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This paper aims to examine the effects of market orientation and organizational learning on individual e‐business adoption functions and firm performance in the context of Chinese firms.

A cross‐sectional design was adopted for the study, whereby a sample of companies was selected from the province of Sichuan, China. The questionnaire was distributed via a personally administered method to senior managers. Partial least squares was used for analysing the data.

It was found that market orientation affected e‐order‐taking, whereas organizational learning affected e‐communication, e‐procurement and internal administration through e‐business technologies, and firm performance. Whilst market orientation was found only to effect e‐order‐taking and e‐communication was found to have a positive influence on firm performance.

A limitation of the study is the sample size and obtaining the convenience sample from one province in China. A larger size and broader representation of provinces in China will be a direction for future research.

The findings of this study highlight the need for creating an internal organizational culture, which facilitates the adoption of e‐business technologies. Specifically, they should develop capabilities such as organizational learning and market orientation prior to the adoption of e‐business technologies.

The contribution of the study is that the findings provide insight into e‐business adoption in China from a resource‐based perspective.