Peter M. Standring’s research while affiliated with University of Nottingham and other places

The paper describes how electronic business (EB) activities in the Chinese automotive sector have developed to match its position as being 'a pillar of industry'. The uniqueness of this paper is that it provides a detailed evidence based study on the extent of EB practices adopted within the Chinese automotive industry. The choices of technical and commercial software are shown to be different for Sino-foreign joint ventures (JVs) than for some domestic, independent/domestic vehicle manufacturers. To gain a share of the rapidly burgeoning automotive market in China and to expedite matters, it is proposed that EB developments have been simplified by the widespread adoption of global systems used by global JV partners. As the worlds leading vehicle producer and market, the paper suggests that China may soon be in a position to develop its own EB systems which, if it did, could challenge the rest of the world.