an archival analysis of green information
TRANSCRIPT
AN ARCHIVAL ANALYSIS OF GREEN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: THE CURRENT
STATE AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
A Thesis Submitted In Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters by Research (Information System- IT60)
Bonny Tuskeen Tushi Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) Diploma on Business Administration
Supervisor: Dr Darshana Sedera
Dr Sharmistha Dey
Information Systems
Science and Engineering Faculty
Queensland University of Technology
2015
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions i
Keywords
Archival Analysis, Green Information Technology, Green, Environment,
Technology, Systems Information Technology, Information Systems
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions ii
Abstract
Research on Green Information Technology (IT) is becoming a prevalent research
theme in Information Systems (IS) research. This research provides a review of 199
papers published on Green IT/IS between 2007−2014. Our paper selection is unique,
as we synthesize papers from three disciplines: Computer Science, Information
Systems and Management. The research presents taxonomy of segments in Green
IT/IS publications, where the segments are later used for multiple analyses to
facilitate future research and to provide a retrospective analysis of existing
knowledge and gaps thereof. While some researchers have discussed phenomena
such as Green IT, motivation of Green IT and the Green IT adoption lifecycle, others
have chosen to focus on the importance of Green IT implementation at the
organisational and individual level. Throughout the literature, scholars try to portray
a constructive relationship between IT/IS and the environment.
This research also attempts to make a unique contribution to our understanding of
Green IT/IS, by consolidating papers it observes current patterns of literature through
approach analysis and segmentation, as well as allocating studies to the technology,
process, or outcome (TPO) stage. Highlighting the necessity of a consolidated
approach, we combine these classification systems into a TPO matrix so that the
studies could be arranged according to which stage of the Green IT cycle they were
focused on. We believe that these analyses will provide a solid platform from which
future Green IT research can be launched.
This research is different to all other review papers as we create the segmentation to
draw the overall picture of Green IT/IS with gathering all other papers that exist in
the literature and also proposes TPO matrix where articles are consolidated and
allocated.
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions iii
Table of Contents
Keywords .................................................................................................................................. i
Abstract .................................................................................................................................... ii
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... iii
List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... v
List of Tables .......................................................................................................................... vi
Statement of Original Authorship .......................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... viii
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research Question and Research Objectives .................................................................. 2 1.2.1 Research Question ............................................................................................................ 3 1.2.2 Research Objectives.......................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Scope .............................................................................................................................. 3
1.4 Contribution .................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Thesis Structure .............................................................................................................. 5
1.6 Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................... 9
2.1 What is Green IT/IS ............................................................................................................ 9
2.2 Initiatives in Green IT ....................................................................................................... 11
2.3 Benefits of Green IT/IS ..................................................................................................... 12
2.4 Green IT Policy Implementation in Different Countries .................................................. 12
2.5 Green IT/IS Policy Implementation by Organization ....................................................... 13
2.6 Archival Analysis Techniques .......................................................................................... 14
2.7 Chapter Summary and Implications .................................................................................. 15
Chapter 3: Research Design .................................................................................... 16
3.1 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 16
3.2 Research Design ................................................................................................................ 17
3.3 Method .............................................................................................................................. 17 3.3.1 Data Collection Procedure ................................................................................................ 18 3.3.2 Classification Framework and Analysis ............................................................................ 23
3.4 Ethics and Limitations ...................................................................................................... 24
3.5 Chapter Summary and Implications .................................................................................. 24
Chapter 4: Results and Analysis ............................................................................. 25
4.1 Number of Results ............................................................................................................ 25
4.2 Classification of Articles 2007-2014 ................................................................................ 29 4.2.1 Brief Overview of Green IT Literature ............................................................................. 29
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions iv
4.2.2 Publications per Year ........................................................................................................ 29 4.2.3 Publications by Discipline ................................................................................................ 30 4.2.4 Publications by Country .................................................................................................... 31 4.2.5 Publications by Theoretical Mechanisms .......................................................................... 32
4.3 Segmentation of Green IT Research ................................................................................. 42 4.3.1 Core of Green IT ............................................................................................................... 47 4.3.2 Periphery ........................................................................................................................... 53 4.3.3 Beyond Green IT ............................................................................................................... 72
4.4 Approach Analysis ............................................................................................................ 80 4.4.1 Product longevity .............................................................................................................. 83 4.4.2 Data Centre Design ........................................................................................................... 84 4.4.3 Software and Deployment Optimization ........................................................................... 84 4.4.4 Power Management .......................................................................................................... 89 4.4.5 Materials Recycling .......................................................................................................... 93
4.5 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................. 94
Chapter 5: Technology – Process – Outcome (TPO) ............................................ 94 5.1 Technology-Process-Outcome Exploration ......................................................................... 94 5.2 Chapter Summary .............................................................................................................. 100
Chapter 6: Conclusions ......................................................................................... 101
6.1 Research Gap Analysis and Future Work ....................................................................... 101
6.2 Conclusions and Outcomes ............................................................................................. 103
6.3 Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 104
6.4 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 104
Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 107
Appendix Appendix A References of Articles Read ........................................................................................... 121
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions v
List of Figures
Figure 1: Thesis Structure .......................................................................................... 5
Figure 2: Domains of Green IT (Murugesan 2008) ................................................. 10
Figure 3 Method ....................................................................................................... 18
Figure 4: Publications by Country ........................................................................... 32
Figure 5: Theory comparison ................................................................................... 42
Figure 6: Green IT Adoption/ Implementation Area (Kovačić et al. 2008) ............. 69
Figure 7: Segmentation Comparison ....................................................................... 80
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions vi
List of Tables
Table 1: Research Scope ............................................................................................ 4
Table 2: Journals Reviewed ..................................................................................... 19
Table 3: Conference Reviewed ................................................................................ 20
Table 4: Number of Articles Reviewed (Journal) .................................................... 26
Table 5: Number of Articles Reviewed (Conference) ............................................. 27
Table 6: Quantitative Growth of Publications ......................................................... 30
Table 7: Theoretical Frameworks (used) in Green IT Literature ............................. 33
Table 8: Segmentation of Publications .................................................................... 43
Table 9: Identified Articles Expressing a Holistic Review on Green IT/IS ............. 77
Table 10: Approach Analysis ................................................................................... 81
Table 11: Technology – Process – Outcome Matrix ............................................... 97
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions vii
Statement of Original Authorship
I, Bonny Tuskeen Tushi, certify that the work completed is mine alone, that the work
contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for
an award at this or any other higher education institution, that the content of this
thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official
commencement date of the approved research program, that to the best of my
knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written
by another person except where due reference is made, and relevant ethics
procedures and guidelines have been followed.
Signature: QUT Verified Signature
Date: June 2015
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions viii
Acknowledgements
First of all, I am grateful to almighty Allah who has sent me here on earth to learn
and grow and blessed me in so many ways as through special people who are part of
my life.
My deepest gratitude for support and encouragement throughout my research
study goes to my supervisor, Associate Professor Darshana Sedera. This project
could not be competed without the input and guidance provided by him. I am deeply
appreciative for the excellent direction and support I have received from him
throughout this entire process. He was not only a superb mentor, but also too
kind for words. It has been my privilege to have him as my supervisor.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr Sharmistha Dey who has
reviewed this thesis and has given me time, patient council and encouragement.
I am grateful to my distinguished colleagues in the post-grade research lab at
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for their selfless support. I had the
good fortune to make very good friends at QUT. It would be impossible to list all the
outstanding individuals that I have met here. I was blessed with the constant flow of
smart, progressive and fun individuals without whom life here would have been
colourless and who helped me to push myself intellectually and academically. We
pursue different things, have different backgrounds, and were born in quite
different countries (Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India) and yet
we share so much in common. I know that I could always stalk to them-and get the
best advice.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support, patience and
encouragement provided by my family. I am very grateful to my husband MD
An Archival Analysis OF Green Information Technology: The Current State and Future Directions ix
Istehadur Rahman who has been with me every step of the way, providing me
with friendship and extraordinary level of support, encouragement and
understanding during the endeavour. I would like to thank my parents who have
always encouraged me to pursue my dreams through higher education. My father
MD Nazrul Islam and mother Wazeda Khatun, and my sister (Noor Tuly and
Nowreen Poly) provided me their unfailing love, supports, patience and
understanding. I would never have been able to complete this without my family by
my side.
Finally, I thank all of my friends in Bangladesh and Australia, for love, support
and friendship.
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Introduction
The objective of this chapter is to provide an introduction to this research. The
introduction commences by providing a background of Green Information
Technology, which is a fundamental aspect of the research question. The research
question and the objectives are specified, followed by the scope of the study. After
that the practical contributions of this work is discussed. Next the structure of the
thesis is presented, with summaries being provided for each chapter. The
introduction then concludes with a summary of the chapter.
1.1 Background
We live in an era of Information Technology (IT) where computers, data
centres, servers, internet and other machineries play an important role in the
industrial sector. IT is to assist organizations in being smart, increase profitability
and operational efficiency and effectively to help sustain in the competitive global
market. However, the high usage of technology results in several issues, such as
extreme power consumption (Guster et al. 2009; Niyato et al. 2009) and an
expanding carbon footprint that has a detrimental effect on the environment (Forrest
et al. 2008; Fuchs 2008) and these issues induce a demand for environmental
sustainability concerns owing to global societal concerns about energy usage, climate
change, and the consequences there of. These concerns are important to the IT
sectors as high the usage of technology does contribute to the increase of greenhouse
gas emissions (Ruth 2009).
In response to these challenges, The term ‘Green Information Technology (IT)’
has been coined with reference to initiatives that are focused on reshaping IT into
environmentally friendly forms (Chetty et al. 2009; Chetty et al. 2008; Huang 2009;
Melville 2010). Green IT promotes the design, manufacture and the management of
IT equipment and services that consume minimal energy throughout the entirety of
their life-cycle (Murugesan 2008). Therefore, it can be argued that Green IT refers to
the use of IT resources in an energy-efficient and cost-effective manner (Nishant et
al. 2012).Green IT also spurs the hope that IT will be an effective means for
organizations looking in the reduction of the environmental impact of their
Chapter 1: Introduction 2
operations (Harmon and Auseklis 2009; Hasan et al. 2009; Murugesan 2008;
Vykoukal et al. 2009). Indeed The implementation of Green IT is becoming a norm
rather than a passing fashion (Bachour and Chasteen 2010).
‘Green IT’ addresses the direct impact of energy consumption and waste
associated with the use of hardware and software (Boudreau et al. 2008; McLaren et
al. 2010), whereas the related term ‘Green IS’ refers to information systems that can
be developed with or without Green IT to support environmental sustainability
initiatives (Boudreau et al. 2008; Dedrick 2010; Fradley et al. 2012; Jenkin et al.
2011; Seidel and Recker 2012; Vom Brocke et al. 2013b). Some scholars have
attempted to separate Green IT from Green IS (Brooks et al. 2012; Dedrick 2010;
Erek et al. 2012; Hedman et al. 2012; Loeser 2012), with some considering Green IT
as a part of Green IS (Brooks et al. 2012; Melville 2010), while others find these
terms to be interchangeable (Huang 2008; Mithas et al. 2010). Consistent with
Malhotra et al. (2013) and Osch and Avital (2010), we use Green IT and Green IS as
synonyms.
Scholars argue that Green IT is a relatively nascent research area (Lei and Ngai
2013; Nanath and Pillai 2012b; Tan et al. 2011). A substantial growth in academic
papers on various ‘Green’ initiatives on diverse topics is eminently visible, (Lei and
Ngai 2013). In the light of this growing interest, it is important to consolidate and
integrate the emerging body of knowledge in the Green IT/IS research area. This
importance is because in any emergent field, a clear direction is initially lacking, as
is an understanding of most relevant or important theoretical foundations. The same
holds true for the vastly increasing amount of Green IT/IS studies, conceptualizations
and proposals. In order to proceed further in this field, especially in its formative
stages of discipline development, careful reviews and normative advice is needed to
identify relevant streams of research and identify emerging bodies of knowledge -
and gaps thereof.
1.2 Research Question and Research Objectives
The research question and objectives are detailed in section 1.2.1 and 1.2.2
respectively.
Chapter 1: Introduction 3
1.2.1 Research Question
The objective of this research is to assist the developing field of Green IT/IS
research. As a key feature , in this research we summarize existing findings
concerning the ‘green’ content of IT, impact on the environment and business
operations in terms of cost minimization and gaining competitive advantage, as
reported in the literature.
This research aims to develop an archival analysis from 2007 to August 2014, and
then to classify the articles according to the classification frameworks in order to
identify current research trend and noticeable gaps in publications referencing Green
IT and Green IS. Therefore, the overarching research question in this study is:
What is the current state and future directions of Green Information
Technology (IT) and Green Information System (IS) literature?
In order to answer this question the following underlying questions need to be
answered:
Q1: What are the important trends and patterns emerged from Green IT/IS
research between 2007 and 2014?
Q2: What are the gaps that are present in the Green IT/IS literature?
Q3: How could it advance to fill some of the critical gaps remaining in this
research area?
1.2.2 Research Objectives
The fundamental objective of the research is to develop an archival analysis of Green
IT to answer the overarching research question. It is aimed that the archival analysis
will lead researchers to shift their study focus to research the gaps that are present in
the literature as opposed to researching topics that are currently at saturation point.
The underlying objectives for this research is 1) to explore Green IT literature to
identify gaps and saturation points, 2) evaluate the trends that are apparent in the
literature through performing a comprehensive archival analysis.
1.3 Scope
This literature review aims to lead researchers and practitioners to an
understanding of the current trends and anticipated future directions of Green IT. It
consolidates Green IT research from the Computer Science, Information Systems,
Chapter 1: Introduction 4
and Management disciplines. In addition, our archival analysis based on these
observations provides holistic guidance for future research. Further, a comprehensive
review of articles on Green IT and Green IS has been done to provide a better
understanding of trends in the research. In addition, any noticeable gaps in the
literature surrounding Green IT/IS have also been identified. The objective of the
research is to fulfil the current gap in the literature through developing a current
archival analysis on Green IT/IS, In order to perform this archival analysis the ranges
of scopes are presented in table 1.
Table 1: Research Scope
Scope Classifications Details
Time period studied for data collection 2007 – 2014
Data collection medium Journals, Conference, Magazines, Books
Disciplines of Journals and Conferences
reviewed
Information System (IS), Computer Science
(CS), and Management (M)
1.4 Contribution
The development of an archival analysis that identifies the gaps in the literature is
critical for both novice and experienced Information System researchers. For the
novice Green IT/IS researcher, this analysis will provide a summary of published
research areas and identifies gaps to develop their study focus. For established
researchers, the archival analysis captures insights on areas of research that have
reached theoretical saturation and will shift their study focus. This research adds
value in the Green IT/IS literature along with all other literature review papers by
creating the segmentation to draw the overall picture of Green IT/IS.
