An institutional analysis of national e-government standards diffusion: The case of information resources catalogue and exchange system

E-government standards are the basis of information sharing, system integration and business interoperability among government agencies. Using institutional theory as an analytical perspective, this study explores the implementation of Information Resource Catalogue and Information Exchange System standards which is one of the important e-government standards in China. Incorporating three distinctive dimensions of institutionalization including coercive, normative and mimetic forces, the study investigates the mechanisms of promoting national e-government standards diffusion and its development process. The findings show that in the implement of national e-government standards, the coercive dimension was most effective. The influencing process sequences are normative, coercive and mimetic mechanisms.