An empirical study on the spatial organization variation with the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): A case study of textile and apparel enterprises in China
企业信息技术应用与产业链空间变化——以中国服装纺织企业为例

It has been gradually accepted that the information and communication technologies have influence on the spatial reorganization of the economic activities. However, the reorganizations of the distinct spatial hierarchy and departments have different characteristics, which bring about fierce arguments and come to different conclusions. As the most basic economic unit, the variations of enterprises with the application of ICTs grow to be a very important research subject. Through the means of case study on the clothing and textile enterprises and collecting materials by enterprises interviews, this paper aims to explore the features of the traditional manufacturing's development by using ICTs, especially the features of the spatial organization variation of the production chain based on time cost. The present paper achieves two main goals. Firstly, the paper analyzes the application of ICTs to the clothing and textile enterprises' operating. Secondly, it probes into the features and the variation of the spatial organization of the production chain with the aid of ICTs in the enterprises at different developing stages. Finally the paper draws a conclusion that these enterprises have shortened the cycle of designing, manufacturing, and dispatching with the help of ICTs, which proves that the time factor plays a key role in the spatial organization variation of the production chain by the application of ICTs. At the same time the present research discovers that the application of ICTs to the traditional processing and manufacturing clothing and textile enterprises chiefly boosts their management of some sections in the whole production chain; while for the industrial upgraded enterprises, the application of ICTs greatly affects the spatial organization of the whole production chain.