Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Sustainability Communication pp 171–185Cite as

Computer Support for Cooperative Sustainability Communication

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

The following chapter explores computers and communication in organizations from the language-action perspective (LAP). This helps clarify the role of email, instant messaging and online social networks in organizations. But the most important result is that two different forms of coordination of action can be distinguished – communication-based and delinguistified – together with possible transitions between the two. A two-phase approach to sustainable development in organizations is presented. Based on Habermas’s theory of communicative action, it is argued that sustainability communication is necessary to overcome traditional generalized actions in conflict with sustainable development. This also requires appropriate computer support.

This is a preview of subscription content, 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

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Austin, J. (1962). How to do things with words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, J. (1971). Performative-constative. In J. Searle (Ed.), The philosophy of language (pp. 13–22). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avrahami, D., & Hudson, S.E. (2006). Communication characteristics of instant messaging: Effects and predictions of interpersonal relationships. Proceedings of the 2006 20th Anniversary Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Banff, Alberta.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berlin, D., & Uhlin, H.-E. (2004). Opportunity cost principles for life cycle assessment: Toward strategic decision-making in agriculture. Progress in Industrial Ecology, 1(1/2/3), 187–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burritt, R., Hahn, T., & Schaltegger, S. (2002). Towards a comprehensive framework for environmental management accounting. Australian Accounting Review, 12(2), 93–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Consoli, F., Allen, D., Boustead, I., Fava, J. A., Franklin, W. E., Jensen, A. A., de Oude, N., Parrish, R., Perriman, R., Postlethwaite, D., Quay, B., Seguin, J., & Vigon, B. W. (1993). Guidelines for life-cycle assessment: A code of practice. Brussels/Washington, DC: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC).

