This article asks which institutional structure is required for electronic markets to emerge. It proposes the adoption of a rather narrow concept of electronic markets, one which requires that electronic markets support the negotiation phase of a business process in order to identify those...

The paper considers increased decision interdependencies in the transnational organization due to autonomous IT deployment in national subsidiaries. It proceeds by proposing multifactor productivity as a controlling instrument for managing the increased level of decision interdependence in the...

It is sometimes assumed that the Internet provides a sufficient basis for conducting business electronically. However, for business relationships between companies more is required, since electronic forms of business are meant to automate large parts of the business processes involved. To enable...

This paper revisits the ”move to the market” hypothesis proposed by Malone et al. (1987) and argues that, although compatible with empirical results, the theoretical basis of this hypothesis is flawed since no clear distinction is made between coordination mechanisms and forms of governance....

In this paper, we raise the issue of the appropriate unit of analysis for e-commerce studies. Once it is acknowledged that the unit of analysis in e-commerce studies should comprise more than one firm, the question is, which organizations should be included, i.e. how to bound the unit? We...

This paper proposes that the lack of a theoretical framework able to address policy issues on the firm as well as the industry level in an integrated manner contributes to a failure of developing effective e-commerce policies. Specifically, theoretical approaches fall into the two broad...

This paper outlines the theoretical concept of a study currently under way in China. Its main idea is to explore the sustainability of centralized interorganizational systems for supply chain management as proposed by Markus et al. (2000). The study draws on institutional theory in both its...

This case describes the experience of a wholly foreign-owned manufacturing company in Tianjin/China regarding the use of its ERP system in its main functional departments, purchasing, production planning, sales/distribution, and finance. The company is part of a group which is a global leader in...