The identification of gaps and saturation points will lead to an overall shift in future
research which will enable a more comprehensive understanding of Green IT/IS
research. The proposed TPO matrix, where articles are consolidated and allocated in
order to observe current patterns of Green IT/IS literature, will provide a solid
platform from which future Green IT/IS research can be driven.
Chapter 1: Introduction 5
1.5 Thesis Structure
The thesis is consisting five sections which are: (1) introduction, (2) literature
review, (3) research design, (4) results and analysis, (5) Technology – Process –
Outcome (TPO) analysis and (6) conclusions. The structure of the thesis is shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 1: Thesis Structure Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 3: Research Design
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 4: Result and Analysis
Chapter 5: Technology – Process – Outcome (TPO) Analysis
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 1: Introduction 6
The introduction provides a background to Green IT research. Furthermore this
chapter details the research question, objectives and motivations for this research. It
clearly details the scope of the research project and explicitly states how the research
contributes to the Green IT/IS domain.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 2 of this thesis is reviewing the literature which demonstrates that this
research project fulfils a gap in the current literature. Furthermore the literature
review summarizes: what is Green IT and Green IS; the importance Green IT/IS in
society; benefits of Green IT and Green IS implementation and Green IT/IS policy
implementation by different organizations and different countries. This review of the
literature is important for the research design.
Chapter 3: Research Design
Chapter 3, research design, in the thesis describes the methodology and
research design for performing the study. The classification framework used in this
thesis and the data collection procedure are also specified in this chapter. It also
presents all the information of how the data was analysed and any states ethical
approvals and limitations that were apparent.
Chapter 4: Results and Analysis
The most important chapter of this thesis, the results and analysis, specifies the
results that were recovered through the classification of the publications. It analyses
the results obtained and providing areas for future research.
Chapter 5: Technology – Process – Outcome (TPO) Analysis
Another important chapter of this thesis, TPO analysis, presents TPO framework and
explores the Technology – Process – Outcome matrix in Green IT/IS research
domain.
Chapter 6: Conclusions
The final chapter of the thesis specifies the outcomes and conclusions of the
research. It also addresses the limitations and provides recommendations for future
work.
Chapter 1: Introduction 7
1.6 Chapter Summary
In conclusion this chapter has discussed the background of Green IT research
and highlighted the necessity for uncovering an answer to the research question,
“what is the current state and future directions of Green Information Technology (IT)
literature”. Subsequently it specifies the scope and overall objectives of the research
and also clearly illustrates the structure used to present the thesis.
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Chapter 2: Literature Review
The objective of this chapter is to compare and contrast the literature pertaining
to Green IT/IS. The topics that will be discussed within this literature review are
based upon the overall research objective, which is to develop a current archival
analysis of Green IT/IS publications with the goal of determining the current state
and future directions of this complex system. The research is underpinned by past
annotated bibliographies of Green IT literature.
This literature review commences by providing a definition of Green IT and
Green IS. Subsequently archival analysis techniques are discussed. This chapter
concludes with a chapter summary.
2.1 What is Green IT/IS
Green IT is a focal point of Information Systems (IS) research, thus researchers
have derived various definitions of Green IT. Green IT or Green Computing, (Mata-
Toledo and Gupta 2011), is the practice of implementing policies and procedures that
improve the efficiency of computing resources in such a way as to reduce the energy
consumption and environmental impact of their utilization (Baliga et al. 2011;
Kabiraj et al. 2010). To define Green IT, Trimi and Park (2013) states ‘green’ is
compound noun that refers the environment and IT, deals with environmental issues
such as environmental pollution, energy consumption, disposal and recycling of
material resources etc.
One of the highly referred /cited articles that consolidated the concept of Green
IT is (Murugesan 2008). Author has proposed four domains of Green IT which are
Green use, Green design, Green manufacturing and Green disposal of IT Systems
(shown in figure 2).
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Figure 2: Domains of Green IT (Murugesan 2008)
Figure 2: Domains of Green IT (Murugesan 2008) Green use focusses on reducing the energy consumption associated with the
computer and other information systems and use them in an environmentally sound
manner. Green disposal talks about repairing and recycling computers and electronic
equipment that might be old or unwanted. Green design considers of designing
energy efficient equipment, computers, servers and cooling equipment. Green
manufacturing trying to find out the way of manufacturing electronic machineries,
computers and other associate subsystems with minimal impact on environment or
even having no impact on environment (Murugesan 2008). In accordance with
Murugesan (2008) Green IT can be recognized as a synonym to environmentally
sound Information Technology. Information Technology is essentially the design,
implementation and management of computers that comprises both individuals and
industry level. Green IT includes multiple aspects like environmental sustainability,
energy efficiency economics, cost of disposal/recycling etc. The green technological
innovation is the key to the sustainable development.
Green IT can be considered as an optimal use of information and
communication technology to manage enterprise activities in an environmental
sustainable manner including its product, services and resources throughout their life
cycle. Eastwood (2009) gives an ample definition of Green IT as “Green IT is a
collection of strategic and tactical initiatives that directly reduces the carbon footprint
of an organization’s computing operation”.
The primary goal behind Green IT strategy is to reduce the energy
consumption, maintain the operating costs and at the same time manage the
Green Disposal
Green IT Initiatives
Green Use of IT System
Green Manufacturing
Green Design
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continuously increasing requirements for performance and capacity of resources.
Trimi and Park (2013) argues that Green IT aims to save energy and reduce carbon
emissions in order to create an environmentally-friendly IT itself which is ‘greening
the IT’, as well as using IT to reduce environmental impacts across the economy
which is ‘greening by IT’. Nanath and Pillai (2012b) also agrees with the statement
as they claims that there are direct effect and indirect effect of Green IT. The direct
effect occurs by reducing environmental impact of computers/IT and indirect by
using IT to support the business initiatives promoting sustainability. However, it is
worth mentioning that there are two sides of Green IT. Firstly, IT can be the cause of
environmental problems, and alternatively IT/IS can be used to solve environmental
issues (Nanath and Pillai 2012b).
To discuss Green IS, Butler (2011) claims that through Green IS can guide
organizations to handle toxic and hazardous materials and e-waste, design
products in green manner, re-design business processes to be more environmental
friendly, and most importantly manage energy consuming facilities.
According to Molla (2008) Green IT is a nascent field and there are few
academic researches on the topic. Jenkin et al. (2011) also agreed with this opinion.
Scholars have suggested that practitioners have begun the journey of focusing on
“Green IT” and there is little research in this field (Jenkin et al. 2011; Molla 2008).
Therefore researches need to be expanded in this area and this archival analysis can
help to magnify the research area by providing a better understanding of trends in the
research, and identify any noticeable gaps in publications referencing Green IT and
Green IS
2.2 Initiatives in Green IT
A significant amount of research has been performed on investigating Green IT
initiatives. The initiatives range from technical solutions for more sustainable IT or a
soft solution which promotes Green IT/IS. The technical solutions focus on the
energy- efficient equipment and eco-friendly hardware in terms of using, designing
and manufacturing, and disposing (Murugesan 2008). Vykoukal et al. (2009) finds IT
can be ‘Green’ by using energy efficient equipment, improving airflow management
systems to reduce cooling requirements and considering virtualization technology.
On the other side, soft solutions draw the attention of behavioural attitudes like
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paperless offices, less printing or printing on both sides, video and mobile
conferencing. Apart from explaining environmentally friendly hardware, many
scholars consider soft solutions to promote Green IT. Vlek and Steg (2007) identifies
many challenges of human behaviours and environmental sustainability, including
the significant effect of behavioural and/or environmental changes on human well-
being. Hasan et al. (2009) mention about being paperless with examples of e-
business, online surveys, e-books, online news and digital archiving. Scholars
consider education and training for the soft solutions (Herrick and Ritschard 2009)
and focus on IT users' belief and behaviour towards Green computing (Chow and
Chen 2009). A significant amount of articles considers both technical solutions and
soft solutions for Green IT implementation. Hasan et al. (2009) blame ‘internet’ as
one of the main reasons for environmental issues and propos many strategies to
convert ICT as solutions for the environmental problems. Chetty et al. (2009) explore
the combination of new computing systems with better power management and
power management habits of end users as a high potential for energy savings. While
discussing how e-waste is causing an environmental problem, Ansari et al. (2010)
suggest achieving Green IT by managing e-waste and also a soft solution like
printing both sides within the organizational level.
2.3 Benefits of Green IT/IS
Two major benefits of Green IT implementation have been identified that are
related to operating cost and the environment. In discussing Green IT/IS benefits,
Brooks et al. (2012) has said that “here are two major categories of benefits:
environmental benefits and cost reduction benefits.” Murugesan (2008) has identified
the three drivers of Green IT as economical, regulatory and ethical. Bose and Luo
(2011) also says “the three primary drivers of Green IT initiatives according to the
literature are: (1) reducing costs due to budget cuts, (2) reducing consumption due to
resource restrictions, and (3) complying with the local law.” Therefore it is evident
that Green IT aims at cost reduction as well as environmental protection.
2.4 Green IT Policy Implementation in Different Countries
Literature has shown that Green IT issues are treated with importance in
developed countries and especially is industrialized countries (Hart 2008). Europe
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holds one of the leading positions to practice Green IT/IS since almost half of
European enterprises are addressing the green and sustainable challenges (Martinez
and Bahloul 2008). The UK government puts pressure to decrease greenhouse gas by
20% before 2020 (Capra and Merlo 2009). South Korea is very close to becoming
the world leader in Green IT, as government of South Korea is enforcing
organizations to adopt policies supporting green technologies. As an example South
Korean government has introduced certification requirements for manufacturers who
want to use a “green” label on their IT devices (Castro 2009). To be concerned about
environment organizations of USA are considering adoption of technologies that
reduce energy consumption and the same time improve efficiency (Molla et al.
2009a). Green electricity policy in Netherlands can be classified into three phases: in
the early 1990s green electricity sales were on a voluntary basis, then in the second
half of the 1990s, government introduced a regulatory energy tax and finally in the
early 2000s feed-in tariff was introduced to regulate green electricity policy (Van
Rooijen and Van Wees 2006).
2.5 Green IT/IS Policy Implementation by Organization
Green IT/IS should be considered as strategic issue as it creates competitive
advantage in business, as Chou and Chou (2012) said “the Green IT/IS practices will
further create a better organizational image and a better branding will bring in more
revenues”. Therefore, organisations have started to put attention towards Green IT/IS
adoption and implementation.
Dell, a reputed computer technology corporation that develops, sells, repairs
and supports computers and related products and services, considers the environment
at every stage of the product lifecycle starting from designing to recycle. To achieve
Green IT, Dell’s initiative ranges from using environmentally preferable materials
like recycled plastics, configuring products in a manner to meet the requirements for
energy star qualification, using innovative snap-fits rather than glues and adhesives
since these can create processing challenges while recycling, providing multiple
hassle-free options for disposing e-waste either directly or through partnerships to
prevent the environmental impacts of e-waste.
(http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/uscorp1/dell-environment-greener-
products?c=us&l=en&s=corp&cs=uscorp1). Dell also claims that it became one of
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the first to introduce EPEAT -registered printers, setting a high industry standard for
sustainability.
IBM, one of the largest information technology companies, pays attention to
address direct impact of IT upon energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Therefore IBM has considered many Green IT initiatives like energy efficient
hardware, energy management software and data centers to intelligent electric utility
networks, support for solar development, carbon management, intelligent
transportation systems and more (IBM 2008). IBM has also started computer
recycling service, consumers and small businesses can recycle any manufacturer's
PCs, including system units, monitors, and printers (IBM 2008).
Samsung Electronics, a large multinational electronics and information technology
company that manufactures air conditioners, computers, digital televisions, mobile
phones, monitors, printers, refrigerators etc., states that their products are on average
16 percent more energy efficient compared with 2008 levels. Samsung also claims
that they have reduced indirect carbon emissions from newly introduced Samsung
products. Another initiative by Samsung is considering a third-party verification of
greenhouse gas emissions for their 39 global manufacturing sites. Samsung invested
488 million USD to develop energy-efficient technologies, environmentally friendly
materials and renewable energy projects. Park Sangbum, senior vice president and
head of the CS & Environment Centre, Samsung Electronics said "We're focused on
understanding the impact of everything we do and becoming a true leader in
sustainable business practices" (Samsung Electronics Co. 2010).
2.6 Archival Analysis Techniques
In the Information Systems (IS) discipline archiving has been performed to
categorise journal articles, conference proceedings and other relevant documentation
in accordance with the topic-area and archival analyses are widely utilised to identify
research trends. For example Gable (2010) classified the Information System (IS)
literature in accordance to decision making strategies for IS, use of IS, and issues of
IS. Literature reviews on Green IT and Green IS have also used classification
strategies in an attempt to archive the documentation. Authors have attempted to
classify the articles based on the topics analysed in regards to provide clear
definitions of the concepts of Green IT/IS (Loeser 2013), to identify gaps in literature
15
(Brooks et al. 2010; Brooks et al. 2012; Jenkin et al. 2011) to identify the different
research streams and research traditions (Stolze et al. 2012), and to analyse business
transformation (Elliot 2011; Malhotra et al. 2013) within Green IT and Green IS
discipline. Many authors discuss the dimensions of Green IT/IS and investigate the
theoretical frameworks to investigate Green IT/IS motivation (Gholami et al. 2013;
Koo et al. 2013; Molla and Abareshi 2012; Sarkar and Young 2009), adoption (Bose
and Luo 2011; Chen et al. 2009; Lei and Ngai 2013; Mishra et al. 2014; Nishant
2012), and implementation (Mithas et al. 2010; Nedbal et al. 2011).
The aforesaid past work demonstrates that there are a numerous of different
techniques that can be utilised to classify published articles in this research domain.
The purpose of this thesis is to perform an archival analysis from 2007 to August
2014 in Green IT and Green IS research domain.
2.7 Chapter Summary and Implications
This chapter has discussed the background of Green IT/IS and the past work
that underpins this research.
In conclusion Green IT/IS is complex and diverse/unique system that need to
be comprehended by the organisation before the implementation process
commences. There are many different facets that need to be taken into account when
implementing Green IT/IS from cost of implementation and continuation, to how to
maximise the achieved benefits of the implementation, to the phases that are inherent
in the Green IT lifecycle. A need for a current archival analysis into Green IT/IS
realm is apparent as the trends and patterns of information systems research
established between 2007 and 2014 has not been investigated. Furthermore it is
important that the identified gaps in the literature can encourage and contribute to
perform new work without continuing to research topics.
