Standard weight, constituting or corresponding to a standard, especially as set by law or tradition b: sound and useful, but not of the highest grade of meat. 2a: standard car equipment that is often and extensively utilized, available, or provided. B: well-established and well-versed in conventional opera. 3a: a person or thing regarded as representative or typical of its kind. The word "standard" has several meanings as used in business. Which one you use depends on what you want to say. There are two main types of standards: internal and external. Internal standards include policies, procedures, guidelines, and practices that have been adopted within an organization. For example, a financial institution may have an internal standard procedure for handling customer complaints. This would be an internal standard because it applies solely to this particular organization. External standards are those that are established by industry leaders or government agencies. An example of an external standard is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) requirement that all banks maintain a minimum level of capitalization. These types of standards help organizations avoid losing customers due to poor service or product quality. When you use the word "standard" in business, you are usually referring to an internal standard. This means that there should be one specific procedure for doing something. For example, if you need to file a complaint with your bank, there should be only one way to do it. This avoids confusion when dealing with multiple issues related to one customer request.