Learn in the textbookStandardization Organizations
DefinitionISO (the International Organization for Standardization) sets international standards for a wide range of fields, from industrial products and services to the way organizations are managed.
ExplanationFounded in 1947 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, ISO has one member per country, the national body that represents it (for Japan, the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee, JISC). Because its standards are decided by consensus among member countries, ISO standards are the leading example of standards set through formal procedures, de jure standards (デジュレスタンダード). ISO also develops management system standards (マネジメントシステム規格), which define how an organization manages areas such as quality and the environment.
AnalogyPicture delegates from every country meeting to agree, through discussion, on shared yardsticks that work across borders, from the size of a screw to the way a company is run.
Memory hookISO does not match the initials of its English name, which would give IOS. The short name comes from the Greek isos, meaning "equal", and the same three letters are used in every language.