The context, content and process of green information system innovations

This thesis reports an investigation of information system innovations for environmental sustainability. The Information Systems (IS) sub-field concerned with addressing this challenge is known as Green IS and is just beginning to be understood. Green IS is positioned at the interconnection between the economical, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development and it has much to contribute to sustainable outcomes in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges. Green information systems, in addition, refer to specific information system artefacts that organisations create and/or apply to achieve green goals such as to reduce emissions or to encourage pro-environmental behaviour. On the other hand, green information system innovation is an integrated and cooperating set of people, processes, software and information technologies to support individual, organisational, or societal goals and serve the purpose of environmental sustainability. Currently, there is limited research in applying a process perspective to explain the content of green information system innovation, the factors and forces that affect the innovation process, the intricate process of green information system creation and application, as well as the outcomes from the use of green information system innovation. The research therefore poses the following questions: what is green information system innovation and why do organisations create and/or apply green information system innovation, how does the innovation process take place and what are the outcomes from the green information system innovation? To address these questions, a literature review covering the domains of organisational innovation, IS innovation and green IS innovation was conducted. The review led us to adopt the process theory of innovation as well as Pettigrew‘s (1990) contextualist-processual theory of change with its focus on the ―what, why, and how” of organisational change. The investigation was undertaken in a single organisation setting named Telecom Acadia (anonymous), a large telecom operator in the South East Asia region with a focus on four green information system innovations, namely Energy Informatics, Unified Communications and Collaboration, Sustainable Knowledge Management and Sharing, and Fleet Management Information Systems. An interpretive approach and a qualitative research design were followed to carry out the research. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 44 participants, a descriptive survey of 150 participants, and a review of 30 sets of various types of organisational documents. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the four green information system innovations follow distinct innovation phases and stages through complex and dynamic interactions among the key people that champion and shape the organisation‘s quest towards environmental sustainability. The research contributes two new green information system innovation models, namely (1) the Green Information System in Practice Innovation Process Model; and (2) the Green Information System in Spirit Innovation Process Model; and a set of ten testable theoretical propositions for future research. In terms of practical contribution, this research demonstrates the best practices in using information systems for environmental sustainability. Furthermore, this thesis enhances practitioners‘ understanding by identifying the capabilities and success factors that organisations need to have in order to succeed in green information system innovation