    Google Scholar 

  • Costello, C., & Molloy, O. (2004). Orchestrating supply chain interactions using emerging process description languages and business rules. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Electronic Commerce (pp. 21–30). Delft, The Netherlands: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabbish, L. A., Kraut, R. E., Fussell, S., & Kiesler, S. (2005). Understanding email use: Predicting action on a message. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 691–700). Portland, Oregon, USA: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davenport, T. H. (1993). Process innovation: Rengneering work through information technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Moor, A., & Aakhus, M. (2006). Argumentation support: From technologies to tools. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 93–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietz, J. L. M. (2006). The deep structure of business processes. Communications of the ACM, 49(5), 58–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donath, J. (2002). A semantic approach to visualizing online conversations. Communications of the ACM, 45(4), 45–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, T., Halverson, C., Kellogg, W. A., Laff, M., & Wolf, T. (2002). Social translucence - designing social infrastructures that make collective activity visible. Communications of the ACM, 45(4), 40–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer-Kowalski, M., & Haberl, H. (Eds.). (2007). Socioecological transitions and global change – trajectories of social metabolism and land use. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Floyd, C. (2002). Developing and embedding autooperational form. In Y. Dittrich, C. Floyd, & R. Klischewski (Eds.), Social thinking – software practice (pp. 5–28). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankl, P., & Rubik, F. (2000). Life cycle assessment in industry and business – adoption patterns, applications and implications. Berlin/Heidelberg/New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • French, S., & Turoff, M. (2007). Decision support systems. Communications of the ACM, 50(3), 39–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). (1996). World in transition: The research challenge. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerson, M., Chien, I. S., & Raval, V. (1992). Computer assisted decision support systems: Their use in strategic making. Proceedings of the 1992 ACM SIGCPR Conference on Computer Personnel Research. New York, NY: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guinée, J. B. (Ed.). (2002). Handbook on life cycle assessment – operational guide to the ISO standards. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1985a). The theory of communicative action (Reason and the rationalization of society 3rd ed., Vol. 1). Boston: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1985b). The theory of communicative action (Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist reason 3rd ed., Vol. 2). Boston: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer, M., & Champy, J. (1993). Reengineering the corporation. New York: Harper Collins Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Handel, M., & Herbsleb, J. D. (2002). What is chat doing in the workplace? Proceedings of the 2002 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Louisiana, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzig, C., & Schaltegger, S. (2006). Corporate sustainability reporting. an overview. In S. Schaltegger, M. Bennett, & R. Burrit (Eds.), Sustainability accounting and reporting (pp. 301–324). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hlupic, V., & Robinson, S. (1998). Business process modelling and analysis using discrete-event simulation. Proceedings of the 1998 Winter Simulation Conference. Washington, DC: IEEE Computer Society Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Standardisation Organisation (1996). Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework – ISO 14040, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isenmann, R., & Kim, K.-C. (2006). Interactive sustainability reporting. Developing clear target group tailoring and stimulating stakeholder dialogue. In S. Schaltegger, M. Bennett, & R. Burrit (Eds.), Sustainability accounting and reporting (pp. 533–555). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Keen, P. G. W., & Scott-Morton, M. S. (1978). Decision support systems: An organizational perspective. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kieser, A. (1996). Moden und Mythen des Organisierens. Deutsche Betriebswirtschaft, 56(1), 21–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleinberg, J. (2008). The convergence of social and technological networks. Communications of the ACM, 51(11), 66–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ko, R. K. L. (2009). A computer scientist’s introductory guide to business process management (BPM). Crossroads, 15(4), 11–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marx Gómez, J., & Isenmann, R. (2004). Editorial: Developments in environmental reporting. International Journal Environment and Sustainable Development, 3(1), 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J., & Behrens, W. W., III. (1972). The limits to growth. New York: Universe Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mesnage, C., & Carman, M. (2009). Tag navigation. Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Social Software Engineering and Applications (pp. 29–32). Amsterdam: ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Möller, A., Prox, M., & Viere, T. (2006). Computer support for environmental management accounting. In S. Schaltegger, M. Bennett, & R. Burritt (Eds.), Sustainability accounting and reporting (pp. 605–624). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, G. (1986). Images of organization. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orman, L. (1984). A multilevel design architecture for decision support systems. ACM SIGMIS Database, 15(3), 3–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, B., & Rautenstrauch, C. (2001). Environmental informatics - methods, tools and applications in environmental information processing. In C. Rautenstrauch & S. Patig (Eds.), Environmental information systems in industry and public administration (pp. 2–13). Hershey/London: Idea Group Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Remmen, A., Jensen, A. A., & Frydendal, J. (2007). Life cycle management – a business guide to sustainability. Paris: UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, F. et al. (2009). Understanding online social network usage from a network perspective. Proceedings of the 9th ACM SIGCOMM Conference on Internet Measurement, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, R. W., & Tietje, O. (2002). Embedded case study methods: Integrating quantitative and qualitative knowledge. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuhmacher, T. (1997). West coast Camelot. The rise and fall of an organizational culture. In S. A. Sackmann (Ed.), Cultural complexity in organizations. Inherent contrasts and contradictions (pp. 107–132). Thousand Oaks/London/New Delhi: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle, J. (1969). Speech acts. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle, J., Kiefer, F., & Bierwisch, M. (1980). Introduction. In J. Searle, F. Kiefer, & M. Bierwisch (Eds.), Speech act theory and pragmatics (pp. vii–xii). Dordrecht/Boston/London: D. Reidel Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spinosa, Ch, Flores, F., & Dreyfus, H. (2001). Disclosing new worlds – entrepreneurship, democratic action and the cultivation of solidarity. Cambridge, MA/London: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, F. W. (1911). The principles of scientific management. New York/London: Harper and Brothers Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ullrich, C. et al. (2008). Why web 2.0 is good for learning and for research: Principles and prototypes. Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on World Wide Web, Beijing, China.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weigand, H., & Lind, M. (2008). On the pragmatics of network communication. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web: Innovating the Interactive Society, Uppsala, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner, F. (2005). Ambiguities in decision-oriented life cycle inventories. Berlin/Heidelberg/New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winograd, T. (1986). A language/action perspective on the design of cooperative work. Proceedings of the 1986 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative work, Austin, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winograd, T., & Flores, F. (1986). Understanding computers and cognition. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yetim, F. (2007). Discoursium for cooperative examination of information in the context of the pragmatic web. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Pragmatic Web, Tilburg, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

    Andreas Möller

Authors
  1. Andreas Möller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Möller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nottingham University Business School, International Centre for Corporate Socia, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, United Kingdom

    Jasmin Godemann

  2. Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institute for Environmental and Sustaina, Scharnhorststraße 1, Lueneburg, 21335, Germany

    Gerd Michelsen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Möller, A. (2011). Computer Support for Cooperative Sustainability Communication. In: Godemann, J., Michelsen, G. (eds) Sustainability Communication. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1697-1_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation