Abstract

Intermediation is a primary subject in the field of global e-business management. Although many businesses now have been launched as e-business directly within the internet era and thus have a born-in global reach, the professional support of intermediaries can enhance business performance for all participants of a collaborative network. This type of mediation effect could be derive from systematic infrastructural provisions, or from the invisible governance inherent to trust. This study analyzes the mediation effect with an emphasis on the latter view. In China, there are many bottlenecks in the infrastructure or hardware of global e-commerce, or e-trade, whereas some e-marketplaces, such as Alibaba.com, have thrived. The principal objective of this study was to test empirically the success factors of this type of business performance in electronic-based export intermediary firms (e-EIFs) in China, based on a total systematic structural equation model (SEM). SEM has advantages in examining the causal relationship between mediation variables such as trust or e-MP services and business performance. Our results demonstrate the positive mediating impact of trust on e-MP business performance.

Key words: Electronic-based export intermediary firms (e-EIFs), mediation, trust, business performance, structural equation model (SEM), China.