E-Commerce Education in China

Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations Zhang et al.
E-Commerce Education in China: Driving Forces, Status, and Strategies
Xianfeng Zhang
Department of E-commerce
College of Economics and Finance
Xi’an Jiaotong University
Tel: +86-029-88598176, Fax: +86-029-82656916
zxf@xjtu.edu.cn
Qi Li
Department of E-commerce
College of Economics and Finance
Xi’an Jiaotong University
Tel: +86-029-85222076, Fax: +86-029-82656916
liq@xjtu.edu.cn
Zhangxi Lin
The Rawls College of Business Administration
Texas Tech University
Tel: (806) 742-1926, Fax: (806) 742-3193
zlin@ba.ttu.edu
April 2004
Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations Zhang et al.
2

E-Commerce Education in China: Driving Forces, Status, and Strategies
Abstract:
With an explosive growth of e-businesses worldwide, e-commerce in China is booming, leading to
the development of e-commerce education. This paper is intended to investigate whether the education
system in China well accords with the market demand and the status of e-commerce programs in China,
so as to seek for the strategies for China to cope with the challenges from the global e-commerce
empowered by fast updated information technologies. First, we construct a four-layer conceptual model to
describe the relevant factors influencing e-commerce and e-commerce education. We then present the
status of China’s e-commerce education in different educational categories. Although we find that current
problems in China’s e-commerce education can be resorted in quantity and quality aspects, it generally is
in the right track. Finally, we propose several main strategies for promoting the development of ecommerce
education, in which the education system reformation is of the top priority and the government
will play a critical role.
Keywords: E-commerce; Education; China; Conceptual model; Strategy.
1. Introduction
The rapid growth of e-commerce imposes an increasing demand for the professionals who possess
the... [continues]

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