Factors Influencing Success of Chinese-European Virtual Cooperation

摘要

Business relationships between European and Chinese companies are becoming closer, in particular by way of outsourcing and market development. Organizations in China and Europe have recognized the relevance of implementing ICT systems in their business cooperation. Many such companies are cooperating in new virtual forms of cooperation, e.g. Virtual Organization and Virtual Enterprise. Even though the new concept of virtual alliances offers a number of advantages, initial experience shows that there are several drawbacks that discourage virtual cooperation. Therefore, there is a need to investigate this promising concept so that it can be applied smoothly in the international business practice. This paper focuses on identifying factors that stimulate the success of virtual cooperation.The paper first presents a model and the methodology. A literature survey identifies a number of factors that are used for carrying out case studies. The case study results are compared in a cross-case discussion. The conclusions present the factors that influence the implementation of virtual alliances between China and Europe.