Competitive advantage through participation in standards setting?

The paper discusses the question whether or not large corporations should actively champion their needs and requirements in the international standards setting process. Taking the electronic mail service as an example, views of company representatives and senior members of relevant standards committees are reported. These statements have been compiled through interviews and questionnaires. To a considerable extent both parties agree that increased user participation cuts both ways. Based on these opinions, some proposals are made how to provide convenient means for input from the user side whilst avoiding the perceived drawbacks of direct committee participation.