Paper Number
ICIS2025-1898
Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
As sustainability shifts from a peripheral concern to a strategic priority, it introduces a new frontier in strategic alignment. This study examines how alignment between IT and sustainability strategies emerges and evolves in organizational practice. Focusing on the case of a European IT service provider in the banking sector, we identify five patterns by which alignment emerges in practice: shared values, synergies, inherited practices, political interests, and regulatory requirements. Our findings reinvigorate the discussion on strategic alignment by extending it to sustainability and by demonstrating the relevance of organizational practices for the emergence of alignment. This study advances existing research by theorizing alignment as an emergent, multi-path process. It contributes to broader alignment literature by detailing how dynamic and informal mechanisms foster strategic coherence across distinct yet interdependent domains
Recommended Citation
Stumkat, Daria L.; Schellhammer, Stefan; and Stockhinger, Jan, "Emergent Alignment: Exploring How Sustainability-IT Alignment Takes Shape in Practice" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 10.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/sustain/sustain/10
Emergent Alignment: Exploring How Sustainability-IT Alignment Takes Shape in Practice
As sustainability shifts from a peripheral concern to a strategic priority, it introduces a new frontier in strategic alignment. This study examines how alignment between IT and sustainability strategies emerges and evolves in organizational practice. Focusing on the case of a European IT service provider in the banking sector, we identify five patterns by which alignment emerges in practice: shared values, synergies, inherited practices, political interests, and regulatory requirements. Our findings reinvigorate the discussion on strategic alignment by extending it to sustainability and by demonstrating the relevance of organizational practices for the emergence of alignment. This study advances existing research by theorizing alignment as an emergent, multi-path process. It contributes to broader alignment literature by detailing how dynamic and informal mechanisms foster strategic coherence across distinct yet interdependent domains
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04-Sustainability