Shifting to a Sustainability Dominant Logic: The Role of IS

Required) All organizations abide by a dominant logic, which is the underlying motivation and strategies supporting business decisions. When there is a shift in dominant logic, which is a relatively rare event usually triggered by a change in the environmental landscape, new information systems to support these strategies must be created. We build on Watson et al. (2012)’s work by reporting on a group of organizations that have embraced a sustainability dominant logic, particularly focusing on the role of information systems as they proceeded to this transition. We ask: (1) what changes occur as companies make the shift towards a sustainability dominant logic; and (2) how do information systems support such a shift towards a sustainability dominant logic? We collected, coded, and analyzed secondary data from organizations that had made or are making the transition towards a sustainability dominant logic. Our preliminary results show that three IS affordances were particularly salient across organizations shifting to a sustainability dominant logic: transparency, preparedness, and monitoring.