Green It Strategies: A Case Study-Based Framework For Aligning Green It With Competitive Environmental Strategies

Green Information Technology (IT) has become an important topic in IT management research and practice in the last years due to economic opportunities and increasing pressure from stakeholders. However, many IT organisations fail to manage their environmental efforts in an adequate manner since they neglect the strategic aspects of this topic. This paper reveals the strategic relevance of Green IT on the basis of a literature review that refers to fundamental approaches of Strategic Management and Information Systems research and emphasizes the necessity of aligning business, sustainability, and IT domain. The argumentation is accentuated by a multiple-case study that analyses the Green IT implementation practices of four companies on the basis of semi-structured interviews. The findings of the cross-case analysis indicate that there is no consistent approach for aligning Green IT with corporate sustainability goals and business objectives so far. To close this research gap, we conceptualise a Strategic Green IT Alignment Framework and identify four distinct Green IT strategies. The suggested framework is supposed to provide guidance for decision-makers in selecting an appropriate Green IT strategy that contributes to the achievement of corporate sustainability targets and leverages competitiveness.