Institutional Environment for Business-to-Business (B2B) E-Commerce Usage: Toward an Understanding in the Chinese Context

Abstract

This study leveraged new institutional economics (NIE) theory to examine whether and how four facets of the institutional environment—industrial pressure, governmental support, legal adequacy, and national culture compatibility—affect business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce usage. Due to a lack of overarching research models and empirical evidence, several research steps leading to interview data were taken to address the research question: 1) a comprehensive literature review on NIE theory and the four institutional factors; 2) a pilot study surveying 11 firms in China using short, structured questionnaires; and 3) focused phone interviews with three Chinese firms using non-directive, open-response questions based on the pilot study results. Then a pattern-matching, literal replication approach was followed to conduct a cross-case analysis. Results suggested that industry pressure from customer usage and requests was an important driver of B2B e-commerce usage in those Chinese firms. A supportive government policy and regulatory environment may facilitate contractual trust in the e-commerce context. Also, Chinese culture that values face-to-face interaction and interpersonal relationship deterred e-commerce usage in those firms. These results led to proposal of a conceptual framework and four propositions for future institutional studies on B2B e-commerce usage. The theoretical and conceptual views through the lens of NIE theory and interviews with business executives provide unique insights of B2B e-commerce usage for researchers, managers, and policy-makers.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ling Zhu

Ling Zhu is an Assistant Professor of MIS in the College of Management at Long Island University Post in New York. He holds a Ph.D. in MIS from the University of Arizona Eller College of Management, and is currently a J.D. candidate at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Dr. Zhu has extensive research experience in global IT policy, working with the U.S. National Academies, National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of State, National Center for Law & Technology, and National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade. He has published peer-reviewed articles in Electronic Commerce Research & Applications, Journal of Global Information Management, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organizations, and Journal of Information Privacy & Security. His research interests include national institutional environment for IT diffusion, social media, IT policy and economic development, intellectual property in IT industry, information privacy, and cyber-law.

Sherry M. B. Thatcher

Sherry M. B. Thatcher is a Professor of Business Administration and a Moore Business Partnership Foundation Fellow in the Management Department of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Her research revolves around teams and includes the study of intragroup conflict as it relates to diversity, faultiness, identity, and the effects of computer-mediated communication. She has authored numerous scholarly publications in these areas, including articles in the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organization Science, Journal of Management, and Decision Support Systems. Her Academy of Management Journal paper on conflict asymmetry (along with co-authors Karen Jehn and Sonja Rispens) was awarded best paper of the year in 2011 from the International Association of Conflict Management. Her research has been funded by both private and public organizations, including the National Science Foundation. She currently serves or has served on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management, and Small Group Research.

Matt E. Thatcher

Matt E. Thatcher is a Professor and Associate Chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Department in the College of Engineering and Computing at the University of South Carolina, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2012. His previous appointments have been in Management Information Systems departments at the University of Louisville, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and University of Arizona. He holds a B.S. in economics and an M.A. and Ph.D. in information systems from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Thatcher’s research examines the strategic and economic impacts of IT with a focus on three themes: IT value, software patent policy design, and IT outsourcing. His research has appeared in Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, Journal of Management Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, and the Journal of Financial Services Research.