. This article develops an approach to consensus-building in standardization by applying the Harvard method of negotiation to standardization. The authors apply this method in a single case study using action research. The case concerns the first meeting of a national standardization committee aimed at preparing national input for a new ISO standard on sustainable wood. Some stakeholders were in favor of a new standard, others opposed it strongly. Consensus was achieved during the first meeting by adopting the Harvard method and by adding a role play exercise. This outcome is promising for similar standardization cases. Both topic and research method are new in standardization research.