16
Chapter 3: Research Design
Chapter three describes the method utilised throughout the research project.
This research design chapter contains the research methodology used in this research,
the research design, the classification framework used, the data collection procedure
details of the analysis and required ethical approvals for the research objective to be
obtained. The objective of the research is to develop a current archival analysis of
Green IT/IS research field. Furthermore the limitations of the research design are
also specified.
3.1 Methodology
There are a number of different research methods which can be used within the
Information Systems (IS) discipline Yin (1994), which are:
Archival Analysis
Case Study
Experiment
History
Survey
The research questions and the overall objective of the research is a
fundamental component of determining which research method to utilise. The
archival analysis and survey methods seek to answer the research questions that
pertain to ‘who’, ‘what’, and ‘where’, whereas the case study and the history
methods seeks to answer research questions pertaining to ‘why’ or ‘how’ the
phenomenon of interests occurs. The experiment research method also seeks to
answer the same style of questions through controlled manipulation of dependent
variables (Yin 2014). The history methodology does not focus on contemporary
events, but the case studies do (Yin 2014).
The fundamental research question of the project is “what is the current state
and future directions of Green IT/IS literature”, with the overall objective being to
develop a current archival analysis of Green IT/IS publications from 2007 to 2014.
The research methodology used throughout the research is the archival analysis
method, as the archival analysis research method encompasses the examination and
17
analysis of recorded data (Jenkins 1985). The archival analysis research method used
for the analysis is also supported by (Yin 2014), since the research question seeks to
answer a question pertaining to ‘what’.
3.2 Research Design
There are two main research design streams are predominant in IS, quantitative
and qualitative. Finding a suitable and appropriate research design in the IS domain
is still an issue (Amaratunga et al. 2002) because of the constant debate of which
research design is the most appropriate and applicable (Mingers 2001). To determine
causal relationships between variables, quantitative research technique is mostly used
(Balnaves and Caputi 2001; Creswell 2002; Neuman and Neuman 2006).
Alternatively, there have been uses of qualitative research in the social sciences to
explore and understand the phenomenon of interest (Creswell 2002; Fowler 2014;
Ragin 2014). There is a trend of mixing and combining above two methods to
develop a mix-methodology (Alise and Teddlie 2010; Creswell 2013), yet
researchers still debate that the mix-methods design does not perfectly depict true
hypothesis analysis that is essential for quantitative analysis and it is merely
exploratory (Kaplan and Duchon 1988; Ritchie et al. 2013)
The purpose of this research is to identify the current state and future directions
of Green IT/IS literature, through the exploration and analysis of literature. As the
research question for the development of the current archival analysis is exploratory
in nature the research design utilised is qualitative.
3.3 Method
Archival analyses are widely used in the IS discipline to investigate research
trend and to identify research gaps (Eden et al. 2012; Tushi et al. 2014). The research
objective is to develop a current archival analysis of Green IT/IS to identify the
current state and future directions of Green IT/IS literature. Discussed within this
segment of the thesis is an outline of how the data was collected (refer to 3.3.1) and
the method utilised when performing the data analysis (refer to 3.3.2). Figure 3
depicts that the data collection phase consists of identifying the sources of data, and
then developing a consistent search string. The data analysis segment is comprised of
the classification framework, the procedure for analysing the results obtained for the
18
2007 to 2014 period, details how the trends will be identified and specifies how
topics for further research will be determined.
Figure 3: Method
Figure 3 Method
Figure 3: Method
3.3.1 Data Collection Procedure
The subject of study for the archival analysis is Green IT/IS publications. In
order to find the relevant literature, the data collection phase of the method is
comprised of two segments which are the identification of the sources and the
development of a search string. In this archival analysis journal, conference,
magazine articles and book chapters were reviewed. The main criticism is directed
towards the transferability, dependability and generalizability of the analysis.
However due to the substantial number of the articles sampled and the systematic,
Identify Source
Develop Search String
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Develop Classification Framework
Analyses Result 2007 to 2014
Identify Topics for Further Research
19
rigorous classification approach used, relevant findings would result and therefore
analysis of trends can be performed.
Our archival analysis on Green IT/IS literature includes studies published
between January 2007 to August 2014.Table 2 and table 3 lists all leading
Information Systems (IS), Computer Science (CS), Management (MGT) journals,
and the conferences respectively that were analysed .
Table 2: Journals Reviewed Table 2: Journals Reviewed
Name
AJIS Australasian Journal of Information Systems
AMM Applied Mechanics and Materials
BISE Business & Information Systems Engineering
CAIS Communications of the Association for Information Systems
CHB Computers in Human Behaviour
CSI Computer Standards & Interfaces
EDS Environment, Development and Sustainability
F Foresight
FGCS Future Generation Computer Systems
GJCST Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology
IEEES IEEE Software
IEEETPDS IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems
IJAIM International Journal of Accounting and Information Management
IJBM International Journal of e-Business Management
IJBR International Journal of Business Research
IJCS International Journal of Computer Science
IJPE International Journal of Production Economics
IJSE International Journal of Sustainable Engineering
IM Information & Management
IO Information and Organization
IP IT Professional
JCIS The Journal of Computer Information Systems
JMS Journal of Management Systems
JSI Journal of Social Issues
20
JSIS Journal of Strategic Information Systems
JTR Journal of Technology Research
MBT McKinsey on Business Technology
MD Management Decision
MISQ Management Information Systems Quarterly
PLDI Programming Language Design and Implementation
RSER Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
SB Service Business
SOIJ Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal
Table 3: Conference Reviewed Table 3: Conference Reviewed
Name
ACIS Australasian Conference of Information Systems
AMCIS Americas Conference on Information Systems
BI Business Insights
BP BLED Proceedings
ECIS European Conference on Information System
EGG Electronic Goes Green
EPDN Electrical Power Distribution Networks
EPTC Electronics Packaging Technology Conference
GCTI Green Computing, Technology and Innovation
GTC Green Technologies Conference
GSS Green and Sustainable Software (GREENS)
HICSS Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
ICCF International Conference on Computing Frontiers
ICEECN
International Conference on Energy-Efficient Computing and
Networking
ICCESCE
International Conference on Challenges in Environmental Science
and Computer Engineering
ICCISIS
International Conference on Complex, Intelligent, and Software
Intensive Systems
21
ICCCGC International Conference on Cluster, Cloud and Grid Computing
ICDASC
International Conference on Dependable, Autonomic and Secure
Computing
ICDCS International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems
ICEETSW
International Conference & Expo on Emerging Technologies for a
Smarter World
ICGCC International Conference on Green Computing and Communications
ICGCTI
International Conference on Green Computing, Technology and
Innovation
ICGSEW
International Conference on Global Software Engineering
Workshops
ICIMTR
International Conference on Innovation Management and
Technology Research
ICIS International Conference on Information System
ICISACCIS
International Conference Industry Session on Autonomic
Computing and Communications Industry Session
ICNBIS International Conference on Network-Based Information Systems
ICRIIS
International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information
Systems
ICSKG International Conference on Semantics, Knowledge and Grids
ICUC International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing
ICWETT
International Conference and Workshop on Emerging Trends in
Technology
IDC Inter Documentation Company
IDETCCIEC
International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and
Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
IGCCW International Green Computing Conference and Workshops
ISIEC Informing Science & IT Education Conference
ISCCG International Symposium on Cluster Computing and the Grid
ISTAS International Symposium on Technology and Society
IP IT Professional
IPEC International Power Electronics Conference
ISSOSE International Symposium on Service Oriented System Engineering
22
PACIS Pacific Asia Conference on Information System
PIC Progress in Informatics and Computing
PICMET
Portland International Centre for Management of Engineering and
Technology
NCC National Conference on Communications
RASTSCC
Recent Advances in Space Technology Services and Climate
Change
SAICSITC
South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information
Technologists Conference
SCHFCS SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
SIGUCCS
Special Interest Group on University and College Computing
Services
SST Sustainable Systems and Technology
TMESW Technology Management in the Energy Smart World (PICMET)
TF Telecommunications Forum (TELFOR)
WCS World Congress on Services (SERVICES-1)
We commenced the review of the literature with a search of the ‘senior
scholars’ basket-of-eight journals’
(http://aisnet.org/general/custom.asp?page=SeniorScholarBasket). Hence the number
of Green IT related publications in top journals were limited, we decided to expand
the search and collect articles/publications from practitioner publications
(Professional), other academic journals (Communications of the ACM), books, peer-
reviewed magazines, IEEE/ACM conference proceedings, and IS conference
proceedings including ICIS, PACIS, AMCIS, ACIS and ECIS. We expanded the
search by reviewing literature from cross-discipline sources such as information
systems, ecology and environmental science, business and law. The following
keywords were used in the search “Green, Green IT, Green IS, sustainable IT,
environmentally friendly IT, Green computer and Green ICT”. The timeframe for our
review was the years 2007 to August 2014. The rationale was that 2007 appeared to
us as the year when researchers began to explore these phenomena in IS/IT research.
Brooks et al. [2010] found that the term “Green IT” appeared at the CIO magazine
for the first time in 2007. This was also corroborated by us; finding only two papers
23
[Mingay, 2007, Vlek and Steg, 2007] appeared in 2007. Thus we consider 2007 as
the year to begin of our literature review. In conducting the literature search, several
academic databases and search engines were used such as ACM Digital Library,
Science Direct, Emerald, Google Scholar, Emerald Engineering Database, InfoSci
collection and IEEE Xplore Digital Library. We identified a set of 199 relevant
papers that provided an overview of or focused on a particular aspect of Green IT,
which we considered for further analysis.
Our initial review of the articles provided broad categories in research areas
including; strong reference to Green IT, such as how IT is causing problems for
environment; peripheral reference to Green IT involving aspects such as motivation
and lifecycle; without specific reference that factored in awareness, challenges, and
literature reviews. This resulting taxonomy was subjected to further revision and then
refined into the segmentations labelled as Core of Green IT, Periphery Topic and
Beyond Green IT, all of which will be discussed further below. These broad
categories formed the structure of the approach analysis comprising theory and
framework. Within this approach analysis, a classification system sourced from
Wikipedia, the categories are listed as; product longevity, data centre design,
software and deployment optimization, power management and materials recycling.
In combination with a Technology Process Outcome matrix it becomes possible to
draw a broad contextual reference through which to view the current research scope
of studies that have been undertaken in Green IT.
3.3.2 Classification Framework and Analysis
Each of the articles returned by the search was read to completion and the
relevance of the articles was determined. Irrelevant articles were discarded and
relevant articles were classified and positioned into relevant segments. Appendix A
depicts the articles read.
When determining the classification method to be used in this archival analysis
the most important consideration was segmenting articles pertaining to 1) the core of
Green IT, 2) periphery topics, and 3) articles considered beyond the scope of Green
IT. Another important consideration was consistency with classification employed in
Wikipedia (as of 15/03/2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_computing). This
model was chosen as an ideal format because it outlines in a comprehensive strategy
most of the key areas in which Green IT/IS is relevant. Moreover Technology –
24
Process – Outcome (TPO) analysis was considered and a TPO framework was
developed that enables a concurrence in the disciplines relevant to Green IT/IS.
3.4 Ethics and Limitations
As the subject of reference for this masters dissertation were published articles
only and did not pertain to human or animal participants or sensitive information no
ethical clearance was necessary.
Several limitations are apparent in the study. One such is that the study was
limited to 199 articles specified. The obvious criticism is directed towards the
reliability and generalizability of the analysis. Not all Green IT/IS papers are
accounted for, although we argue that examining 199 articles are useful for a nascent
research area. This study cannot assert that the result would be similar if the sample
size considers supplementary numbers of articles. Despite these limitations, this
study makes several contributions to the Green IT/IS research field. It opens up
various opportunities for establishing cumulative knowledge to the discipline and
will help researchers to identify potential focuses in future studies.
3.5 Chapter Summary and Implications
This chapter has examined the different research designs and methods available
in Green IT/IS research domain. The methodology selected was the archival analysis
as it fulfilled the primary objective of the research, which was to develop an archival
analysis of Green IT/IS. The research design used was qualitative, with no statistical
quantitative analysis being performed. The main outcome of this chapter however
was the selection of publications to analyse, the development of a search string, and
the selection of an appropriate classification framework which would successfully be
able to categorise the articles.
25
Chapter 4: Results and Analysis
This chapter details the results obtained from categorising the articles into the
relevant topics in the classification framework. Subsequently it provides a detailed
analysis of the results, which succinctly answers the research question which is:
‘what is the current state and future directions of Green IT/IS literature’. Included
within this chapter are the number of articles that were reviewed per journal,
conference, magazine & book chapter and an analysis of the 2007 to August 2014
time period.
In our analysis, we identified a total of 199 publications in the reviewed publications
from 2007 to August 2014 that are relevant to Green IT and Green IS. Table 4 and
table 5 summarise the number of articles reviewed from 2007 to 2014 respectively.
Cumulatively, the table shows a total of 58 journal articles and a total of 131
conference articles from 2007 to 2014. The remainder of this section discusses the
categorisation and analysis of articles published from 2007 to 2014. We discuss the
main topics and sub-topics of Green IT/IS in our top Information Systems, Computer
Science and Management journals and conferences, their current understanding and
potentially interesting fronts for Green IT/IS researchers.
4.1 Number of Results
From 2007 to August 2014 a total of 199 publications were being deemed to be
considered relevant and therefore categorised into the classification framework (refer
to table 4 and table 5), after discarding irrelevant publications.
The purpose of this research is to develop an archival analysis from 2007 to
August 2014, and then to classify the articles according to the classification
frameworks in order to identify current research trend and noticeable gaps in
publications referencing Green IT and Green IS.
