How do environmental enterprise systems contribute to sustainability value? A practitioner-oriented framework

Environmental enterprise systems (EES) are integrated software services that offer a platform to automate and manage environmental sustainability processes, data, risk and reporting. EES are widely used in organisations, but their benefits depend on nurturing value creating mechanisms and pathways. Since the organisational value of EES has not been well researched and documented in the information systems literature, we have undertaken an exploratory practitioner literature analysis. The findings indicate that EES investment spurs the development of EES competence and EES-enabled capability which lead to environmental efficiency and competitive values. Based on these findings and drawing from the dynamic capability theory, we contribute an EES value framework. This paper also illustrates to business organisations how to leverage EES’s potential to improve environmental sustainability without trading off economic outcome.