Abstract
Information Systems (IS) play an important role in improving the efficiency of firms’ operations and supply chains, which links to sustainability. Therefore, this study conducted a systematic literature network analysis to review 132 articles that discuss current trends in the IS discipline. Based on a citation network analysis, this study discovered three main research domains (sustainable competitive advantage, environmental sustainability, and sustainable online social communities), and two emerging research domains (the role of IS in developing countries and sustainable information infrastructures). Furthermore, a main path analysis was conducted to understand the knowledge structure of each research domain. This addresses how different trends are reflected in the IS literature related to improving firms’ competitive advantages and environmental sustainability. The results found that the sustainable competitiveness of enterprises is improved by the synergy between IS and other recourses within in the enterprises. Green IS initiatives not only solve the issues of environmental sustainability, but also enhance sustainable competitive advantage (i.e., stock price). As social media becomes the optimal enterprise communication channel, this study discusses the factors affecting sustainable online social community, such as structural dynamics (i.e., membership size, communication activity), social dynamics (the basic nature of interactions among members), participation costs, and topic consistency. Overall, the Information System literature is highly focused on three areas—economy, environment, and society, which supports Triple Bottom Line theory.
Highlights
Information Systems (IS) put emphasis on “integrating information technology solutions and business processes to meet the information needs of businesses and other enterprises” (The Association for Computing Machinery, 2005, p.14)
Empirical studies were conducted to explore how IT can improve the environmental sustainability of corporate operations, and how green IS initiatives can be implemented as a part of a corporate strategy towards the organizational sustainability process [67,69]
Due to increasing social issues regarding sustainability in many different areas, this study conducted a systematic citation network analysis on how the sustainability issue is discussed in IS literature
Summary
Information Systems (IS) put emphasis on “integrating information technology solutions and business processes to meet the information needs of businesses and other enterprises” (The Association for Computing Machinery, 2005, p.14). IS are comprised of the combination of information and communication technology (ICT), and the way in which people interact with these technologies in support of business processes [2]. In this sense, well-functioning IS are special types of work systems in which humans or machines perform processes and activities that use resources to produce specific products or services for customers [3,4]. IS for enterprises’ operations management is a pyramid of systems covering transaction processing systems at the bottom to management IS, decision support systems, and executive IS at the top, and supporting decision-making in every part of the supply chain [5]. Enterprises implement digital transformation (i.e., information systems) so that they can maintain sustainable competitive advantages over other competitors
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