26
Table 4: Number of Articles Reviewed (Journal)
Table 4: Number of Articles Reviewed (Journal)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total
AJIS - - - 2 1 - - - 3
AMM - - - - - - - 1 1
BISE - - - - 2 - 1 - 3
CAIS - - - 1 1 1 2 - 5
CHB - - - - - - - 1 1
CSI - - - - - 1 1 - 2
EDS - 1 - - - - - - 1
F - - - - - 1 - - 1
FGCS - - - - - 1 - - 1
GJCST - - - 1 - - - - 1
IEEES - - - - - - - 1 1
IEEETPDS - - - - 1 - - - 1
IJAIM - - - - - 1 - - 1
IJBM - - 1 - - - - - 1
IJBR - - 1 - - - - - 1
IJCS - - - - 1 - - - 1
IJPE - - - - - - 1 - 1
IJSE - - - - - 1 - - 1
IM - - - - - - 1 - 1
IO - - - - 1 - - - 1
IP - 2 - - 2 1 - - 5
JCIS - - 2 - - 1 - - 3
JMS - - - - - 1 - - 1
JSI 1 - - - - - - - 1
JSIS - - - - 5 - - - 5
JTR - - - - 1 - - - 1
27
MBT - 1 - - - - - - 1
MD - - - - - - 1 - 1
MISQ - - - 2 1 - 4 - 7
PLDI - - - 1 - - - - 1
RSER - - - - - 1 - - 1
SB - - - - - - 1 - 1
SOIJ - - - - 1 - - - 1
Total 1 4 4 7 17 10 12 3 58
Table 5: Number of Articles Reviewed (Conference)
Table 5: Number of Articles Reviewed (Conference) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total
ACIS - 2 - - 1 1 2 - 6
AMCIS - - 3 11 3 4 3 7 31
BI - - 1 - - - - - 1
BP - - - - - 1 - - 1
ECIS - - 2 1 - - - 2 5
EGG - - - - - 1 - - 1
EPDN - - - - - 1 - - 1
EPTC - 2 - - - - - - 2
GCTI - - - - - - 1 - 1
GTC - - - 1 - - - - 1
GSS - - - - - - 1 - 1
HICSS - - - - 1 - 1 - 2
ICCF - - - 1 - - - - 1
ICECN - - - 1 - - - - 1
ICCESCE - - - 1 - - - - 1
ICCISIS - - - - 2 1 - - 3
ICCCGC - - - 1 3 - - - 4
ICDASC - - - - 2 - - - 2
ICDCS - - - - 1 - - - 1
ICEECN - - - 1 - - - - 1
28
ICEETSW - - - - 1 - - - 1
ICGCC - - - - 3 - - - 3
ICGCTI - - - - - - 1 - 1
ICGSEW - - - - - - 1 - 1
ICIMTR - - - - - 1 - - 1
ICIS - - 3 2 2 6 - - 13
ICISACCIS - - 1 - - - - - 1
ICNBIS - - - - - 1 - - 1
ICRIIS - - - - - - 1 - 1
ICSKG - - - - - - 1 - 1
ICUC - 1 - - - - - - 1
ICWETT - - - - 2 - - - 2
IDC - 1 - - - - - - 1
IDETCCIEC - - - 1 - - - - 1
IGCCW - - - - 1 - - - 1
ISCCG - - 1 - - - - - 1
ISIEC - 1 - - - - - - 1
ISSOSE - - - - 1 - - - 1
ISTAS - - - 1 - - - - 1
IP - - - - 1 - - - 1
IPEC - - - 1 - - - - 1
PACIS - 1 3 1 3 2 3 2 15
PIC - - - 1 - - - - 1
PICMET - - 1 - - - - - 1
PLDI - - - 1 - - - - 1
NCC - - - - - 1 - - 2
RASTSCC - - 1 - - - - 1
SAICSITC - - - - - 1 - 1
SCHFCS - 1 1 - - - - - 2
SIGUCCS - - 1 - - - - - 1
SST - - 1 - - - - - 1
TMESW - - - - 1 - - - 1
29
TF - - - - - - 1 - 1
WCS - - - 1 - - - - 1
Total - 9 18 29 28 21 16 11 131
4.2 Classification of Articles 2007-2014
This segment of the report depicts the results obtained in 2007 to August 2014
time period from the conduction of the segmentation of articles in accordance with
the classification schemas. The following section of this dissertation includes the
categorisations and brief description of all relevant publications read.
4.2.1 Brief Overview of Green IT Literature
The Green IT literature to date is largely constructed on basis of case studies
and surveys of current practices. A significant amount of research has been
performed on Green IT implementation, the motivation for Green IT, organizational
readiness and capability to adopt Green IT, with these and related topics all being
analysed by various methods of analysis, such as case studies, interviews and
surveys. We found that most studies reporting on empirical studies collected data at
the organizational level (Cai et al. 2013; Cater-Steel and Tan 2011; Molla 2009;
Molla and Abareshi 2012; Molla et al. 2009a; Nanath and Pillai 2012b). We also
found studies that considered data from both organizations and individuals (Ansari et
al. 2010), from individuals/end users (Chetty et al. 2009; Chetty et al. 2008; Chow
and Chen 2009; Sarkar and Young 2009; Woodruff et al. 2008). In terms of methods
employed we observed studies perusing, online surveys (Chai-Arayalert and Nakata
2011; Kuo and Dick 2010; Molla and Abareshi 2011a), analyses of secondary source
data (Chai-Arayalert and Nakata 2011; Jain et al. 2011; Molla 2009; Molla et al.
2009c) and also examples of combination of mixed method inquiries (Nazari and
Karim 2012).
4.2.2 Publications per Year
Table 6 provides the total number of articles from journals, conferences, and
miscellaneous sources such as books, peer-reviewed magazines, IEEE/ACM
conference proceedings on a year-by-year basis from 2007 to 2014 related to Green
IT. The data suggests an increasing interest in Green IT since 2007, with recent years
depicts showing an incremental decline in research interest as measured by published
30
articles. We note that recent data (e.g. 2014) may also be skewed due to publication
lag times typically associated with academic journals and other outlets and we may
see further articles appearing in retrospect.
Table 6: Quantitative Growth of Publications
Table 6: Quantitative Growth of Publications
Year Journal Article Conference Article Others Total
2007 1 - 1 2
2008 4 9 1 14
2009 4 19 3 26
2010 7 28 - 35
2011 15 27 1 43
2012 11 23 3 37
2013 12 14 - 26
2014 4 11 1 16
Total 58 131 10 199
The increase of publications in recent years depicts the obvious importance of
Green IT/IS as the sample of this study surfaced that only 2 articles were published
in 2007 and has increased to 14 in 2008. A significant increase as much as 26 was
seen in 2009, and a further upward trend to 35 articles in 2010 and 43 articles in
2011. Year 2012 stands out with a decline in the trend with only 37 publications and
the trend is continued to 2013 with 26 articles. This sample distribution represents
the available publications in 2014 (16 articles) which reflects the lag in times for
publication and the number would increase.
4.2.3 Publications by Discipline
For furthering research in Green IT, the most appropriate disciplines were
deigned to be Information Systems, Computer Science and Management. They have
specially been chosen for their relevance to the expansion of Green IT/IS research.
An Information System is a consolidated group of modules for the collection,
storage, and processing of data that is designed to convey information and deliver
applications. Commercial entities use information systems for efficient management,
communication, and interaction with customers and suppliers. Computer Science is
the methodical approach to computation and its applications. It comprises the
31
systematic study of the feasibility, structure, expression, and mechanization of the
processes such as the algorithms that support acquisition, representation, analysis,
storage, communications and access to information. Management concerns in Green
IT are focused on overseeing the organisational initiatives that have been taken up
for the implementation of Green IT; specifically on assessing its feasibility and
subsequently facilitating its progress. There were also a few publications that fell
outside these three nominated disciplines, such as in the areas of business, law, and
manufacturing, and these have been classified under the heading of 'Others'. For
example, ‘manufacturing’ concerns in Green IT regards how the material used in the
manufacturing of electronic devices involves the use of a number of toxic metals. It
also takes note of the large amount of water consumed in the manufacturing process.
Furthermore it is observed that, the global reserves, specially, the rare earth elements
are steadily decreasing and the recycling initiatives are becoming crucial for
sustainable computing. A comparison of these disciplines will reveal which is the
most predominant in terms of referencing. To determine the classification category
of the publication, the focus of either the conference or journal from which the article
was sourced was considered for its emphasis on CS, IS or MGMT.
4.2.4 Publications by Country
The Green IT research data sources were then examined on the basis of the countries
from where the data was available. Although not all papers had the name of the
country mentioned, most studies tend to focus on developed nations such as Australia
(Cater-Steel and Tan 2011; Hasan et al. 2009; Huang 2008; Loock et al. 2011; Molla
2009; Molla and Abareshi 2011a; Molla et al. 2009a; Molla et al. 2009c; Sarkar and
Young 2009; Woodruff et al. 2008), USA (Bose and Luo 2012; Chetty et al. 2009;
Chetty et al. 2008; Marett et al. 2013; Metzger et al. 2012; Molla et al. 2009a;
Woodruff et al. 2008), UK (Chai-Arayalert and Nakata 2011), Sweden (Bengtsson
and Ågerfalk 2011; Nazari and Karim 2012), New Zealand (Molla 2009),The
Netherlands (Collins et al. 2007). Only a handful of studies gave consideration to
developing nations such as China (Cai et al. 2013; Zhiwei 2012), Morocco (Hanne
2011), Hong Kong (Chow and Chen 2009), Serbia (Kovačić et al. 2008), South
Africa (Lamb 2011), India (Datta et al. 2010) and Bangladesh (Ansari et al. 2010).
Lee et al. 2013 also urgues/says that developed countries governments are leading
the green movement by providing sustained government support, both financial and
32
regulatory, to create individual, business and national awareness, and motivation and
responsibility for an environment friendly world. From our data sample, only five
analytical articles (Kuo and Dick 2010; Molla 2009; Molla et al. 2009a; Trimi and
Park 2013; Woodruff et al. 2008) collected data from multiple countries
simultaneously, although it was not for the purpose of examining the adoption of
Green IT and Green IT policy in developed countries when compared to developing
countries. This lack of focus on major developing nations such as India, China,
Brazil and Russia is a concern. Figure 4 presents the number of publications by
country.
These major developing nations named as “big polluters that have burgeoning
business opportunities featuring high level IT usage at the beginning of the 21st
century, brought accompanying increase of environmental pressures. Hence, it
becomes all the more imperative to have an expansion in the implementation of
Green IT studies throughout the region. Further it is important to take preventive
measures with regard to other developing nations, where Industrialization will soon
be adding to global environmental costs.
Figure 4: Publications by Country
Figure 4 : Publications by Country
4.2.5 Publications by Theoretical Mechanisms
In understanding the trend of Green IT research, it is important to address the issue
of theoretical frameworks pursued to understand Green IT phenomena.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
33
Table 7 depicts the theoretical frameworks used in the Green IT research area.
Eighteen theories and twelve frameworks have been identified from the literature.
Most of these were used only once except ‘technology organization environment’,
‘institutional theory’, ‘actor network theory’, ‘motivation theory’, which were used
by multiple research teams. Few studies consider more than one theory in order to
analyse a particular trait of Green IT in one article. For example, Butler (2011)
considers institutional theory and Organizational Theory, Koo et al. (2013) use
motivation theory and reference group theory and Bose and Luo (2011) employ the
theories of technology–organization–environment, process virtualization, and
diffusion of innovation. Lei and Ngai (2013), in their literature review paper, argue
that except DoI theory, all other identified theoretical frameworks serve only a single
purpose. Lei and Ngai (2013) have identified fifteen theoretical frameworks from the
literature and according to their purposes; the theoretical frameworks are classified
into the categories called: taxonomy, general Green IT initiatives, and specific type
of Green IT initiatives. Howard and Lubbe (2012) synthesize frameworks in the
Green IS research area in order to investigate “how organizations can use the existing
Green IS frameworks to achieve strong environmental sustainability”. In their article,
the authors distributed the identified frameworks into extractions of inclusions into
the synthesized framework and categorized them into a three-tier framework with
three layers of granularity.
This research adds to the existing literature reviews through focusing on the analysis
of theories and framework used by Green IT/IS researchers without any subsequent
classifications, aside from dividing them into the two broad categories of theory and
framework. It gives due consideration to the most recently articles published in
Green IT/IS literature for the purpose of further exposition to serve as a reference for
justifying the selection of any particular theory or framework.
Table 7: Theoretical Frameworks (used) in Green IT Literature
Table 7: Theoretical Frameworks (used) in Green IT Literature
Theoritical
Machanisoms/
Frameworks
Reference Explanation
Theories Technology–
Organization–
(Bose and
Luo 2011)
Assessment of Green IT initiatives and the
implementation stages of Green IT at the
34
Environment organisational level
(Lei and Ngai
2013)
Discussion of Green IT adoption
(Nedbal et al.
2011)
Incorporating implementation success and
acceptance technology
(Zheng 2014) Proposing a Green IT/IS adoption model of
the factors of business strategies (proactive
strategy and reactive strategy), and three
aspects (regulations, competitiveness &
ecological responsibility) of Green IT/IS
motivations
Institutional
Theory
(Butler 2011) Explanation of the forces acting upon
organisations from both within the
institutional environment and the
organisational fields in relation to
environmental sustainability and
regulatory compliance
(Sarkar and
Young 2009)
Understanding the drivers of corporate
environmentalism and analysis of how
external social pressure influences
organisational behaviour and policy-
making
(Daly and
Butler 2009)
Analysing the effects that regulative,
normative, and cultural-cognitive
influences have in shaping environmental
responsibility in organisations
Organisational
Theory
(Butler 2011) Clarifying and bringing into perspective
the responses that organisations make from
within in to such forces
Actor Network (Bengtsson
and Ågerfalk
Investigation of the effects of a
sustainability initiative in the municipality
35
Theory 2011) of Uppsala, Sweden and understanding the
driving forces of sustainability initiatives
and examining the roles of human and
non-human actants in that process of the
initiative
(Aoun et al.
2011b)
Studying the use of collaborative
technologies for eco-mobilisation among
Environmental Non-Governmental
Organisations (ENGOs) to achieve shared
environmental goals
(Fradley et al.
2013)
Investigation of the heterogeneous actors’
engagement in complex patterns of
interaction in their Green IS development
efforts
Theory of
Reasoned
Action
(Chow and
Chen 2009;
Sarkar and
Young 2009)
Examining the belief and behavior of IT
users in green computing
(Sarkar and
Young 2009)
Understanding how managerial attitudes
and subjective norms influence the
strategic initiatives of an organisation
(Mishra et al.
2014)
Investigating human behavior for the
adoption of Green IT
Natural
Resource-
Based View
(Dao et al.
2011)
Integrating IT resources with the HRM and
SCM resources that influence firms to
develop sustainability capabilities
(Nishant
2012)
Examining the impact and the extent of
Green IS adoption on organizational
performance including the impact of
different dimensions of sustainability
portfolio
36
(Nishant et
al. 2013)
Analysing of different sustainability
practices that can create competitive
advantage for the organization
(Rahim and
Rahman
2013)
Identifying the relationship between
Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV)
and Green IT capability
(Chen et al.
2009)
Investigating the pressures to motivate the
adoption of green practices across
organizations
Process-
virtualization
(Bose and
Luo 2011)
Assisting business managers to adopt
Green IT
Diffusion of
innovation
(Bose and
Luo 2011)
Assessment of Green IT initiatives and the
Green IT implementation stages at the
organisational level
(Nedbal et al.
