Title: Impact of industry type, ownership and company size on Chinese firms' e-business strategy

Authors: Fujun Lai, Chang-Tseh Hsieh, Dahui Li, Jian Wang

Addresses: College of Business, University of Southern Mississippi, Long Beach, MS 39560, USA. ' College of Business, University of Southern Mississippi, Long Beach, MS 39560, USA. ' Labovitz School of Business and Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812-2496, USA. ' School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, PR China

Abstract: Using surveyed data from 307 international trading companies in China, this research explored e-business strategies in China with focuses on investigating the strategic importance, opportunities and benefits of e-business, e-business implementation and environment. The impacts of organisational characteristics, including ownership, industry type and company size, were also examined. This study found that the internet had become a common tool in international trading companies as a strategic channel to collect business information. E-business may bring different benefits and opportunities to different levels for companies with different organisational characteristics. The companies with different organisational characteristics might face different levels and types of environmental pressure and opportunities, and they adopted and assimilated different e-business solutions to different levels.

Keywords: company size; China; e-business; industry type; ownership; electronic business; firm size; international trading.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIM.2009.025544

International Journal of Intercultural Information Management, 2009 Vol.1 No.2, pp.143 - 165

Published online: 22 May 2009 *

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