In the mid-1950s a volLinteer committee of bankers managed thedevelopment of a check processing standard that transformed the
banking industry The sirandard forced business machine manufacturers
to adopt the new system rather than continuing to incrementally
increase their own market share. The result was a new system allowing
economies of scale through the exploitation of emerging electronic
technologies. In tracing these developments, this story illustrates
an interestilog episode of how the ‘managers guiding hand
works to allow markets to shape technology