What is standardization? What is an example of a company that uses standardization?

From a business standpoint, standardization refers to the practice of maintaining some level of consistency in the product or service that a company provides. You’ve probably heard the term applied to manufacturing—a “standardized product”. It’s roughly the same idea in business. 

A company wants to produce a consistent product so consumers will know what they’re buying. Say, for instance, a bakery produces loaves of wheat bread. Every day they try to make bread that follows...

From a business standpoint, standardization refers to the practice of maintaining some level of consistency in the product or service that a company provides. You’ve probably heard the term applied to manufacturing—a “standardized product”. It’s roughly the same idea in business. 

A company wants to produce a consistent product so consumers will know what they’re buying. Say, for instance, a bakery produces loaves of wheat bread. Every day they try to make bread that follows the same recipe as the day before, because a customer who liked the previous day's bread expects to buy the same thing the next day. This ensures that the customer is buying the same quality good that they expected to buy. Standardization also provides brand recognition (all iPhones share a standard, recognizable appearance) and consumer loyalty (again, iPhones have a reputation for working well, so consumers trust that wherever they can buy an iPhone it will have that same quality).

Perhaps one of the most common examples of standardization is in chain restaurants. Take Taco Bell, for example. At every Taco Bell chain, the parent company dictates a specific recipe for all the food offered (and a specific way of preparing, packaging, and serving it) so that a person ordering a quesadilla in Arizona is getting the same experience as a person ordering a quesadilla in Maine.

Below, I’ve included links to a source to explain the concept of standardization further, as well as a link to another question that addresses a different example of standardization.