Breaking new grounds: Deployment of electronic data capture (EDC) for clinical trials in China

Automated data capture has become a dominant logic in organizing clinical trial management. This research examines the deployment of electronic data capture (EDC) in clinical trials in China and the potential for Chinese firms to capture value from EDC. Employing a single-case study involving a clinical trial company, data for our empirical enquiry was collected using semi-structured interviews and supplemented organizational documents and questionnaires. We found that managerial understanding of the organizing logics of EDC system is fundamental to the deployment and subsequent capture of value from the system. Furthermore, we identified what we call the rhetoric of legitimation EDC, and the active separation of knowledge forms of the old system as a salient discursive practice that has the potential to impede maximum value capture from EDC deployment. We conclude with a discussion of the managerial implications, limitations of our research, and some directions for future research