ECIS 2026 (2026) AI Processed
ACTOR-NETWORKS IN CORPORATE DIGITAL SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES
This qualitative case study utilizes Actor-Network Theory to investigate how corporate actors shape and negotiate digital sustainability initiatives. By examining a specialized working group within a German insurance company, the researchers analyze the interactions and power relations between sustainability and IT/IS departments across four translation moments. The study provides practical insights on governance mechanisms to stabilize collaborative actor networks.
Problem
Organizations struggle to manage digital sustainability initiatives because they require aligning the distinct strategies, competencies, and interests of IT and sustainability departments. This tension often leads to misalignment, inefficiencies, and competing demands that hinder successful project implementation. Additionally, there is a lack of empirical understanding regarding how these diverse actors negotiate and shape digital sustainability governance in practice.
Outcome
- The case study supported that sustainability management acts as a stabilizer by establishing structural frameworks, securing senior executive backing, and fostering interdepartmental knowledge sharing.
- The analysis supported that IT/IS management often acts as a destabilizing force by imposing resource limitations, prioritizing short-term operational goals, and withholding full active engagement.
- The research demonstrated that the corporate digital sustainability actor-network remains unstable due to unresolved conflicts between sustainability goals and IT efficiency metrics.
- A limitation of these findings is their reliance on a single-case study of a German insurance company with an interview sample dominated by IT-department stakeholders.
- The analysis supported that IT/IS management often acts as a destabilizing force by imposing resource limitations, prioritizing short-term operational goals, and withholding full active engagement.
- The research demonstrated that the corporate digital sustainability actor-network remains unstable due to unresolved conflicts between sustainability goals and IT efficiency metrics.
- A limitation of these findings is their reliance on a single-case study of a German insurance company with an interview sample dominated by IT-department stakeholders.
What it means for you
- CIO / IT Executive: Schedule a 30-minute meeting with the Head of Sustainability to co-design and integrate a 'sustainability impact score' directly into the IT department's project prioritization framework, ensuring green metrics are evaluated alongside traditional cost and efficiency KPIs.
- IT Manager: Review your team's current project backlog and formally assign a senior systems engineer as the dedicated 'Green IT Liaison' to attend the sustainability working group's bi-weekly meetings, ensuring technical resource constraints are communicated early.
- Business Strategist: Draft a charter for a joint IT-Sustainability Steering Committee that outlines a shared governance model, specifically defining a conflict-resolution protocol for when short-term IT cost-cutting clashes with long-term carbon reduction targets.
- Researcher: Draft a research proposal for a multi-case study targeting non-financial sectors (such as manufacturing or retail) that intentionally oversamples sustainability managers to address the IT-biased, single-case limitation of the existing literature.
- Policymaker: Initiate a draft for a voluntary corporate digital sustainability reporting template that requires firms to disclose how their IT infrastructure procurement policies align with national green transition targets.
Transcript
Host: Welcome to A.I.S. Insights - Turning IS Research into Business Action. I am your host, Anna Ivy Summers, and today we are looking at a study titled "ACTOR-NETWORKS IN CORPORATE DIGITAL SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES." Joining me to discuss this research is our expert analyst, Alex Ian Sutherland. Welcome, Alex.
Expert: Thank you, Anna. It is great to be here to discuss this study.
Host: To start us off, could you give our listeners a brief overview of what this study is about?
Expert: Certainly. This qualitative case study investigates how different corporate actors shape and negotiate digital sustainability initiatives. The researchers analyze the interactions and power relations between sustainability and IT departments within a German insurance company. They use a framework called Actor-Network Theory to explore these dynamics across what they call four translation moments, providing practical insights on how to govern and stabilize these collaborative networks.
Host: That sounds highly relevant for today's corporate environment. What is the real-world problem that this study is addressing?
Expert: Many organizations struggle to manage digital sustainability initiatives because they require aligning two very different areas. IT and sustainability departments have distinct strategies, competencies, and interests. This difference often leads to misalignment, inefficiencies, and competing demands that can hinder project implementation. Additionally, there has been a lack of empirical understanding regarding how these diverse actors actually negotiate and shape digital sustainability governance in practice.
Host: So, how did the researchers approach this problem to find out what is actually happening?
Expert: The researchers conducted a qualitative case study at a German insurance company, which they refer to as INSCO. They focused on a specialized "digital sustainability working group" that was created to serve as the interface between the sustainability department and the IT department. The researchers collected primary data through observations of biweekly meetings and semi-structured interviews with working group members and sustainability managers. They then mapped these interactions using Actor-Network Theory to see how roles were defined, negotiated, and aligned over time.
Host: Let's talk about the key findings. What did the study reveal about how these departments interact?
Expert: The study outcome highlights a clear tension. On one hand, sustainability management acts as a stabilizer for the digital sustainability network. It does this by establishing structural frameworks, securing backing from senior executives, and fostering knowledge sharing across different departments. On the other hand, the study supported that IT management often acts as a destabilizing force.
Host: That is interesting. Why does the IT department tend to destabilize the network?
Expert: It is not necessarily intentional, but rather a result of structural alignment. The IT department often imposes resource limitations, prioritizes short-term operational goals, and sometimes withholds full, active engagement. Because of these unresolved conflicts between sustainability goals and traditional IT efficiency metrics, the corporate digital sustainability actor-network remains unstable.
Host: Are there any limitations to these findings that our listeners should keep in mind?
