Examining e-government enterprise architecture research in China: A systematic approach and research agenda

With the further advancement of China's e-government, enterprise architecture has become one of major topics in the e-government field. This paper attempts to examine the status and progress of e-government enterprise architecture research in China in a systematic approach and frame a research agenda. This paper conducts quantitative and qualitative analyses of research articles on this topic published in Chinese journals over the last six years. For each paper the study examines author's institutional association and department, published journal names and issues, paper length, research themes, research methods, level of analysis, and geographical focus in order to take a multi-faceted perspective. Findings suggest that EA are receiving more and more attention by Chinese scholars over time with the continuing development of e-government in China. However, the research themes covered by a paper in EA are found to be unbalanced and unfocused, most studies on EA in China focus on architecture frameworks and methodologies, advocate of EA and multi-themes. In terms of research methods, papers in the research field lack academic rigorousness in general.

► Examine research papers on e-government enterprise architecture in China with quantitative and qualitative approaches. ► EA papers lack theoretical and empirical methods. ► EA papers often employ descriptive research methods and contain practices and viewpoints. ► EA papers in China focuses on architecture frameworks and methodologies, advocate of EA and multi-themes. ► A research agenda is presented.