Exploring E‐Government Impact on Shanghai Firms' Informatization Process

Abstract

On the premise of the process model and the resource‐based view, the study uses government regulation policies, as well as e‐government actions, as an environmental resource to investigate the impacts on firms' IT usage. By analysing the survey data from 1,540 firms across 14 industries in Shanghai, the study contributes several insights to the IT usage and e‐business practice of Chinese firms. First of all, this study sheds light on the value creation process of firms' informatization in Shanghai and validates the route from IT investment to value realization. Second, the findings suggest that e‐government actions influence firms' IT infrastructure development, while government promotion and regulation policies influence a firm's IT management decision. However, there is no evidence showing the government impact on firms' IT usage level. Third, the study finds that e‐government approaches and government promotion policies have significant impact on manufacturing firms.

Keywords:

• informatization
• e‐government
• resource‐based view
• process model

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research has been financially supported by National Science Fund of China (Grant No. 70571016) and Fudan Research Award for Young Scholars (Grant No: CHH1019035). Authors would like to thank the guest editor, four anonymous reviewers, Dr Kevin Zhu and Dr Ken Kraemer for their value comments on the manuscript.