Expert: Yes, the researchers note a couple of important limitations. Because this is a single-case study of a German insurance company, the findings reflect that specific organizational and cultural context. Additionally, the interview sample was dominated by IT-department stakeholders, which means the data may place a greater emphasis on IT-related constraints.
Host: Understanding those constraints is valuable. How can business and technology professionals use this knowledge in their own organizations? What can practitioners actually do?
Expert: The study provides very clear, practical guidance for stabilizing these initiatives. First, organizations should not treat digital sustainability as a purely technical issue; it requires cross-departmental legitimacy. To operationalize this, practitioners can establish a formal, joint digital sustainability governance structure. This means creating a cross-departmental board that brings together sustainability, IT, and business leaders to evaluate and prioritize initiatives based on shared criteria, like strategic relevance and technical feasibility.
Host: And how would such a board manage those competing priorities you mentioned?
Expert: The board needs a formal mandate from senior management to define measurable objectives, set realistic timelines, and monitor progress. The study suggests using shared dashboards with clear metrics, such as carbon reduction or energy consumption, so everyone is looking at the same data. In addition, sustainability objectives must be integrated into standard IT routines, such as project portfolio reviews, procurement decisions, and performance management systems. Finally, organizations must provide dedicated budgets and clearly defined decision rights to these teams so that sustainability goals are not deprioritized when short-term operational challenges arise.
Host: This study really shows that success is about governance and structural alignment just as much as it is about technology. Thank you, Alex, for sharing these valuable insights with us today.
Expert: My pleasure, Anna.
Host: And thank you to our listeners for tuning into A.I.S. Insights. We hope you can apply these findings to help stabilize and advance the digital sustainability initiatives in your own organizations. See you next time.
Expert: Thank you, Anna. It is great to be here to discuss this study.
Host: To start us off, could you give our listeners a brief overview of what this study is about?
Expert: Certainly. This qualitative case study investigates how different corporate actors shape and negotiate digital sustainability initiatives. The researchers analyze the interactions and power relations between sustainability and IT departments within a German insurance company. They use a framework called Actor-Network Theory to explore these dynamics across what they call four translation moments, providing practical insights on how to govern and stabilize these collaborative networks.
Host: That sounds highly relevant for today's corporate environment. What is the real-world problem that this study is addressing?
Expert: Many organizations struggle to manage digital sustainability initiatives because they require aligning two very different areas. IT and sustainability departments have distinct strategies, competencies, and interests. This difference often leads to misalignment, inefficiencies, and competing demands that can hinder project implementation. Additionally, there has been a lack of empirical understanding regarding how these diverse actors actually negotiate and shape digital sustainability governance in practice.
Host: So, how did the researchers approach this problem to find out what is actually happening?
Expert: The researchers conducted a qualitative case study at a German insurance company, which they refer to as INSCO. They focused on a specialized "digital sustainability working group" that was created to serve as the interface between the sustainability department and the IT department. The researchers collected primary data through observations of biweekly meetings and semi-structured interviews with working group members and sustainability managers. They then mapped these interactions using Actor-Network Theory to see how roles were defined, negotiated, and aligned over time.
Host: Let's talk about the key findings. What did the study reveal about how these departments interact?
Expert: The study outcome highlights a clear tension. On one hand, sustainability management acts as a stabilizer for the digital sustainability network. It does this by establishing structural frameworks, securing backing from senior executives, and fostering knowledge sharing across different departments. On the other hand, the study supported that IT management often acts as a destabilizing force.
Host: That is interesting. Why does the IT department tend to destabilize the network?
Expert: It is not necessarily intentional, but rather a result of structural alignment. The IT department often imposes resource limitations, prioritizes short-term operational goals, and sometimes withholds full, active engagement. Because of these unresolved conflicts between sustainability goals and traditional IT efficiency metrics, the corporate digital sustainability actor-network remains unstable.
Host: Are there any limitations to these findings that our listeners should keep in mind?
Expert: Yes, the researchers note a couple of important limitations. Because this is a single-case study of a German insurance company, the findings reflect that specific organizational and cultural context. Additionally, the interview sample was dominated by IT-department stakeholders, which means the data may place a greater emphasis on IT-related constraints.
Host: Understanding those constraints is valuable. How can business and technology professionals use this knowledge in their own organizations? What can practitioners actually do?
Expert: The study provides very clear, practical guidance for stabilizing these initiatives. First, organizations should not treat digital sustainability as a purely technical issue; it requires cross-departmental legitimacy. To operationalize this, practitioners can establish a formal, joint digital sustainability governance structure. This means creating a cross-departmental board that brings together sustainability, IT, and business leaders to evaluate and prioritize initiatives based on shared criteria, like strategic relevance and technical feasibility.
Host: And how would such a board manage those competing priorities you mentioned?
Expert: The board needs a formal mandate from senior management to define measurable objectives, set realistic timelines, and monitor progress. The study suggests using shared dashboards with clear metrics, such as carbon reduction or energy consumption, so everyone is looking at the same data. In addition, sustainability objectives must be integrated into standard IT routines, such as project portfolio reviews, procurement decisions, and performance management systems. Finally, organizations must provide dedicated budgets and clearly defined decision rights to these teams so that sustainability goals are not deprioritized when short-term operational challenges arise.
Host: This study really shows that success is about governance and structural alignment just as much as it is about technology. Thank you, Alex, for sharing these valuable insights with us today.
Expert: My pleasure, Anna.
Host: And thank you to our listeners for tuning into A.I.S. Insights. We hope you can apply these findings to help stabilize and advance the digital sustainability initiatives in your own organizations. See you next time.