Corporate ecological Responsiveness, Environmental Ambidexterity and IT-Enabled Environmental sustainability Strategy

An increased focus on creating a sustainable society has thrust environmental sustainability issues to societal and governmental forefront. Organizations can seize this opportunity to use environmental sustainability initiatives to set themselves apart from competitors. Achieving sustainability requires organizations to incorporate sustainability as part of their corporate strategy. A review of extant Information Systems (IS) literature on environmental sustainability revealed that the strategic role of Information Technology (IT) in enabling environmental sustainability strategy is one perspective that has not been explored in depth. Our paper addresses this gap in research. In this research paper, we propose that firms that use IT strategically to enable their environmental sustainability strategies and are able to demonstrate environmental ambidexterity are set to achieve competitive advantage, legitimacy, and reputation from their corporate ecological responsiveness initiatives. We present preliminary results from interviews that were part of our in-depth case study approach.