Competitive analysis of the software industry in China.

Abstract

The software industry in the People's Republic of China has been growing rapidly over the last decades and has played a significant role in the economy. Alongside the industrial development, it appears that a comprehensive competitiveness assessment of this growing industry needs to be conducted. This paper draws on Porter's ''diamond'' theory of competitive advantage of nations and the suggested improvements of the framework from relevant scholars to assess the growing competitiveness of China's software industry. In particular, the focus is on the role of government policies and corporate strategies in shaping the competitiveness of the industry in China in comparison to the top players in the world. Specifically, the paper pays attention to the competitiveness of industry in China as to how and why it has developed the way it has in recent years and what have been the facilitating and impeding factors that has strengthened or weakened the industrial development. In the discussion and conclusions, the overall competitiveness status of China's software industry is evaluated and the diamond framework is reappraised in light of the industrial analysis and the previous research.