2011)
Linking outsourcing with sustainable IS to
examine the possibilities of organizations
engaging in green and sustainable
initiatives
Theory of
Planned
Behavior
(Chow and
Chen 2009)
Examining the beliefs and behaviors of IT
users in green computing (TPB is an
extension to the model of TRA)
Environmental
Theory of
Planned
Behaviour
(Mancha et
al. 2014)
Exploring the decision-making process
when consequences for the environment
exist and predicting environmentally-
friendly behavioural intentions. Also
aiming to examine preservation and
utilization attitudes and behaviours in
organizational settings
Motivation
Theory
(Koo et al.
2013)
Explaining the relationship between
motivation aspects, perceived usefulness,
and ‘group theory’ to analyse how the
37
reference group moderates the relationship
(Molla and
Abareshi
2011a)
Identifying the motivations (influential
factors) for adoption of Green IT in
organisations and analyses of
organizational eco-sustainability influence
in the adoption of Green IT
(Molla and
Abareshi
2012)
Investigation of the motivational factors
that influence Green IT adoption by
organisations
Reference
Group Theory
(Koo et al.
2013)
Analysis of how the reference group
moderates the relationship
Stakeholder
Theory
(Cai et al.
2013)
Identifying the political factors (public
concerns and regulatory forces) and
economic factors (cost reduction and
differentiation) in the adoption of Green IT
(Kim and Ko
2010)
Distinguishing Green IT leaders from
Green IT followers by considering the key
financial and accounting variables and
their relation to the pressure being applied
by the stakeholder
Extended
Model of
Goal-directed
Behavior
(Loock et al.
2013)
Outlining of how information systems
plays a key part in encouraging energy
saving measures within domestic settings
with emphasis on the importance of the
goal setting initiatives required to affect
these outcomes. (argues that EMGB is
redefinition of TPB)
Theory of
Absorptive
Capacity
(Cooper and
Molla 2012)
Study of an IT organisation’s Green IT
capability
(Cooper and Utilising the theory of absorptive capacity
the authors identified that it has has a
38
Molla 2013) small to medium effect on Green IT
assimilation
Contextual
Theory
(Cooper and
Molla 2013)
Utilising contextual theory the authors
uncovered that absorptive capacity theory
has a medium to large scale effect on
Green IT assimilation
Structuration
Theory
(Grant and
Appan 2014)
Scrutinizing the role of structuration theory
in the ‘routinization of Green IS practices
(GISP)’ that helps to achieve tangible and
intangible organizational benefits
Resource-
Dependence
Theory
(Datta et al.
2010)
Understanding the nature of the exchange
relationship between IT Service Providers
and client organizations
Transaction
Cost Theory
(Nedbal et al.
2011)
Integration of outsourcing success
Socio-
technical
System Theory
(Seidel et al.
2013)
Study of how an organizational work
system can be transformed to attain
environmental sustainability targets
Information
System Design
Theory
(Hilpert et al.
2014)
Providing directions for design of Green IS
for sustainability reporting (SR)
Contingency
Theory
(Opitz et al.
2014)
Demonstrating the fit between
contingencies and the company-specific
configuration of Green IT as the
organizations will be able to select the
most successful Green IT governance form
by greater understanding of how Green IT
governance is shaped by the contingency
factors
Theory of (Ijab et al. Discussion of the emergence and the
recurrent use of Green IS practice in
39
Practice 2012) organisations to understand the complexity
of practice phenomenon
(Taha Ijab et
al. 2011)
Identification of how Green Information
Systems (Green IS) are utilised in
organisations
Frameworks Balanced
Scorecard
(Jain et al.
2011)
A balanced scorecard (BSC) is proposed to
align Green IT initiatives with
performance measurement indicators. BSC
provides a framework with four
dimensions: I) Financial dimension (II)
Internal operations, (III) Customer
dimension (IV) Innovation and learning
dimension
Belief–Action–
Outcome
Framework
(Gholami et
al. 2013)
Study of the motivational drivers of a
company for Green IS adoption and
identification of the impact on the
environmental performance of the firm.
(Stiel 2014) Identifying the values and research issues
of discrete event simulation in Green IS
research and illustrating the causal
relations between organizational, social
and physical structures, individual objects
as well as the outcomes in their interaction
(Melville
2010)
Study of how society and shape beliefs
about green products (beliefs), the actions
taken to develop green products (actions),
and the impacts of these beliefs and
actions on the environment and the
organization (outcome)
(Mithas et al.
2010)
Investigattion of antecedents and
consequences of green IT implementation,
40
and finds that the the commitment of top
management plays an important role in
the implementation of Green IT in
organizations
G-Readiness
Framework
(Molla et al.
2008)
G-readiness is a measure of preparedness
for being environmentally responsive and
competitive, based on this concept, to help
organisations evaluate their readiness for
adopting Green IT
Energy
Efficiency and
Low Carbon
Enabler Green
IT Framework
(Uddin and
Rahman
2012)
Energy efficiency and low carbon
enabler Green IT framework for large
and complex server farms to save
consumption of electricity and reduce
the emission of green house gases to
lower the effects of global warming
Implementatio
n Framework
(Mann et al.
2009)
a practical three step implementation
framework with a unique sustainability-
based feedback mechanism in order to
understand what combination of Green IT
practices might optimally benefit in
different scenarios
U-Commerce (Pitt et al.
2011)
Four dimensions of U-Commerce (also
refered to as u-space) proving that the
organizations are trying to pursue and
elevate environmentally sound strategies
by using the unique characteristics of
smartphones
Political–
Economic
Framework
(Cai et al.
2013)
Identifying the political factors (public
concerns and regulatory forces) and
economic factors (cost reduction and
differentiation) for the adoption of Green
41
IT
Green IT
Alignment
Framework
(Erek et al.
2011)
Strategic Green IT Alignment Framework
can guide the decision-makers in selecting
an appropriate Green IT strategy for
achieving corporate sustainability targets
leveraged with competitiveness
Business
transformation
framework
(Elliot 2011) Business transformation framework
addresses four key issues of uncertainty:
(I) What is environmental sustainability
(II) Major challenges of environmental
sustainability (III) What is being done
about these challenges (IV) What is
needed to be done
Green IS
Lifecycle
Framework
(Ijab et al.
2010)
Conceptualising ‘Green IS’ and offering a
theoretical framework called Green IS
Lifecycle Framework (GISLF)”, based on
what, where, how & when to inscribe
Green into IS. In the proposed framework
‘what’ indicates - “the inscription and
enactment of values of eco-sustainability”,
‘where’ indicates - “spirit, practice and
impact”, ‘how’ indicates - “design and
development” and ‘when’ indicates “pre-
use, use, and post-use”
Functional
Affordance
Framework
(Seidel et al.
2013)
Identification of important functional
affordances that originate in information
systems
Organizing
Vision
Framework
(Fradley et al.
2012)
Employment to facilitate organizing vision
processes to help organizational actors to
understand of how the variety of their
interests can be served by Green IS
42
Green IT
Value Model
(Chou and
Chou 2012)
Green IT value model which depicts the
relationship among these components and
the impacts of Green IT. Awareness,
translation, comprehension, and Green IT
value are the four major components
An examination of this data collection shows that researchers have been taking into
consideration both established and newly emerging theories. G-Readiness
Framework is the best example of a recent proposal where the authors examine such
a new theory across a wide range of literature (Molla and Cooper 2010; Molla et al.
2008; Molla et al. 2011; Molla et al. 2009b). Figure 5 depicts the comparison of
frameworks and theories used in Green IT and Green IS literature.
Figure 5: Theory comparison Figure 5: Theory comparison Green IT is a nascent area that aims to convert existing IT into new and different
forms to reduce emmisions impact on the environment while still maintaining the
same, or even increase the level of performance. Therefore, while established
theories are still necessary, researchers have to remain aware that the compilation of
new theories and frameworks are essential with ongoing advances across the Green
IT disciplines.
4.3 Segmentation of Green IT Research
An initial analysis of this batch of articles revealed three broad categories of
research areas; 1) the core of Green IT, 2) periphery topics, and 3) articles considered
13
23
0
5
10
15
20
25
Frameworks Theories
43
beyond the scope of Green IT. Articles categorized as Core Green IT focus on
fundamental concepts of Green IT including describing what Green IT is, how it is
causing problems to the environment and also how IT can be transformed into Green
IT. Periphery topics examine lifecycles, motivations and initiatives surrounding
Green IT. Beyond Green IT topics address further themes of Green IT such as
awareness, cost of implementation, readiness and capability of organization etc. and
typically consider a wider scenario in which Green IT is included instead of
specifically referring or focusing on Green IT itself. This category includes articles
realizing the future of Green IT/IS, trying to identify the challenges of Green IT/IS,
analysing the costing of Green IT/IS implementation and reviewing published
literatures in Green IT/IS research area. Table 8 summarizes the classification of
articles into the categories that comprise segmentation of published articles. We
discuss each segment in turn.
Table 8: Segmentation of Publications
Table 8: Segmentation of publications
Segmentation
of published
articles
Sub Categories
of
Segmentation
Indication Reference
Core of Green
IT
Green IT/IS What is Green
IT?
(Bose and Luo 2012; Boudreau et al. 2008;
Brocke et al. 2013; Capra and Merlo 2009;
Dedrick 2009; Garg et al. 2010; Iacobelli et
al. 2010; Loeser 2013; Loos et al. 2011;
Mann et al. 2009; Mines et al. 2007; Molla
and Abareshi 2011a; Murugesan 2008; Ruth
2009)
IT and
Environment
How IT is
affecting
environmental
sustainability
(Ansari et al. 2010; Bose and Luo 2011;
Butler 2011; Cooper and Molla 2012; Fuchs
2008; Koo et al. 2013; Molla and Abareshi
2011a; Molla and Abareshi 2011b;
Murugesan 2008; Nedbal et al. 2011; Ruth
2009; Trimi and Park 2013)
44
How IT can
help to promote
environmental
sustainability
(Butler 2011; Chen et al. 2009; Cooper and
Molla 2012; Harmon et al. 2012; Jenkin et al.
2011; Kuo and Dick 2010; Lee et al. 2013;
Mithas et al. 2010; Molla and Abareshi
2011b; Molla and Cooper 2010; Nedbal et al.
2011; Pernici et al. 2012; Rahim and Rahman
2013; Ruth 2009; Sarkar and Young 2009;
Sayeed and Gill 2009; Seidel et al. 2010;
Thirupathi Rao et al. 2010; Trimi and Park
2013; Zhang et al. 2010)
Periphery
Motivation Use of Green
IT for
operational cost
reduction
(Chang 2009; Herrick and Ritschard 2009;
Kuo and Dick 2010; Marett et al. 2013;
Molla and Abareshi 2011a; Murugesan 2008;
Nishant et al. 2012; Sayeed and Gill 2009;
Unhelkar 2012; Vykoukal et al. 2009; Wang
2008; Yang et al. 2010)
Green IT for
environment
sustainability
(Brocke et al. 2012; Cai et al. 2013; Elliot
2011; Fuchs 2008; Gholami et al. 2013; Kim
and Ko 2010; Murugesan 2008; Osch and
Avital 2010; Rogers et al. 2013; Seidel and
Recker 2012; Simmonds and Bhattacherjee
2012; Vom Brocke et al. 2013a; Vom Brocke
et al. 2013b; Watson et al. 2010; Ying and
Al-Hakim 2010; Yunus et al. 2013)
Green IT for
regulatory
compliance
(Butler 2012; Cai et al. 2013; Chen et al.
2009; Fradley et al. 2013; Fradley et al. 2012;
Hilpert et al. 2014; Lei and Wai Ting Ngai
2012; Zheng 2014)
Green IT for
creating value,
and competitive
advantage
(Esty and Winston 2009; Loeser et al. 2011;
Nishant et al. 2011; Nishant et al. 2013; Wati
and Koo 2011)
Lifecycle Pre-adoption (Chou 2013; Dao et al. 2011; Datta et al.
45
2010; Grant and Marshburn 2014; Hanne
2011; Harmon and Auseklis 2009; Herrick
and Ritschard 2009; Kovačić et al. 2008; Kuo
and Dick 2010; Lamb 2011; Lei and Ngai
2014; Molla and Abareshi 2011a; Molla and
Cooper 2010; Molla et al. 2009a; Nazari and
Karim 2012; Nomani and Cater-Steel 2014;
Pauwels et al. 2012; Schmidt et al. 2010a;
Trimi and Park 2013)
Adoption (Cater-Steel and Tan 2011; Chen et al. 2009;
Cooper and Molla 2012; Datta et al. 2010;
Gholami et al. 2013; Hasan et al. 2009;
Huang 2008; Mithas et al. 2010; Rao et al.
2011; Sarkar and Young 2009; Seidel et al.
2010; Simmonds and Bhattacherjee 2014;
Taha Ijab et al. 2011; Woodruff et al. 2008;
Yunus et al. 2013)
Post- adoption (Nanath and Pillai 2012b; Nedbal et al. 2011;
Nishant 2012; Nishant et al. 2013)
Initiatives Technical
Solution
(Aoun et al. 2011a; Chen and Yoon 2010;
David 2008; Doh et al. 2010; Dubey and
Hefley 2011; Hasan et al. 2009; Krikke 2008;
Metzger et al. 2012; Murugesan 2008; Rao et
al. 2011; Ruth 2009; Scott and Watson 2012;
Seidel et al. 2013; Thirupathi Rao et al. 2010;
Vykoukal et al. 2009; Zhang et al. 2010)
Soft Solution (Ansari et al. 2010; Chetty et al. 2009; Chetty
et al. 2008; Chow and Chen 2009; Elliot
2011; Erek et al. 2011; Hasan et al. 2009;
Herrick and Ritschard 2009; Mohan et al.
