Organizations' E-Business Adoption in China: An Institutional Perspective

Abstract

The Chinese e-business industry has a number of unusual features. Institutional factors such as strong nationalism, the state's entrenchment in the economy, political cognitive and political normative factors, regulative uncertainty, professional associations' roles and importance of business and social networks are deeply reflected in China's e-business development pattern. We argue that approaching the Chinese e-business industry from the standpoint of institutional theory, we can capture complex factors facilitating and hindering China's rapidly growing e-business industry. We thus employ an institutional perspective to explain the Chinese e-business landscape. In addition to advancing research on e-business in China, this paper also highlights several directions for future inquiry and implications for managers and policy makers.

Keywords: China, e-business, institutions, legitimacy, guanxi, isomorphism

JEL Classification: O33