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How IT executives create organizational benefits by translating environmental strategies into Green IS initiatives
Author(s) -
Loeser Fabian,
Recker Jan,
Brocke Jan vom,
Molla Alemayehu,
Zarnekow Ruediger
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
information systems journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.635
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2575
pISSN - 1350-1917
DOI - 10.1111/isj.12136
Subject(s) - business , sustainability , green computing , reputation , sustainable business , green innovation , transparency (behavior) , corporate sustainability , knowledge management , marketing , environmental resource management , industrial organization , engineering , economics , computer science , biology , social science , computer security , sociology , ecology , energy consumption , electrical engineering
Organizations increasingly recognize that environmental sustainability is an urgent problem. Green information systems (Green IS) initiatives can assist organizations in reaching their environmental goals by providing the ability to reduce the environmental impacts of information technology (IT) manufacturing, operations and disposal; facilitate transparency and enhance the efficiency of organizational resources and business processes; and foster eco‐products through technological innovation. However, the nature and type of benefits such initiatives can accrue remain poorly understood, and accordingly, IT executives struggle to integrate environmental aspects in the corporate strategy and to launch Green IS initiatives. This paper clarifies the mechanisms that link organizational beliefs about environmental sustainability to Green IT and Green IS actions undertaken, and the organizational benefits that accrue from these actions. Using data from a global survey of 118 senior‐level IT executives, we find that Green IS strategies mediate the relationship between environmental orientation and the implementation of Green IT practices and Green IS practices, which in turn lead to organizational benefits in the form of cost reductions, corporate reputation enhancement and Green innovation capabilities. Our findings have implications for the potential of IS to enable organizations' environmental sustainability and also for the differentiation of Green IT and Green IS practices.