{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T14:27:53Z","timestamp":1779373673903,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,21]],"date-time":"2008-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1227225600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,21]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>There is a growing awareness by researchers and practitioners of organizations' ecological responsibilities. Past research in management suggests that it is important to develop ecological sustainability, a long\u2010missing piece of the sustainability puzzle, together with economic sustainability and social sustainability. However, little research has been conducted to explore how information systems (IS), as one of the defining technologies in human society, can help organizations develop ecological sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a conceptual model and propositions with regard to the roles of IS in the pursuit of ecological sustainability.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper focuses on how organizations are motivated to act in the same legitimate way (i.e. eco\u2010friendly way) and proposes institutional theory as a lens to better understand how IS can be leveraged to achieve the three milestones of ecological sustainability, i.e. eco\u2010efficiency, eco\u2010equity and eco\u2010effectiveness.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The model advocates that under different institutional pressures, IS can be leveraged to achieve eco\u2010efficiency, eco\u2010equity and eco\u2010effectiveness through automating, informating (up and down) and transforming organizations, respectively. <jats:bold>Research limitations\/implications \u2013<\/jats:bold> The paper calls for the incorporation of the dimension of natural environment into our framework for future investigation of the IS roles in organizations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper highlights the importance for practitioners to understand the environmental impact of the IS that they design or use, and the roles that IS can play in facilitating the large\u2010scale learning about ecological sustainability.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>The implications of this research for both practice and academia are discussed, with a brief outlook towards future research.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/13287260810916907","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,22]],"date-time":"2008-11-22T07:03:53Z","timestamp":1227337433000},"page":"186-201","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":205,"title":["Information systems and ecological sustainability"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Adela J.W.","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marie\u2010Claude","family":"Boudreau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard T.","family":"Watson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Adams, C.A. and Frost, G.R. (2006), \u201cAccessibility and functionality of the corporate web site: implications for sustainability reporting\u201d, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 15, pp. 275\u201087.","DOI":"10.1002\/bse.531"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Andersson, L.M. and Bateman, T.S. (2000), \u201cIndividual environmental initiative: championing natural environmental issues in US business organizations\u201d, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43, pp. 548\u201070.","DOI":"10.2307\/1556355"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Arrow, K., Bolin, B., Costanza, R., Dasgupta, P., Folke, C., Holling, C.S., Jansson, B.\u2010O., Levin, S., M\u00e4ler, K.\u2010G., Perrings, C. and Pimentel, D. (1995), \u201cEconomic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment\u201d, Ecological Economics, Vol. 15, pp. 91\u20105.","DOI":"10.1016\/0921-8009(95)00059-3"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b4","unstructured":"Banjo, S. (2008), \u201cYou are how you live\u201d, The Wall Street Journal, 24 March 2008, p. R13."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bansal, P. and Roth, K. (2000), \u201cWhy companies go green: a model of ecological responsiveness\u201d, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43, pp. 717\u201036.","DOI":"10.5465\/1556363"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Boiral, O. (2007), \u201cCorporate greening through ISO 14001: a rational myth?\u201d, Organization Science, Vol. 18, pp. 127\u201046.","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.1060.0224"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b7","unstructured":"Bolter, J.D. (1984), Turing's Man, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Brooke, C. (2000), \u201cA framework for evaluating organizational choice and process redesign issues\u201d, Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 15, pp. 17\u201028.","DOI":"10.1177\/026839620001500103"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b9","unstructured":"Brundtland, G.H. (1987), Our Common Future: The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford University Press, Oxford."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b10","unstructured":"Carberry, J. (2001), \u201cUsing environmental knowledge systems at DuPont\u201d, in Richards, D.J., Allenby, B.R. and Compton, W.D. (Eds), Information Systems and the Environment, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, pp. 81\u20106."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b11","unstructured":"Cash, J.I., Eccles, R.G., Nohria, N. and Nolan, R.L. (1994), Building the Information\u2010Age Organization: Structure Control and Information Technologies, Richard D. Irwin, Boston, MA."