A Research Framework for Business Sustainability using Information Exchange - A Firm Centric Perspective

The information systems research literature associated with sustainability has focused, by and large, on the ecological effects of computer manufacturing, components, toxicity of materials, energy usage in the manufacturing of computers, energy usage by deployed computers, and safe disposal of old machines. There has been scant or no attention paid to the effective use of information by firms for making the firm sustainable while also paying attention to the triple bottom line (3BL). In this paper, we identify the research gaps, which when filled can influence and affect information deployment practices in business settings, to proactively assist firms in becoming sustainable and competitive within their business environments, while meeting their 3BL goals. We recognize the need for an entity or enterprise, designated the Information Enterprise (IE) that is the repository and sole distributor of relevant information that participant firms will need for achieving sustainability without sacrificing their 3BL goals.