Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On Sustaining Sustainability: The Case of Implementing Decisions Based on Policies for a Sustainable Future via Tablets in a Board of a Swedish Housing Corporation

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Information, Models, and Sustainability

Part of the book series: Public Administration and Information Technology ((PAIT,volume 20))

  • 940 Accesses

Abstract

Catering for sustainability concerns and enterprise mobility for administrations, handheld artifacts of Information and Communication Technology (e.g., tablets and smartphones) are making their way into organizational administration. Often such change is the result of decisions aimed at implementing policies for a more sustainable future, intending to support a shift from paper to digital. For this reason, a deeper understanding of tablets as the means to enable robust and efficient implementation of policies for sustainability is essential. This chapter examines how a decision made by one of the largest municipal boards in Sweden on reducing the use of paper in the municipality was implemented as an introduction of tablets in one of the municipal sub-boards, the board of one of the municipally owned housing corporations (HC), and how the decision prompted changes in the board work setup, raised issues concerning security and privacy of data while yet failing to implement most of the targeted sustainability policies. We adopt the Belief-Action-Outcome framework of Melville (MIS Q 31: 1–21, 2010) as our theoretical lens on how the actual use of the tablets emanates from the social practices of the board, and how the implementation of the sustainability policy of the municipality thus affected the alignment of the board work and the organization’s policies on sustainability. The empirical material consists of interviews and observations in the board of one of the municipally owned housing corporations. The contribution includes an account as to how a decision to implement policies for sustainability via new technology serve as a catalyst to establish and reproduce new setups and practices. However, in order to adopt the new technology, it may also partly or completely reinvent well-established practices without aligning it to the intended policies. Key highlights are the importance for decision makers to consider a broader context and to see the complexity of the practices of the organization, and the role this plays for the implications of making policies on organizational changes sustainable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    A comprehensive definition of sustainability is presented by Brundtland (WCED 1987): “…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987, p. 43).

  2. 2.

    From instruments that measure sustainability performance of organizations (eg. GRI-index, GRIG4 Part2 Implementation-Manual, retrieved April 7 2014 p. 233) we know that protection of customer privacy is a generally recognized goal in national regulations and organizational policies. It serves as an indicator for organizational sustainability performance in the GRI-index. Non-compliance is stated to indicate either inadequate internal management systems and procedures or ineffective implementation.

References

  • Adler PA, Adler P (1994) Observation techniques. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS (eds) Handbook of qualitative research. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 377–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Bengtsson F, Ågerfalk P (2011) Information technology as a change actant in sustainability innovation: insights from Uppsala. J Strat Inf Syst 20(1):96–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengtsson F, Eriksson Lundström J, Sjöström S, Hrastinski S, Ozan H (2012) Sustainability impact of open innovation software. In: Proceedings of the XXIII ISPIM conference, action for innovation: innovating from experience, Barcelona, Spain, 17–20 June 2012

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman JS (1986) Social theory, social research, and a theory of action. Am J Sociol 91:1309–1335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constas MA (1992) Qualitative analysis as a public event: the documentation of category development procedures. Am Educ Res J 29(2):253–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creswell JW (2012) Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. Sage, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Dreyfus H, Rabinow P (1983) Michel Foucault: beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyllick T, Hockerts K (2002) Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Bus Strategy Environ 11:130–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elkington J (1997) Cannibals with forks. Capstone, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein MJ, Roy M-J (2001) Sustainability in action: identifying and measuring the key performance drivers. Long Range Plann 34(5):585–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erdmann L, Lorenz H, Goodman J, Arnfalk P (2004) The future impact of ICTs on environmental sustainability, European Commission Joint Research Centre. ftp://ftp.jrc.es/pub/EURdoc/eur21384en.pdf. In: Melville NP (2010) Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability. MIS Q 31(1): 1–21

