Independent station: A New Model of Cross-border E-commerce

Currently most cross-border e-commerce sellers are engaged in cross-border e-commerce through mainstream third-party platforms. But increasingly fierce homogenization competition on third-party platforms, sharp decline of traffic dividends, constantly iterative rules and changing policies, compressed profit margins all make it more and more difficult for the sellers to secure a place in marketplace. As a result, many sellers have begun to look for new growth models and independent station is one of them. This paper introduces the overall development of China’s cross-border e-commerce and background of the rise of independent station and its overall development over the last a few years. The paper explains how independent station works by making a contrast with third-party platforms, and exemplifies causes of the rise of independent station from several aspects through elaborating its benefits over that of third-party platforms and reasons why cross-border e-commerce sellers are turning to independent station. Based on the general introduction of the fundamental basics of independent station, the papers mainly elaborate the currently popular independent station operation models by explaining their characteristics, comparing their advantages and disadvantages of each of the models as well as giving examples of representative independent station companies. Since independent station is relatively a new mode of cross-border e-commerce and its development is immature thus the paper discusses some problems of independent station for the purpose of offering inspiration and enlightenment for cross-border e-commerce independent station sellers

What explains Alibaba’s miraculous IPO success on the New York Stock Exchange?

Funding This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 72173036; the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province under Grant 721RC515. The authors are solely responsible for any error or omission herein. Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 72173036; the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province under Grant 721RC515. The authors are solely responsible for any error or omission herein. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Peer reviewe

China’s Steel Industry and Its Impact on the United States: Issues for Congress

[Excerpt] The rise of China’s steel sector, along with other manufacturing industries, presents issues beyond trade law enforcement. China’s quest for industrial raw materials is having considerable effect on global demand and supply, and as a result, the prices and availability of such inputs. China’s restrictions on exports of some raw materials, allegedly, lower the cost of such raw materials in the home economy, while increasing global prices of these products (or diminishing global supply), thereby producing an unfair advantage in some manufacturing industries. Amid the rising trade cases against various Chinese steel imports, Congress became increasingly concerned over alleged unfair trade competition from China. In August 2010, legislative measures were introduced in the Senate (S. 3725), while a set of measures focusing on illegal import practices were proposed by the U.S. Commerce Department, both aiming to continue the rigorous and more effective enforcement of U.S. trade laws. This report provides an overview of China’s steel industry and discusses the issues and implications with regard to the U.S. steel sector

A REPRISE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN CONSANGUINITY TO THE INDUSTRY OF TEXTILE

This study investigates supply chain management (SCM) literature to categorize it as well as this study particularly explores studies of SCM for textile industry. An analysis is provided for SCM in connection to textile industry. Science Direct, ABI/INFORM Global, EBSCO Host, and Emerald scholarly databases are inspected for SCM studies. It is found that there is lack of agreement for a sole definition of SCM; moreover, textile industry is being neglected for investigation of SCM. However, categories of SCM are described in a descending order from most studied categories to least studied categories. There is a void of a sole definition for SCM; therefore, a comprehensive definition of SCM is suggested from pertinent literature. Moreover, research gaps are identified for future research of SCM particularly for textile industry.supply chain management, textile industry, categories of SCM

Online social lending: Borrower-generated content

This article explores online social lending, an innovative venture that represents a reintermediation in financial services. Borrowers and lenders now have access to online financial information services such as Motley Fool, http://www.fool.com/ , and the opportunity to communicate directly with each other online, sharing user-generated content, in the spirit of Web 2.0. In this environment, new possibilities emerge. Drawing on the literature of community banks, finance, and online banking, we conducted a structurational analysis of ZOPA(2007) a newly founded venture in online social lending whereby borrower/lender interactions take place within an open and transparent environment using discussion boards and blogs. ZOPA offers a service as an intermediary but one that differs from the intermediating role played by a traditional bank. We analyzed the possible attractions and risks of ZOPA’s service to customers, from the perspective of social lending and social networking, using public data from ZOPA’s website. Our intention is to understand the nature of this reintermediation and explain the development of this process through Giddens’ propositions

China\u27s National Champions: Governance Change Through Globalization?

China is regarded as the world’s leading practitioner of state capitalism in which important capitalist enterprises have a close relationship with the state. One prominent feature of China’s state capitalism is the fundamental role of about 100 large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) controlled by organs of the central government in critical industries such as oil, telecom, and transportation. These SOEs are often dubbed “China’s national champions.” They are not only important players in China’s domestic economy but also major contributors to China’s fast growing global investment. Their global expansion however often encounters political and regulatory challenges abroad, partly because their corporate governance practices are opaque and often deviant from international standards. Prevailing theories suggest that political and regulatory pressure arising from institutional distance between China and host countries (particularly advanced economies such as the United States) may act as an effective force to push for SOE governance change. Empirical findings in this Article however indicate that the development of global equity connections that potentially expose SOEs to foreign institutional pressure seems virtually irrelevant to the reform patterns of these most important non-financial SOEs in China. The absence of correlation may be related to investment structure and geography, investment motives, and importantly, China’s domestic political institutions. This Article offers insights into the perennial scholarly debate about the future of national corporate governance systems in the era of globalization and also provides practical recommendations for Chinese and international policymakers

Enhancing Western E-commerce Expansion in China: Navigating Technical and Cultural Challenges through Effective Web Design

This master's dissertation explores the strategic use of website design to overcome challenges associated with Western e-commerce expansion into China. It investigates two primary dimensions: technical and cultural adaptation. Many Western e-commerce platforms have struggled in China due to inadequate adaptations to local market expectations. The research aims to provide valuable insights and practical guidance for Western e-commerce businesses aspiring to succeed in the Chinese market. It focuses on website design because of the crucial role it plays as a main tool for E-commerce companies to successfully reach its clients. At the same time, the research bridges a gap in the existing literature, which have predominantly focused on macro-level market strategies and regulatory considerations. The central research question driving this investigation is: to what extent does the alignment of website design with local cultural and technical contexts affect the success of Western e-commerce businesses in China? Employing a qualitative method of content analysis, the study evaluates 24 Western E-commerce companies based on a complementary cultural framework drawn from Hofstede’s (1980) and Schwartz’s (1992). To see the impact of the prominent depiction of local cultural and technical dimensions on the website performance metrics (traffic, pages viewed per visit, visit duration and bounce rate) a composite variable called ‘‘adaptation score’’ was calculated for each 24 Western E-commerce’s American websites and their overseas Chinese counterpart. Statistical analysis using IBM SPSS software reveals significant differences in the portrayal of Hierarchy and Harmony cultural dimensions through independent samples t-tests. Moreover, MANOVA confirms a significant association between adaptation levels and E-commerce website traffic and pages viewed per visit, offering empirical support for the significance of aligning the website design with the cultural and technical context of the target country

Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

Analysis of business development of a technology commercial company

This thesis centers on analyzing SHEIN, one of the giant technology commercial companies all over the world. It is from China but only develops business abroad. SHEIN has got an extraordinary achievement in this decade and that is inextricably linked to its unique operating model which is composed of six important parts that are the business gene of SHEIN, the supply chain, the modern digital system, the marketing methods, the logistics and the industry environment. These six different parts are interlocked and closely linked to each other. Specially, different from other leading brands in the industry such as ZARA and Amazon, SHEIN has quickly captured the fast-fashion market of the younger generation with cheaper prices and faster logistics supply chain. So far, SHEIN has its own design line of products on the website and has also expanded other categories of products like household products. However, a large part of SHEIN’s success has been brought about by this era. With the development of the Internet economy, people from the younger generation have an increasing pursuit of fashion. The rapid rise of online marketing and social media make it easier to promote the brand reputation all over the world. In conclusion, it can be said that SHEIN is in line with the trend of this era and this era has achieved SHEIN’s business model. However, one corn has two sides, there is a voice of doubt here. How far can SHEIN go in the future? Whether it is to make quick money in a few years? It is undeniable that SHEIN does have a lot of problems, and although they have been well solved so far, if the solutions are sustainable in the long run or not and SHEIN would face them positively with their young and energetic company cultur

What Constitutes the Success or Failure of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in Foreign Markets? A Case Study of Chinese and American MNCs

Scholars have identified multinational corporations (MNCs) as increasingly important and influential actors in international politics. However, mainstream international studies scholarship has failed to explain why MNCs succeed or fail in entering foreign markets. Market entry is a particularly vexing question for U.S. and Chinese firms seeking to compete for each other\u27s consumers. As this study shows, surprising differences in success among U.S. firms in China, as well as Chinese firms in the U.S., suggest that statist and market factors interact with corporate strategies in confounding ways. Through case studies in the internet, automobile and fast food industries, this dissertation builds a theoretical framework that better explains why some MNCs succeed in foreign markets while others fail. Empirical studies show that two contrasting cultures (universalism vs. particularism, individualism vs. collectivism, and rule-based vs. relation-based governance) make it more difficult for Chinese MNCs and American MNCs to adapt to their counterpart\u27s market. Although the study finds some support for the cultural dissimilarity argument, it finds that culture alone is an insufficient explanation. The results suggest that statist and market factors like ownership, sector industry, interest groups, entry mode and choice of location are also determinants of a MNC\u27s success in a foreign market. Based on those findings, the study provides suggestions for both Chinese MNCs and American MNCs seeking to compete in each other\u27s markets