2012; Woodruff et al. 2008)
Adoption Level Macro Level
(Regional/
(Lee et al. 2013; Marett et al. 2013; Zhiwei
2012)
46
National)
Mezzo Level
(Organizational
)
(Bachour and Chasteen 2010; Cai et al. 2013;
Esty and Winston 2009; Fradley et al. 2012;
Gavrilovska et al. 2013; Grant and Appan
2014; Grant and Marshburn 2014; Hedman et
al. 2012; Ijab et al. 2012; Kuo 2010; Loeser
2012; Martinez and Bahloul 2008; Molla
2008; Molla 2009; Molla et al. 2008; Nanath
and Pillai 2012b; Rawai et al. 2013; Unhelkar
2012; Wang and Wang 2011)
Micro Level
(Individual)
(Chetty et al. 2009; Chetty et al. 2008; Chow
and Chen 2009; Kovačić et al. 2008; Loock
et al. 2011; Loock et al. 2013; Sarkar and
Young 2009; Schmidt et al. 2010b; Wang
and Wang 2011; Woodruff et al. 2008)
Beyond Green
IT
Pre-
implementation
Awareness (Ansari et al. 2010; Babin and Nicholson
2009; Babin and Nicholson 2011; Chai-
Arayalert and Nakata 2011; Chou 2013;
Chou and Chou 2012; Corbett et al. 2010;
Korte et al. 2012; Vazquez et al. 2011)
Organizational
readiness to
adopt Green IT
(Cooper and Molla 2010; Molla and Cooper
2010; Molla et al. 2008; Molla et al. 2009a;
Sayeed and Gill 2009; Vazquez et al. 2011)
Organizational
capability to
adopt Green IT
(Cooper and Molla 2012; Dao et al. 2011;
Rahim and Rahman 2013; Sayeed and Gill
2009; Tan et al. 2011)
Challenges Cost of
implementation
(Gavrilovska et al. 2013; Molla 2009;
Nishant et al. 2012)
Conflicts 1 (Hobby et al. 2009)
Literature (Brooks et al. 2010; Brooks et al. 2012;
1 Conflict between environmental sustainability and high performance of IT
47
Review Corbett 2010; Elliot 2011; Howard and
Lubbe 2012; Jenkin et al. 2011; Lei and Ngai
2013; Loeser 2013; Malhotra et al. 2013;
Nanath and Pillai 2012a; Stolze et al. 2012;
Vazquez et al. 2011)
4.3.1 Core of Green IT
Murugesan (2008) argues that Green IT is indicative of environmentally sound
Information Technology. Information Technology is essentially the design,
implementation and management of computers at both the individual and industry
level. Green IT includes multiple aspects like environmental sustainability, energy
efficiency economics and the cost of disposal/recycling etc. Green technological
innovation is the key to sustainable development. According to Nanath and Pillai
(2012b) there are two aspects of Green IT with IT being the cause of environmental
issue and the other using IT/IS to resolve the environmental issue.
There are direct and indirect effects of Green IT (Nanath and Pillai 2012b).
The direct effect occurs by reducing environmental impact of IT and the indirect
effect is by using IT to support the initiatives promoting sustainability (Nanath and
Pillai 2012b).
Murugesan (2008) discussion of the concept of Green IT is one of the
commonly cited articles. The study proposes four domains of Green IT: Green use,
Green design, Green manufacturing and Green disposal of IT systems. Green use
focuses on reducing the energy consumption associated with the computer and other
information systems environment friendly.. Green design considers designing energy
efficient equipment, computers, servers and cooling equipment. Green disposal
proposes the repairing and the recycling of computers and electronic equipment that
are to be discarded.. Green manufacturing refers to manufacturing electronic
machineries, computers and other associated subsystems with minimal impact on the
environment or having no impact at all on the environment
4.3.1.1 Green IT - What Green IT is
The primary goal of the Green IT strategy is to reduce the use of energy and
relevant costs whilst managing the continuously increasing requirements for
performance. Green IT can be considered as an optimal use of information and
48
communication technology to manage enterprise activities in an environmentally
sustainable manner. Eastwood (2009) describes Green IT as “a collection of
strategic and tactical initiatives that directly reduces the carbon footprint of an
organization’s computing operation”.
In simple terms, "Green IT” can be summarized as follows:
- Minimizing the negative impact of information technology use on the
environment
- Environmental issues caused by the use of IT
- Using information technology to minimize or counteract environmental
issues
Bose and Luo (2012) provides a step-by-step process management approach
to assist business managers to adopt green IT and argues that it will be very helpful
for the IT managers to be conscious about environment and use greener technologies
in the organisation. It discusses the barriers in the addoption of green IT as well
Dedrick (2009) considers reviewing existing Green IS research in order to
present a model of IT investment and carbon productivity, and provides suggestions
for future research
Garg et al. (2010) designate environment friendly practices in the field of
information technology such as virtualization, cloud computing, greening of data
centres, recycling, telecommuting, and teleworking and presents a summary of the
initiatives for Green IT undertaken by government agencies in various countries
Mann et al. (2009) proposes a theory which applies a quality management
paradigm to suggest a practical three step implementation framework with a unique
sustainability-based feedback mechanism in order to understand what combination of
Green IT practices might optimally benefit in various scenarios
Molla and Abareshi (2011a) seeks the motivations (influential factors) to
adopt Green IT in organisations and analyses organizational eco-sustainability
influence the adoption of Green IT and IT for Green. This study analyses four
hypotheses and identifies that eco-efficiency motive and eco-effectiveness motives
49
have stronger influential than eco-responsiveness motives & eco-legitimacy motives
to the adoption of Green IT
Murugesan (2008) introduces the 4 domains/paths of Green IT (Using,
manufacturing, designing and disposal if IT system) and the classification of Green
IT strategies (Tactical incremental approach, Strategic approach & Deep green
approach). A highly referred article in Green IT domain
Ruth (2009) discusses overall Green IT and also how IT is causing problem
to environment including suggestions to handle the problems. Another wing of this
article is to discourse how IT can help to reduce the environmental impact
4.3.1.2 IT and Environment - How IT is affecting environmental
sustainability (causing problem)
Technology is causing environmental encumbrance due to the required
resources (Boudreau et al. 2008). Articles this section address the issue of
environmental damage caused by IT by the usage of excess power and reliance on
toxic chemicals. Consideration is also given to reducing carbon footprint, selecting
proper hardware materials and the presence of e-waste
Bose and Luo (2011) discuss GIT in detail and integrates three IS theoretical
lenses (TOE, PV and DOI) to assess GIT initiatives and the GIT implementation
stages at the organisational level. This study has developed a research model to build
theoretical synergy with Green IT. This study is based on virtualisation process and
tries to assess the readiness of the firm to undertake Green IT initiatives. Authors
claim that to initiate Green IT both technology changes and behavioural changes are
needed in the organisation
Butler (2011) uses the lens of institutional theory to explain the forces acting
upon organisations from both within the institutional environment and the
organisational fields in relation to environmental sustainability and regulatory
compliance. Further insights sourced from organisational theory will then attempt to
clarify and bring into perspective the responses that organisations make from within
in response to such forces
50
Fuchs (2008) discusses the relationship of new information and
communication technologies (ICTs) and sustainable development. This article
detects popular myths about a sustainable information society and criticizes them by
explaining the downsides of ICT. Author concludes stating that “Environmental
problems are social problems, not technological problems, they are neither caused by
science and technology as such, nor can they be solved by science or technology as
such”
Koo et al. (2013) contributes by studying on the end user characteristics and
analyses the factors of behaviour intention to use green IT devices. Authors consider
‘motivation theory’ to explain the relationship between motivation aspects and
perceived usefulness and ‘group theory’ to analyse how the reference group
moderates the relationship. Perceived usefulness has a strong impact on sustainable
use of green IT device. This study claims that intrinsic motivation is significantly
related whereas extrinsic motivation is strongly to the perceived usefulness
Molla and Abareshi (2011a) investigate the motivations (influential factors)
to adopt Green IT in organisations and analyses organizational eco-sustainability
influence the adoption of Green IT and IT for Green. This study analyses four
hypotheses and identifies that eco-efficiency motive and eco-effectiveness motives
have stronger influential than eco-responsiveness motives & eco-legitimacy motives
to the adoption of Green IT
Murugesan (2008) introduces the 4 domains/paths of Green IT (Using,
manufacturing, designing and disposal of IT system) and the classification of Green
IT strategies (- Tactical incremental approach, - Strategic approach & - Deep green
approach). A highly referred article in Green IT domain
Nedbal et al. (2011) considers a theory-based approach to link outsourcing
with sustainable IS to examine the possibilities of organizations engaging in green
and sustainable initiatives. This study proposes a model based on technology-
organization-environment (TOE) framework and also considers diffusion of
innovation (DoI) theory to incorporate implementation success and technology
acceptance and the transaction cost theory (TCT) for the integration of outsourcing
success
51
Ruth (2009) address how IT is causing problem to environment and presents
numbers of statistical data to prove so. Author identifies each problem area (e.g data
centres and servers, e-waste, software, telecommunication etc.) including describing
how they are causing problems (mostly power consumption, raw materials, spaces
etc.). Discussion comes for some regulatory bodies and suggestions are given to
tackle the problems
Trimi and Park (2013) describe the importance of sustainability and provide
the overview of how some of the leading firms and non-profit organizations have
already undertaken the initiatives of green IT and greening with IT. The study also
suggests some guidelines for businesses, governments, and individuals to increase
the efforts for Green IT and its awareness
4.3.1.3 IT and Environment - How IT can help to promote environmental
sustainability (Green by IT)
In reviewing the literature, focusing heavily on how IT can help and analyses
indicate that Green IT has already had a measurably positive effect on efforts to
reduce energy consumption since recommendations have been applied. Another
prominent theme featured in these analyses is a recurring emphasis on ways that
Green IT has been responsible for detrimental outcomes resulting from the overuse
of information networks. To describe how IT is supporting environment, Lee et al.
(2013) says “GIT environment-friendliness is achieved through two strategies: (1)
Greening of IT itself – reduction of energy and CO2 emission from IT products (2)
Greening by IT – utilizing IT for greening purposes.”
Harmon et al. (2012) deliver a comprehensive view of the emerging industry
to inform sustainable IT strategy development and also provides future directions for
the next decade by analysing strategic dimensions and drivers of sustainable IT
Kuo (2010) considers competitive pressures, legitimation pressures, social
responsibility pressures, organisational factors and technological constraints to
propose a model and identifies that these factors are highly influential to the extent of
green IT practice in organisation. Based on a survey, this study claims that rather
than responding to external pressures or pursuing competitive advantage, Green IT
initiatives are more likely to be motivated from employee’s sense of responsibility. It
52
also discusses the limitation of the study and proposes future study considering
senior managerial perspectives
Mithas et al. (2010) aim to understand the main drivers and the factors that
influence Green IT implementation in organizations and also attempts to assess
the business value of green IT initiatives, associated with energy conservation, cost
reductions and impact on profit
Pernici et al. (2012) present current topics of Green IT research, possible
contributions of the IS community, and future directions with the presentation of
panellists’ views on using information systems for improving sustainability and the
energy efficiency of the data centres
Rahim and Rahman (2013) tries to identify the relationship between Natural
Resource-Based View (NRBV) and Green IT capability. The Two constructs,
pollution prevention and product stewardship, are applied to explain the potential
activities related to Green IT capabilities. This study argues that these two constructs
can accelerate both ‘Green of IT’ and ‘Green by IT’
Ruth (2009) identifies how IT is causing problem to environment and
discusses how IT can help to reduce the environmental impact
Sarkar and Young (2009) argue that it requires strong commitments from
senior IT managers to implement/achieve Green IT (through managing IT
infrastructure). This study claims that 2 drivers need to be considered before
organisations take Green IT seriously – 1) a convincing cost model and 2) proper
awareness. These drivers can motivate IT managers to transform the attitude into
action
Trimi and Park (2013) describe the importance of sustainability and provides
the overview of green IT and greening with IT that some of the leading firms and
non-profit organizations have already undertaken. The study also suggests some
guidelines for businesses, governments, and individuals to increase the efforts for
Green IT and its awareness
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Zhang et al. (2010) discuss energy consumption by two new heuristic task
scheduling algorithms. The algorithms are - 1STFCMEF-SA algorithm, and 2)
LTFCMEF-SA algorithm. These algorithms are designed and implemented and also
evaluated for optimizing server power consumption in data centre and cloud
computing. The main idea of the algorithms is to reduce energy consumption by
improving speed in computers. The authors make no guarantee and wish to improve
the algorithms
4.3.2 Periphery
These articles that feature only a peripheral reference to Green IT are
differentiated from the core articles on the basis of their addressing topics which lie
towards the fringe areas within the current scope of Green IT research. These topics
encompass motivation, initiatives, lifecycle, and adoption level. Although their
current status has not yet incorporated within the core limits their relevance to Green
IT, none-the-less they need to be taken into consideration for the purpose of
composing the essential overall picture from which Green IT solutions can be
derived.
4.3.2 .1 Motivation
The motivation category contains articles pertaining to cost reduction,
government legislation and awareness of environmental issues. Many scholars have
identified the most important drivers of Green IT as economical, regulatory and
ethical. (Molla 2008; Murugesan 2008). According to Bose and Luo (2011), the
primary drivers of Green IT are: reducing costs due to budget cuts (cost), complying
with the local law (legislation) and the consumption reduction due to resource
restrictions (environment). The two major benefits of Green IT implementation has
been identified as reduced operating cost and protection for the environment. In
discussing Green IT benefits, Brooks et al. (2012) say “here are two major categories
of benefits: environmental benefits and cost reduction benefits”. Therefore it is
evident that Green IT aims at cost reduction and environmental protection
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4.3.2.1.1 Green IT for operational cost reduction
The primary motivation for Green IT adoption is the subsequent reduction in
operational costs for the organisation. Cost reduction is the most influential
motivation to adapt Green IT and Green IS.
Herrick and Ritschard (2009) present economic benefits of Green ITnand
Green IT initiatives from theoretical point of view and compares with practical
experience. “What to do” & “how to do” suggestions are proposed with examples
and covering, designing, using & disposing of hardware. Soft solutions (education,
training etc.) are also discussed. Authors mainly discusses the solutions to energy
efficiency, consumption, reduction, and environmental stewardship. Discussion
covers the limitations of GIT implementations and the authors warn to test where
possible before implementation/apply/initiation
Unhelkar (2012) argues that ‘cost reduction’ is an excellent driver for an
organization to implement Green IT strategies like minimizing energy consumption
(improving energy efficiency), reducing the use of raw materials and equipment,
recycling equipment and waste and optimizing storage and inventory
Vykoukal et al. (2009) present how to improve IT efficiency by using energy
efficient IT equipment, improving airflow management systems to reduce cooling
requirements and virtualization technology. An architectural approach of Green IT
“Green Grid” is proposed in this article in order to leverage the inherent ecological
and economic benefits. this paper explains what Green Gird is, the infastructure of
Green Gird and it’s benifit
Wang (2008) considers complete life cycle of computer products from
production to operation to recycling including operational energy consumption of
computing and demonstrates, what other actions will result in overall cost and carbon
footprint reduction for personal and business computers
Yang et al. (2010) assess incorporating cost and resource efficiency into the
technology innovation process and introduce better recycling technologies by
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minimizing process waste, improving resource efficiency, thus reducing the recovery
process cost
4.3.2.1.2 Green IT for environment sustainability
Osch and Avital (2010) argue that the main focus of Green IT/IS is
environmental facet of sustainability. Green IT is up held as promoting
environmental sustainability through the adoption of innovative technologies that
result in IT causing significantly less harm to the environment due to reductions in
the use of toxic raw materials, the upgrading of existing systems as an alternative to
replacement, as well as recycling rather than outright disposal. Publications within
this category address the importance of maintaining environmental sustainability by
reducing the dependence on toxic raw materials. Initiatives such as system upgrades
are proposed as an alternative to replacement and recycling instead of outright
disposal.