  • Farrell D, Oppenheim J (2008) The carbon productivity challenge: curbing climate change and sustaining economic growth. McKinsey Global Institute. http://www.fypower.org/pdf/MGI_Carbon_Productivity.pdf. In: Melville NP (2010) Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability. MIS Q 31(1): 1–21

  • Friedman M (1982) Capitalism and freedom. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Gherardi S (2010) Telemedicine: a practice-based approach to technology. Hum Relat 63(4):501–524 [Originally published online 8 January 2010]

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens A (1984) The constitution of society: outline of the theory of structure. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser B, Strauss A (1967) The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. Aldine, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • GRI-index (2014) Global Reporting Initiative-index. https://www.globalreporting.org. Accessed 5 Apr 2014

  • Hanson N (1958) Patterns of discovery: an inquiry into the foundation of science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill S (1995) The social organisation of boards of directors. Br J Sociol 46(2):245–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNulty T, Pettigrew A (1999) Strategies on the board. Organ Stud 20(1):47–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melville NP (2010) Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability. MIS Q 31(1):1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers MD, Young LW (1997) Hidden agendas, power and managerial assumptions in information systems development: an ethnographic study. Inf Technol People 10(3):224–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlikowski WJ, Scott SV (2008) Sociomateriality: challenging the separation of technology, work and organization. Acad Manage Ann 2(1):433–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell WW, di Maggio PJ (eds) (1991) The institutionalism in organizational analysis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Romm J (2002) The internet and the new energy economy, resources, conservation, and recycling 36(3): 197–210. In: Melville NP (2010) Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability. MIS Q 31(1): 1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruigrok W, Peck S, Board H (2006) Board characteristics and involvement in strategic decision making: evidence from Swiss companies. J Manage Stud 43(5):1201–1226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salzmann O, Steger U, Ionescu-Somer A (2005) The business case for corporate sustainability: literature review and research options. Eur Manage J 23(1):27–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuman H, Johnson MP (1976) Attitudes and behaviour. Annu Rev Sociol 2:161–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma S, Henriques I (2005) Stakeholder influences on sustainability practices in the Canadian forest products industry. Strat Manage J 26:159–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sørensen C, Landau J (2013) We’ve got 99 problems, but a phone ain’t one: mobile ICT and academic agility in information systems research. In: Eseryel YM (ed) IFIP WG 8.2 OASIS workshop

    Google Scholar 

  • Stake RE (1995) The art of case study research. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss A, Corbin JM (1998) Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SJ, Bogdan R (1998) Introduction to qualitative research methods: a guidebook and resource, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • The 1997 Kyoto protocol of United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (2014) https://unfccc.int/essential_background/kyoto_protocol/items/1678.php. Accessed 2 Apr 2014

  • The Paperless Project (2014) http://www.thepaperlessproject.com/. Accessed 13 Mar 2014

  • Vaast E, Walsham G (2005) Representation and actions: the transformation of work practices with IT us. Inf Organ 15:65–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Marrewijk M (2003) Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: between agency and communion. J Bus Ethics 44(2/3):95–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WCED (1987) Our common future. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin RK (2009) Case study research: design and methods, 4th edn. Sage, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Jenny Eriksson Lundström & Mats Edenius

Authors
  1. Jenny Eriksson Lundström
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mats Edenius
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jenny Eriksson Lundström .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

    Jing Zhang

  2. University at Albany, Albany, NY, USA, San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico

    Luis Felipe Luna-Reyes

  3. Albany, New York, USA

    Theresa A. Pardo

  4. Albany, New York, USA

    Djoko S. Sayogo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lundström, J.E., Edenius, M. (2016). On Sustaining Sustainability: The Case of Implementing Decisions Based on Policies for a Sustainable Future via Tablets in a Board of a Swedish Housing Corporation. In: Zhang, J., Luna-Reyes, L., Pardo, T., Sayogo, D. (eds) Information, Models, and Sustainability. Public Administration and Information Technology, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25439-5_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation