Paper Number
ECIS2026-2014
Paper Type
CRP
Abstract
Twin Transformation (TT), defined as the synergistic integration of digitalization and sustainability, has emerged as a critical phenomenon in IS. While prior research identified strategic preconditions and capabilities for TT, little is known about how it unfolds in everyday work practices. Drawing on affordance theory and organizational routines, this study investigates how TT configurations of material properties, actor characteristics, and organizational context give rise to affordances that shape the entanglement of digitalization and sustainability in organizational routines. Based on a qualitative case study, we find that TT is a configurational and contingent phenomenon in which the alignment of material, actor, and contextual elements can follow multiple paths toward similar sustainable outcomes, while patterns in the data suggest that successful affordance realization may initiate feedback dynamics that sustain further transformation. These insights enrich the ongoing discourse on TT by advancing a micro-level understanding of how organizations enact sustainable digital transformation.
Recommended Citation
Zar, Tasnim; Stegmann, Luca; and Weeger, Andy, "Twin Transformation Affordances: A Routine-Based Perspective On The Entanglement Of Sustainable and Digital Transformation" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/twin/twin/5
Twin Transformation Affordances: A Routine-Based Perspective On The Entanglement Of Sustainable and Digital Transformation
Twin Transformation (TT), defined as the synergistic integration of digitalization and sustainability, has emerged as a critical phenomenon in IS. While prior research identified strategic preconditions and capabilities for TT, little is known about how it unfolds in everyday work practices. Drawing on affordance theory and organizational routines, this study investigates how TT configurations of material properties, actor characteristics, and organizational context give rise to affordances that shape the entanglement of digitalization and sustainability in organizational routines. Based on a qualitative case study, we find that TT is a configurational and contingent phenomenon in which the alignment of material, actor, and contextual elements can follow multiple paths toward similar sustainable outcomes, while patterns in the data suggest that successful affordance realization may initiate feedback dynamics that sustain further transformation. These insights enrich the ongoing discourse on TT by advancing a micro-level understanding of how organizations enact sustainable digital transformation.
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