Cai et al. (2013) propose a research model based on the political–economic
framework and considers stakeholder theory to identify the political factors (public
concerns and regulatory forces) and economic factors (cost reduction and
differentiation) for the adoption of Green IT and IT for Green. This research explores
that adoption Green IT ensures both economic and environmental benefit whereas IT
for Green ensures environment benefits but remain unclear on the economic
benefits
Elliot (2011) considers selecting, analyzing, and synthesizing of relevant
literature in order to develop a framework for IT-enabled business transformation.
Author claims that this holistic, transdisciplinary, integrative framework addresses
the key issues of uncertainty: what is environmental sustainability, major challenges
of environmental sustainability and what are being done about these issues, and what
is needed to be done. Author considers business transformation as due to its potential
capacity for innovation and change - locally, nationally, and globally, business
transformation is recognized as being a critical contributor in realizing the challenges
of environmental sustainability
Fuchs (2008) discusses the relationship of new information and
communication technologies (ICTs) and sustainable development. Author also
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detects popular myths about a sustainable information society and criticizes the
myths by explaining the downsides of ICT and concludes by stating that
“Environmental problems are social problems, not technological problems, they are
neither caused by science and technology as such, nor can they be solved by science
or technology”
Gholami et al. (2013) present motivational drivers of a company for Green IS
adoption and identify the impact on the environmental performance of the firm.
Authors propose a model to understand the antecedents to Green IS and shows that
institutional forces contribute to the formation of managerial psychic states for Green
IS adoption in organisation. Based on survey result, authors argue that significant
relationship exist between senior managements’ attitude and consideration for Green
IS adoption and find that Green IS adoption contributes positively to environmental
performance
Kim and Ko (2010) aim to distinguish Green IT leaders from Green IT
followers by considering key financial and accounting variables
Osch and Avital (2010) discuss how Green IT can be widen to sustainable
innovation as it offers a three-fold approach that encompasses social,
environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability
Seidel and Recker (2012) deliberate the functional affordances of information
systems in enabling both incremental and radical changes in order to make processes
environmentally sustainable in order to conceptualize environmentally sustainable
business processes
Simmonds and Bhattacherjee (2012) aim to study, how IT can improve
environmental sustainability of organizations using an interpretive analysis of the
environmental IT implementation processes of three early innovators. The analysis
has been directed by technology, organization and environment framework and a six-
stage IT implementation model
Vom Brocke et al. (2013b) identify major achievements in the field of Green
IS and discuss the significant contribution of Green IS to lessen environmental
problems including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of
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global climate change. Authors also provides five specific and important directives
for the future of IS discipline
Watson et al. (2010) identify ways for the IS community to engage in the
development of environmentally sustainable business practices and discusses how
the role of IS can be leveraged to create an ecologically sustainable society by
increasing energy efficiency. Overall, authors address how IS scholars and leaders
can embrace environmental sustainability in their core principles and foster changes
to reduce the environmental impact of the community
4.3.2.1.3 Green IT for regulatory compliance
The studies listed below address the reasons why it is imperative for
organisations and individuals to adopt Green IT. There is also a focus on the
regulatory measures imposed from the federal level, such as the carbon tax and the
clean energy tax.
Chen et al. (2009) examine institutional pressures that can motivate the
adoption of green practices across organizations and finds that mimetic and coercive
pressures significantly drive Green IT/IS adoption
Fradley et al. (2012) investigate institutional arrangements for the
development of the Vessel Management System (VMS), a Green IS that aims to
address pollution prevention goals and was developed by Environment Protection
Authority (EPA), a South Australian regulator and used for monitoring compliance
with environmental protection legislation for vessels operating in the state’s
inland and marine waters
Fradley et al. (2013) employ actor-network theory (ANT) to investigate the
heterogeneous actors’ engagement in complex patterns of interaction in their Green
IS development efforts. To improve current understanding of how and why the
development of a Code of Practice (CoP) - driven VMS can be succeed or failed,
authors conceptualise the development of a CoP and the VMS, a Green IS and aims
to address pollution prevention goals and was developed by Environment Protection
Authority (EPA), a South Australian regulator and helps regulators enforce the CoP,
as a process of creating stable networks of heterogeneous actors
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Hilpert et al. (2014) provide directions for design of Green IS for
sustainability reporting (SR) and propose ‘information system design theory’
(ISDT), which is a set of primarily prescriptive statements describing how to
construct the class of Green IS for SR. Author argues that ISDT contributes to solve
the trade-offs between environmental data transparency, complexity and data
collection effort
Lei and Wai Ting Ngai (2012) present a theoretical framework that comprises
Green IS initiation, adoption and routinization to provide insights and better
understanding on the establishment of proper interventions for the assimilation of
Green IS in organizations
Zheng (2014) discusses the role of business strategy in the process of Green
IT/IS adoption and classifies them into proactive strategy and reactive strategy.
Author also considers technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework to
propose a green IT/IS adoption model including the factors of business strategies,
and three aspects (regulations, competitiveness & ecological responsibility) of Green
IT/IS motivations under the instruction of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
theoretical perspective in order to investigate the critical factors that may influence
the Green ITIS adoption
4.3.2.1.4 Green IT for creating value, and Competitive Advantage
Two aspects of Green IT involved in creating value and competitive advantage
are cost reduction and customer perception. Not only does Green IT equipment use
less power than conventional systems, it enhances the image of the organization
among its clientele, which leads to positive outcomes in public relations and an
increase in market share (Esty and Winston 2009; Vazquez et al. 2011)
Nishant et al. (2011) analyse the impact of Green IT announcements on a
firm’s market value. After analysing 160 news reports of green IT initiatives by
publicly traded firms over a 6-year period, authors find positive relationships
between the Green IT announcements on “sustainable products and services” and the
use of “collaboration” technologies
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Nishant et al. (2013) study 115 global organization’s secondary data on
sustainable IS and performance measures to observe the impact of sustainable IS
adoption on organizational performance including the impact of the extent of
adoption and find that sustainable IS adoption has positive relationship with market
valuation and innovativeness but not with profitability
Wati and Koo (2011) propose a new structural model of Green IT Balanced
Scorecard, based on the “The Strategic Balanced Scorecard (BSC)”, first introduced
by Kaplan and Norton in 1992, in order to incorporate the environmental aspects of
technology into scorecard measurement. It also compares between the IT BSC and
Green IT BSC. The Green IT BSC evaluates the technology performance by
integrating environmental aspects effectively, investigates both the tangible and
intangible assets of Green IT investment, and also align IT performance and business
performance and transform the results into competitive advantage
4.3.2.2 Initiatives
A considerable amount of research has been performed on investigating Green
IT initiatives. They range from technical solutions for more sustainable IT to a soft
solution approach to promote Green IT. The technical solution focuses on the
energy-efficient equipment and eco-friendly hardware in terms of using, designing
and manufacturing, and disposing (Murugesan 2008). On the other side, soft
solutions draw the attention of behavioural attitudes like paperless offices, less
printing or printing on both sides (Ansari et al. 2010), video and mobile
conferencing. A significant amount of articles consider both technical solutions and
soft solutions for Green IT implementation. Hasan et al. (2009) blame ‘internet’ as
one of the key reasons for environmental issues and proposes several strategies to
convert ICT as solutions for the environmental problems. Chetty et al. (2009) explore
the combination of new computing systems with better power management and
power management habits of end users as a high potential for energy savings. While
discussing how e-waste is causing an environmental problem, Ansari et al. (2010)
suggest a soft solution like printing of the in-house documents on both sides of the
papers.
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4.3.2.2.1 Technical solutions
Technical solutions refer to how technology itself can be redesigned so as to
become less harmful to environment. Vykoukal et al. (2009) find IT can be ‘Green’
by using energy efficient equipment, improving airflow management systems to
reduce cooling requirements and considering virtualization technology. Author states
that “Grid technology provides enterprises with the opportunity to build up their own
Green IT solution relatively fast by interconnecting existing computing and storage
capacity into a grid. Another option for enterprises is to purchase grid resources on-
demand from external service providers that have already launched Green IT
initiatives”. Ruth (2009) identifies that data centres and servers; e-waste, software
etc. are causing problems mostly by power consumption, raw materials, spaces and
discusses the technical improvement to reduce the environmental impact. Krikke
(2008) also describes major impacts of e-waste (waste of hazardous electronic
equipment) on the environment and suggests recycling e-waste as a solution.
Furthermore, Doh et al. (2010) discuss the requirements for real deployment of
ZEUS (Zero Energy for Unused Servers) on data centres as a technical solution.
Zhang et al. (2010) propose two new heuristic task scheduling algorithms, namely
Shortest Task First for Computer with Minimal Energy First with Speed Adjustment
(STFCMEF-SA) algorithm and Longest Task First for Computer with Minimal
Energy First with Speed Adjustment (LTFCMEF-SA) algorithm to reduce energy
consumption of the server, data centre and cloud computing.
David (2008) considers complete life cycle of computer products from
production to operation to recycling including operational energy consumption of
computing and demonstrates what other actions will result in overall carbon footprint
reduction for personal and business computers
Doh et al. (2010) try to identify the necessity of greener data centers and
introduces ZEUS (Zero Energy for Unused Servers). This study develops a new
memory technology and shows that the proposed energy savings approach consumes
energy in proportion to user requests with configurable service of quality. Based on
observations made on the used data center, authors discuss the requirements for real
deployment
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Dubey and Hefley (2011) propose an initial set of Green ITSM extensions to
the ITIL to address Green IT in the full ‘Information Technology Infrastructure
Library (ITIL)’ lifecycle to confirm best green practices
Hasan et al. (2009) analyse climate issues, IS causing environmental problem
and ICT- tools as solution based on Australia’s current situation. Authors claim that
‘internet’ is one of the main reasons for environmental issues and proposes strategies
to convert ICT as a source of solutions to environmental problems
Rao et al. (2011) offer an intelligent Green IT management technique to
reduce energy consumption by using the appropriate action such as ‘logoff’,
‘shutdown’, ‘hibernate’ etc. by enabling the adaptive management of the desktops
through the system profiling and application of Machine Learning techniques
Ruth (2009) identifies how IT is causing problem to environment and
presents statistical data to prove so. It identifies each problem area (e.g Data Centres
and Servers, E-Waste, software, telecommunication etc.) and describes how they
cause problems (mostly power consumption, raw materials, spaces etc.). Discussion
comes for some regulatory bodies and suggestions are given to handle the problems
Scott and Watson (2012) propose a framework using comprehensive
literature review in Green IT to measure the value of Green IT and present results
from an exploratory analysis of Cloud computing in the SME sector
4.3.3.2.2 Soft Solution
Soft solutions refer to approaches that are non-technical in nature, where the
main concern is on behavioural outcomes and initiatives for raising awareness. Apart
from explaining environmentally friendly hardware, many scholars propose soft
solutions to promote Green IT. Vlek and Steg (2007) identify many challenges of
human behaviours and environmental sustainability, including the significant effect
of behavioural and/or environmental changes on human well-being. Hasan et al.
(2009) mention examples of being paperless, such as with e-business, online surveys,
e-books, online news and digital archiving. Woodruff et al. (2008) explore the
intention of end users to be green d through exploration of existing “Green”
lifestyles. Scholars consider education and training for the soft solutions (Herrick and
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Ritschard 2009) and focus on IT users' belief and behaviour towards Green
computing (Chow and Chen 2009).
Chetty et al. (2009) explore how and why people power down their machines
and the potential for energy savings. This article analyses 20 households computer
power management habits in USA. This study suggests considering new computing
system with better power management including high availability for the home users
Chetty et al. (2008) aim to find out individual household practices with
respect to monitoring and managing resource consumption- natural gas (for
heating/cooling), electricity, and water (to a lesser extent)
Chow and Chen (2009) study IT users' belief and behaviour towards green
computing. This paper attempts to determine the dominant factor(s) about belief and
behaviour of green computing. 7 hypotheses was proposed and analysed. This paper
finds that IT user’s intention to practice green computing is dependent on individual
aspiration and awareness
Erek et al. (2011) intent to conceptualise a Strategic Green IT Alignment
Framework in order to align Green IT with corporate sustainability goals and
business objectives. The framework can guide the decision-makers to select an
appropriate Green IT strategy in order to achieve corporate sustainability targets and
to leverage with competitiveness
Mohan et al. (2012) aim to provide a conceptual foundation for managers and
IT professionals to better understand the nature of Green IT initiatives for and
therefore, propose a framework to suggest that organizations should tailor their
structure and processes to foster—not stifle—innovation depending on the nature and
focus of different initiatives
Woodruff et al. (2008) aim to inform the design of future sustainable
technologies through an exploration of existing “green” lifestyles. Study considered
35 green households in US. Author analyse Green consumer behaviour and find
social networking is important for environmental awareness. Authors also suggest
studying environmental practices in developing regions and Europe since they are
believed to have different perspectives on sustainability
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4.3.2.3 Lifecycle
The lifecycle category contains articles reflecting pre-adoption, adoption and
post-adoption. The main topics focused on by the past research includes:
explorations of influential factors for adoption decisions (Harmon and Auseklis
2009; Kuo and Dick 2010; Molla and Abareshi 2011a; Murugesan 2008; Nazari and
Karim 2012; Sarkar and Young 2009), the adoption process (Bose and Luo 2011)
and the importance of Green IT adoption in developing countries (Hanne 2011). Also
identifying factors that are highly influential to extent of Green IT practice in
organization (Cater-Steel and Tan 2011; Gholami et al. 2013; Kuo and Dick 2010),
analysis of the risks of adoption (Chou 2013), discusses Green IT management issue
(Cooper and Molla 2012) and illustrates the managerial attitude to Green IT adoption
(Sarkar and Young 2009). Furthermore research was conducted to identify the
relationship between Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV) and Green IT capability
(Rahim and Rahman 2013), to develop sustainability capabilities of firms (Dao et al.
