Engineering research center: a new virtual innovation organization in China

In the Western view, the virtual enterprise (VE) is an attempt to be more competitive. In China, VE is mainly used to bridge the capability gap between R&D, manufacturing and marketing. Because ERCs are a brand new style of scientific research organization there are inevitably some problems in the establishment and operation of ERCs. This paper, based on an extensive case study of the ERCs in China, one in America and in the Cooperative Research Center in Australia, aims to explore the effective establishment and management mode of ERCs in China.