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Costanza, R., D'arge, R., De Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Limburg, K., Naeem, S., O'neill, R.V., Paruelo, J., Raskin, R.G., Sutton, P. and Van den Belt, M. (1997), \u201cThe value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital (cover story)\u201d, Nature, Vol. 387, p. 253.","DOI":"10.1038\/387253a0"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b13","unstructured":"Daly, H. and Cobb, J. (1994), For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment and a Sustainable Future, Beacon Press, Boston, MA."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b14","unstructured":"Davis, T. (2001), Federal Telecommuting Programs: Congressman, FDCH Congressional Testimony, Virginia, 22 March 2001. AN: 32Y20019200003920."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b15","unstructured":"Desimone, L. and Popoff, F. (1997), Eco\u2010efficiency: The Business Link to Sustainable Development, MIT Press, Cambridge."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dewett, T. and Jones, G.R. (2001), \u201cThe role of information technology in the organization: a review, model, and assessment\u201d, Journal of Management, Vol. 27, pp. 313\u201046.","DOI":"10.1177\/014920630102700306"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b17","unstructured":"Dillon, P.S. and Fischer, K. (1992), Environmental Management in Corporations: Methods and Motivations, Tufts Center for Environmental Management, Medford, MA."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b18","unstructured":"Dimaggio, P.J. (1991), \u201cConstructing an organizational field as a professional project: US art museums, 1920\u20101940\u201d, in Powell, W.W. and Dimaggio, P.J. (Eds), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. University of Chicago Press, London."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dimaggio, P.J. and Powell, W.W. (1983), \u201cThe iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields\u201d, American Sociological Review, Vol. 48, pp. 147\u201060.","DOI":"10.2307\/2095101"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dutton, J.E. and Ashford, S.J. (1993), \u201cSelling issues to top management\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 18, pp. 397\u2010428.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1993.9309035145"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dyllick, T. and Hockerts, K. (2002), \u201cBeyond the business case for corporate sustainability\u201d, Business Strategy and The Environment , Vol. 11, pp. 130\u201041.","DOI":"10.1002\/bse.323"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elkington, J. (1997), Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, Capstone, Oxford.","DOI":"10.1002\/tqem.3310080106"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Feldman, D. and Gainey, T. (1997), \u201cPatterns of telecommuting and their consequences: framing the research agenda\u201d, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 7, pp. 369\u201088.","DOI":"10.1016\/S1053-4822(97)90025-5"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b24","unstructured":"Friedman, M. (1970), \u201cThe social responsibility of business is to increase its profits\u201d, New York Times Magazine, 13 September 1970, pp. 32\u20103, 122, 124, 126."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gladwin, T.N. and Kennelly, J.J. (1995), \u201cShifting paradigms for sustainable development: implications for management theory and research\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, pp. 874\u2010907.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1995.9512280024"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Goes, J.B. and Park, S.H. (1997), \u201cInterorganizational links and innovation: the case of hospital services\u201d, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 40, p. 673.","DOI":"10.2307\/257058"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gray, R.H. and Bebbington, K.J. (2000), \u201cEnvironmental accounting, managerialism and sustainability: is the planet safe in the hands of business and accounting?\u201d, Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management, Vol. 1, pp. 1\u201044.","DOI":"10.1016\/S1479-3598(00)01004-9"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hart, S.L. (1995), \u201cA natural\u2010resource\u2010based view of the firm\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, pp. 986\u20101014.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1995.9512280033"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jennings, P.D. and Zandbergen, P.A. (1995), \u201cEcologically sustainable organizations: an institutional approach\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, pp. 1015\u201052.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1995.9512280034"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lampe, M., Ellis, S.R. and Drummond, C.K. (1991), \u201cWhat companies are doing to meet environmental protection responsibilities: balancing legal, ethical, and profit concerns\u201d, Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society, pp. 527\u201037.","DOI":"10.5840\/iabsproc1991241"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b31","unstructured":"Lawrence, A.T. and Morell, D. (1995), \u201cLeading\u2010edge environmental management: motivation, opportunity, resources and processes\u201d, in Collins, D. and Starik, M. (Eds), Special Research Volume of Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, Sustaining the Natural Environment: Empirical Studies on the Interface between Nature and Organizations, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Meyer, J.W. and Rowan, B. (1977), \u201cInstitutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony\u201d, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 83, pp. 340\u201063.","DOI":"10.1086\/226550"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b33","unstructured":"Mingay, S. (2006), \u201cThe IT industry is part of the climate change and sustainability problem\u201d, available at: http:\/\/gartner.com\/DisplayDocumnet?id=498994 (accessed 23 September 2008)."