The Adoption of E-Business by Organizations in China: An Institutional Perspective

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, the role of professional associations, and the importance of business and social networks are deeply reflected in China's e-business development pattern. We argue that by approaching the Chinese ebusiness industry from the standpoint of institutional theory, we can capture these 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 policymakers.