Information Systems Solutions for Environmental Sustainability: How Can We Do More?

The Sustainability Imperative in Information Systems Research

“…We agree with this view. Some researchers have also reasoned that IS research should focus attention on impactful research that focuses on translating conceptualization and analysis into design and impact (Gholami et al, 2016;Malhotra et al, 2013). We also agree with these sentiments.…”

“…While the awareness of the potential of information systems to increase management's decision making capabilities and productivity is in our field's DNA, the potential of information systems to increase businesses' sustainability is not. As such, at core, we argue that: In adopting this position, we complement previous work that, for instance, has identified green IS directives for the IS field (Esfahani et al, 2015;vom Brocke et al, 2012); propose a green IS research agenda or important research questions (e.g., Dedrick, 2010;Esfahani et al, 2015;Melville, 2010;Seidel et al, 2013;Watson et al, 2010); call for impactful, solution-oriented IS research (e.g., Gholami et al, 2016;Malhotra et al, 2013); and argue that green IS research should focus on long-term perspective and reflexivity (El Idrissi & Corbett, 2016). Our argument has implications for IS scholars and their approach to the subjects of sustainability and green IS research, which we discuss in Section 3.…”

“…However, we argue that the IS field has not yet fully realized the importance of the topic and failed to fully embrace its role in understanding and promoting an information systems research agenda that can help solve problems of environmental degradation and climate change. It seems that green IS research is, by and large, considered yet another IS topic (Gholami, Watson, Hasan, Molla, & Bjørn-Anderson, 2016).…”

Gamified Workshops as Drivers for Attitudinal and Behavioral Shifts toward Sustainable Business Practices: The Role of Enjoyment, Curiosity and External Regulation

“…Alarmed by the climate crisis as well as other negative environmental and societal impacts of industrialization on sustainability [29], various stakeholder groups exert substantial pressure on managers to adopt more sustainable business practices. Sustainability has thus become a crucial factor in management practice [18,60] and IS researchers are considering strategies to actively create a positive impact [22]. Especially the crossdisciplinary field of Supply Chain Management (SCM) bears a lot of potential for pursuing sustainability goals.…”

Simulation of greenhouse energy use: an application of energy informatics

“…While leading scientists (Holdren 2009) were calling for their peers to spend 10% of their time solving the existential threat resulting from the burning of fossil fuels, IS scholars were generally ignoring the issue. Consequently, this important problem has remained a marginal IS research topic (Gholami et al 2016;Malhotra et al 2013). Since 2010, we have advocated for academic leaders (journal editors in particular) to embrace environmental sustainability as a core principle in the research they publish (Watson et al 2010); the emergence of this journal constitutes a critical step in engaging more scholars in solving the problem of our time.…”