Paper Number
ECIS2026-2834
Paper Type
CRP
Abstract
Successful implementation of sustainability in information technology (IT) functions holds significant importance for ensuring sustainable supply chains, meeting regulatory requirements, stakeholder expectations, and addressing climate change. To facilitate systemic change, it is necessary to disclose the sustainability challenges companies face. This empirical case study explores the sustainability transformation project of a corporate IT function in a large manufacturing company. Throughout the project, 83 discussion notes were collected. Drawing on cognitive frames and sensemaking, we shed light on how managers navigate sustainability challenges across internal and external dimensions. We show how the business case frame limits the breadth of challenges identified through four strategies and how the paradoxical frame challenges these through four specific deficiencies. This study contributes to the information systems literature on sustainable IT implementation and shows why sustainability projects of corporate IT functions tend to be slow and subject to complexity and uncertainty.
Recommended Citation
Koskinen, Iina; Turunen, Emmi; and Koskinen, Kari M., "More Or Less Sustainable It Function: Cognitive Perspectives To Complexity" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 21.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/is_resil/isresilience/21
More Or Less Sustainable It Function: Cognitive Perspectives To Complexity
Successful implementation of sustainability in information technology (IT) functions holds significant importance for ensuring sustainable supply chains, meeting regulatory requirements, stakeholder expectations, and addressing climate change. To facilitate systemic change, it is necessary to disclose the sustainability challenges companies face. This empirical case study explores the sustainability transformation project of a corporate IT function in a large manufacturing company. Throughout the project, 83 discussion notes were collected. Drawing on cognitive frames and sensemaking, we shed light on how managers navigate sustainability challenges across internal and external dimensions. We show how the business case frame limits the breadth of challenges identified through four strategies and how the paradoxical frame challenges these through four specific deficiencies. This study contributes to the information systems literature on sustainable IT implementation and shows why sustainability projects of corporate IT functions tend to be slow and subject to complexity and uncertainty.