Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems is based on two revolutionary ideas: firstly, that the social world should be conceptualized as consisting of nothing but communications; and secondly, that communications are produced not by human beings but by the network of communications of which...

This article suggests that when the phenomenon of standards and standardisation is examined from the perspective of organisation studies three aspects stand out: the standardisation of organisations, standardisation by organisations, and standardisation as (a form of) organisation. Following a...