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mulvihill, P.R. and Milan, M.J. (2007), \u201cSubtle world: beyond sustainability, beyond information\u201d, Futures, Vol. 39, pp. 657\u201068.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.futures.2006.11.006"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nehrt, C. (1998), \u201cMaintainability of first mover advantages when environmental regulations differ between countries\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, pp. 77\u201097.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1998.192962"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Oliver, C. (1991), \u201cStrategic responses to institutional processes\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16, pp. 145\u201079.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1991.4279002"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pastakia, A. (1998), \u201cGrassroots ecopreneurs: change agents for a sustainable society\u201d, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 11, pp. 157\u201073.","DOI":"10.1108\/09534819810212142"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Powell, W.W. and Dimaggio, P.J. (1991), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226185941.001.0001"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b39","unstructured":"Rogers, E.M. (1995), Diffusion of Innovations, The Free Press, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b40","unstructured":"Schaltegger, S. and Sturm, A. (1998), Eco\u2010efficiency by Eco\u2010controlling, VDF, Zurich."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b41","unstructured":"Schein, E.H. (1989), \u201cThe role of the CEO in the management of change: the case of IT management in the 1990s\u201d, working paper, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MA, August, No. 89\u2010075."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Scott, W.R. (1987), \u201cThe adolescence of institutional theory\u201d, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 32, pp. 493\u2010511.","DOI":"10.2307\/2392880"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shrivastava, P. (1995), \u201cThe role of corporations in achieving ecological sustainability\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, pp. 936\u201060.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1995.9512280026"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Starik, M. (1995), \u201cCorporate environmentalism in a global economy: societal values in international technology transfer\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, pp. 1105\u20107.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1995.9512280030"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Starik, M. and Rands, G.P. (1995), \u201cWeaving an integrated web: multilevel and multisystem perspectives of ecological sustainable organizations\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, pp. 908\u201035.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1995.9512280025"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b46","unstructured":"Stead, W.E. and Stead, J.G. (1992), Management for a Small Planet, Sage, Newbury Park, CA."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Watson, R.T., Boudreau, M.\u2010C., York, P.T., Greiner, M.E. and Wynn, D. (2008), \u201cThe business of open source\u201d, Communication ACM, Vol. 51, pp. 41\u20106.","DOI":"10.1145\/1330311.1330321"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Winn, M. and Angell, L. (2000), \u201cTowards a process model of corporate greening\u201d, Organization Studies, Vol. 21, pp. 1119\u201047.","DOI":"10.1177\/0170840600216005"},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b49","unstructured":"Zuboff, S. (1988), In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power, Heinemann Professional, Oxford."},{"key":"key2022021220082943100_b50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zucker, L.G. (1987), \u201cInstitutional theories of organization\u201d, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 13, pp. 443\u201064.","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.so.13.080187.002303"}],"container-title":["Journal of Systems and Information Technology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/13287260810916907","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/13287260810916907\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/13287260810916907\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T00:24:13Z","timestamp":1753403053000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/jsit\/article\/10\/3\/186-201\/247744"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Craig","family":"Standing","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,21]]},"references-count":50,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,21]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/13287260810916907"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/13287260810916907","relation":{},"ISSN":["1328-7265"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1328-7265","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2008,11,21]]}}}