2011). Some researchers address the problems encountered after implementing
Green IT within organization and propose sustainability models to address the issue
(Nanath and Pillai 2012b). Others analyse the readiness of organizations to adopt
Green IT (Molla 2008; Molla et al. 2008). Most of the research performed in this
area is from the organizational perspective with few considering individual
motivation and behavioural attitude towards Green IT (Chetty et al. 2009; Chetty et
al. 2008).
4.3.2.3.1 Pre-adoption
Pre-adoption encapsulates how decisions to implement Green IT are made
within an organization, including decision making of the necessity of Green IT and
subsequently the cost of implementation. Consideration is also given to issues such
as pre-implementation risk analysis and financial forecasting of the cost of Green IT
implementation, and the short-t and long-term financial benefits for the organisation
from the Green IT implementation.
Dao et al. (2011) discuss sustainability in detail and examine the role of IT
resources and the integration of IT resources with HRM and SCM resources to help
firms to develop sustainability capabilities. This research uses resource-based-view
of the firm as the theoretical foundation and identifies that the integration of HR,
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SCM, and IT resources are critical for firms to develop sustainability capabilities.
This article describes theoretical contributions and also discusses for future research
scopes
Datta et al. (2010) introduce IT Services Provider (ITSP) in order to
contribute in the sustainable IT literature and argues that ITSP can influence
adoption of IT sustainability by delivering the Sustainable IT Services Value
Chain and providing access to sustainability-related expertise
Hanne (2011) discusses Green IT in detail and illustrates the importance of
Green-IT adoption in developing countries with example (green purchasing policy)
of practicing green IT
Grant and Marshburn (2014) consider theoretical triangulation method,
Institutional Theory, Status Quo Bias and Management Fashion Theory, in order to
propose a conceptual model to identify the factors that may play significant role in
the implementation decision of Green IS
Harmon and Auseklis (2009) provide a review of the literature on Green
computing (sustainable IT), triy to identify influences of Green computing on
sustainable IT services including key areas of focus and identifying critical issues
and leverage points to improve customer value, business value, and societal value.
This study also bound to identify core of principles to guide sustainable IT service
design. This study thoroughly discusses the driving factors of Green computing
adoption. This paper identifies the 1st wave of Green computing initiative as
“increase data center efficiency” or “minimize carbon footprints” and 2nd wave of
Green computing as ‘defining the role of the IT organization in an enterprise’s
overall Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy
Herrick and Ritschard (2009) discuss Green IT initiatives from theoretical
point of view and compares with practical experience. “What to do” & “How to do”
suggestions are proposed with example and covering designing, using & disposing of
hardware. Soft solutions (education, training etc.) are discussed as well. Authours
mainly discuss the solutions to energy efficiency, consumption, reduction, and
environmental stewardship. Discussion covers the limitations of Green IT
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implementations and the authors warn to test where possible before
implementation/apply/initiation of Green IT
Kovačić et al. (2008) aim to explore ICT adoption and explain the digital
divide in Serbia and also investigate influencing factors such as socio-demographics,
income and wealth and e-skills for the adoption of the ICTs at the individual level.
Lamb (2011) provides an overview on the importance of implementing Green
IT and identifies the power issues at data centers in South Africa and discusses the
solutions to these power issues include virtualization of servers and data storage.
Cloud computing has become the ultimate way to virtualize IT resources and to save
energy. Also describes the benefits of using private clouds, especially for test and
development systems
Molla and Abareshi (2011a) seek the motivations (influential factors) to
adopt Green IT in organisations and analyses organizational eco-sustainability
influence the adoption of Green IT and IT for Green. This study analyses four
hypotheses and identifies that eco-efficiency motive and eco-effectiveness motives
have stronger influential than eco-responsiveness motives & eco-legitimacy motives
to the adoption of Green IT
Molla and Cooper (2010) propose ‘G-readiness’ framework to understand the
drivers, values and antecedents of Green IT. ‘G-readiness’ framework has 5
components - Attitude, Policy, Practice, technology & governance with sub-
component for each. These component measures the readiness/ preparedness of
organisation’s IT to be environmentally responsible and competitive. This study also
argues that g-readiness must be understood clearly before approaching GIT
initiatives to preven the possible arising of undesssirable situations
Molla et al. (2009a) present a clear definition of G-readiness, a theoretically
grounded definition of Green IT, to determine the capability of organizations to turn
the ‘IT’ into ‘Green’ or capability in implementing GIT. This study also develops a
reliable and valid instrument to operationalize the model. The model G-readiness is
dependent on 5 components (and sub-components) - GIT Attitude, GIT Policy, GIT
Practice, GIT technology & GIT governance. This study argues that 3 components
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possess higher readiness (GIT policy, GIT Practice & GIT governance) and the
other two components have a lower readiness
Nazari and Karim (2012) discuss Green IT (definitions), GIT adoption
(differences between adoption of green technologies & adoption of other
technologies), drivers of GIT in organisation level. Authors aim to identify basic
factors of GIT adoption.. and that the process of “Green IT adoption is influenced by
different factors with various impacts, depending on the f firm’s situation”. The
factors affecting green IT adoption are attributeof Innovation (the most important
factor), organizational factors, and environmental factors
Pauwels et al. (2012) investigate whether ‘Enterprise Ontology’ is a feasible
methodology in modelling global IT Service Management processes to enable the
quantification and minimization of the ecological impact of IT Service Management
processes
Schmidt et al. (2010a) provide an initial conceptual framework and analyse
data from 116 IT departments on the predictors of Green IT adoption in order to
offer recommendation for CIOs, IT managers including environmental and
sustainability managers to gain further insights about Green IT and how to link
Green IT with the organisation’s IT and business strategy
4.3.2.3.2 Adoption
Adoption of Green IT refers to looking at how management oversees the
implementation of Green IT. Consideration is also given to other managerial
perspectives as they emerged in a range of case studies.
Simmonds and Bhattacherjee (2014) extends the resource based view (RBV)
by proposing model called green IT resource based view (GIT-RBV) and describes
two major differences of them. 1st the antecedents of resource use – competitiveness
is the single, implicit adoption motivation for RBV whereas GIT-RBV has three
explicitly stated motivations – environmental, competitiveness and legitimation. 2nd
the value outcome - where the RBV focuses specifically on economic value, and the
GIT-RBV integrates environmental value in addition to economic value
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Huang (2008) proposes Systems development lifecycle (SDLC) model in
order to be used by IT professionals as a guide line for new system development and
for existing systems maintenance to accent on sustainability
Sarkar and Young (2009) argue that it requires strong commitments form
senior IT managers to implement/achieve Green IT (through managing IT
infrastructure). The case study claims that 2 drivers need to be considered before
organisations take Green IT seriously – 1) a convincing cost model and 2) proper
awareness. These drivers can motivate IT managers to transform the attitude into
action to initiate Green IT
Taha Ijab et al. (2011) seek to explain how Green Information Systems
(Green IS) are utilised in organisations. It provides insights into how Green IS
practices transpired in organisations with correlated results and analysis garnered
from prior publications. Finally, the paper shows the relevance of the Theory of
Practice, a social surmisation not often referenced throughout broader IS, as a means
Green IS research and practice can be further developed
Yunus et al. (2013) aim to analyse the role of top management towards the
successful adoption of Green IT and environmental sustainability and also considers
Green IT adoption model (GITAM) and the technology, organizational and
environmental (TOE) model, to examine the effects of attitude, practice, policy,
governance, motivation and technology on environmental sustainability
4.3.2.3.3 Post-adoption
Literature in post-adoption research analyses the consequential benefits to an
organisation following the adoption of Green IT in addition to which actions were
necessary for the successful continuation of Green IT implementation. Researchers
gave less priority to analysing post adoption scenarios, even though this is a
necessary prerequisite for successful implementation of Green IT.
Nanath and Pillai (2012b) sketch Green IT with a thorough review of
literature associated with it.. This study identifies the issue of sustaining Green IT
initiatives to gain long term advantage and proposes a sustainability model for GIT
initiatives to address the issue. Authors reveal the factors into three dimensions that
contribute to sustainability of Green IT initiatives as promoting sustainable culture,
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business process and organizational properties and find that of the three ‘business
process’ and ‘organizational properties’ are most significant to ensure the
sustainability of Green IT. This study also discovers the difference between
‘sustainers’ and ‘non-sustainers’ to assess the long term environmental performance
of firms. It also discusses its limitations and considerations for future study
Nishant (2012) uses natural resource-based perspective (NRBV) theory to
identify the relationship between adoption of Green IS and measures of
organizational performance, therefore, examines the impact of adoption and the
impact of the extent of adoption of Green IS within organisation including analysing
the impact of different dimensions of sustainability portfolio. Author’s finding is that
the comprehensive adoption of Green IS is in the interest of the organisation.
4.3.2.4 Adoption Level
Kovačić et al. (2008) mentioned that factors influencing IT innovations
adoption have been studied at three levels: macro (regions and countries), mezzo
(organizations/industries) and micro level (individuals and households), which after
consideration have then been placed under the appropriate segmentations in the
periphery section. This is done to differentiate the three levels where ‘macro level’
contemplates Green IT adoption across country or region level, ‘mezzo level’ refers
to Green IT adoption at organization or industry level and ‘micro level’ reflects
Green IT adoption by individuals. Figure 6 portrays the Green IT adoption/
implementation area. An overview of the research sample reveals a scarcity of
available studies attempting to specifically analyse macro content at a deeper level,
as only very few studies, such as (Marett et al. 2013) have attempted to analyse the
factors for successful and sustained use of Green IS in the trucking industry in USA.
A common finding across the existing studies is that the bulk of studies consider
mezzo level or organization level (Jenkin et al. 2011) . A third consistent finding has
been the lack of discussion and depiction of micro level with few references to Green
IT adoption by individuals (Loock et al. 2013).
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Figure 6: Green IT Adoption/ Implementation Area (Kovačić et al. 2008)
Figure 6: Green IT Adoption/ Implementation Area
4.3.2.4.1 Macro Level (Region/ Country)
As noted prior, ‘macro level’ anticipates Green IT adoption across country or
region level. Hence the articles in this section discuss nationwide initiatives for
Green IT adoption. Examination is also made of actions that were taken at the
broader regional level.
Lee et al. (2013) present Green IT initiatives taken by leading countries by a
comprehensive review of greening of IT and greening by IT programs for
sustainable growth in leading countries, the growing GIT market, and
possible GIT strategies. Authors also suggest that some of the best practices
and strategies should be benchmarked by other countries for environmental
sustainability
Marett et al. (2013) consider trucking industry of USA to study the
underlying factors for successful and sustained use of Green IS. Authors aim
to understand the influence of the potential environmental benefits on
continued use of bypass systems that can be discontinued at any time by a
Green IT adoption/ implementation area
Mezzo Level Green IT/IS in Industry level E.g. server virtualization, cloud computing, internet backbone, motion sensor lighting, video and mobile conferencing etc.
Macro Level Green IT/IS in Region/ Country Level E.g. carbon tax, GHG emission, water purification, submarine cable etc.
Micro Level Green IT/IS in Private level E.g. turning off computers when not using, choosing energy-efficient light bulbs, using public transportation etc.
70
truck driver, and discover that environmental benefits do not influence
drivers’ use of bypass systems even though system vendors and state
transportation agencies put emphasis on environmental benefits of
technology, whereas economic benefits and industry pressures influence
positively
Zhiwei (2012) intends to measure the qualitative and quantitative assessment
of greenness of IT system used building in China and argue that designing
Green IT system is important to induce green behaviour in both non-IT
systems and society
4.3.2.4.2 Mezzo Level (Organisation)
As ‘mezzo level’ refers to organization or industry level, articles allocated
within this group discuss organisational initiatives for Green IT adoption as well as
Green IT activity at the wider industrial level.
Bachour and Chasteen (2010) aim to detect the criteria and factors for
success of Green IT projects within organizations and establish two models for
Green IT project management and organizational project success evaluation to
ensure that the Green IT project satisfies all related stakeholders and aligns with the
overall organization’s strategy
Grant and Appan (2014) examine the impact of organizational meta-
structures and identify that organizational meta-structures influence employee
commitment for Green IS orientation which in turn influences routinization of Green
IS practices (GISP). Authors extend the structuration theory by scrutinizing its role in
the routinization of GISP and argue that it helps to achieve tangible and intangible
organizational benefits of organisation
Hedman et al. (2012) aim to analyse the process of transformation of a firm
towards ecological effectiveness with the help of Green IS and develop a process
model of how firms turn eco-effective after studying Nordea’s transformational
process towards ecological effectiveness
71
Ijab et al. (2012) discuss the emergence and the recurrent use of Green IS
practice in organisations understand the complexity of practice phenomenon and also
investigate the relationships between local actions including the historical and
internal processes against the external origins that shape and reshape Green IS
practices
Loeser (2012) develop a typology of Green Information System strategies,
illustrating four generic strategies: Green IS for Efficiency, for Innovation, for
Transformation, and for Credibility, in order to identify different types of Green IS
strategies in a real-life context and how the Green IS strategies are being considered
by organisations
Molla et al. (2008) propose a framework called G-readiness which is a
measure of preparedness to be environmentally responsive and competitive, based on
the concept of e-readiness frameworks, to help organisations evaluate their readiness
for adopting Green IT. The G-readiness framework discussed five themes: attitude,
policy, practice, technology, and governance and each of them have influence on
sustainability. The article also compares G-readiness with e-readiness and argues that
G-readiness is almost same critical quality in the low carbon digital economy. It
states that G-readiness is very important to understand to approach Green IT
initiatives
Rawai et al. (2013) review literature of cloud computing in construction
management and find that both energy consumption and CO2 emissions can be
reduced by using cloud computing technology for construction collaboration
4.3.2.4.3 Micro Level (Individual)
As ‘micro level’ denotes the individual, publications in this category discuss
the ways in which Green IT has been adopted by individuals.
Chow and Chen (2009) study IT users' belief and behaviour towards green
computing and try to determine the dominant factor(s) about beliefs and
behaviours of green computing. Authors find that IT user’s intention to
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practice green computing is dependable on individual aspiration and
awareness
Loock et al. (2011) analyse social influence on individual behaviour on the
energy consumption and identify that designing of Information System may
contribute to solving environmental problems by considering user behaviour
Loock et al. (2013) outline how information system can play an important
role to encourage energy savings measures and examine the importance and
effectiveness of goal setting tactics on human behaviour for energy
consumption
Schmidt et al. (2010b) aim to evaluate the influence of Green IT attributes of
Personal Computers on the buying behaviour of consumers and claim that
female customers value environmentally friendly attributes from the analysis
of marketing data from 500 participants. Authors also recommend for the
marketing mix of IT hardware and service organisations
Wang and Wang (2011) analyse the data on the electricity consumptions in
the IT industry including the telecommunication and computer industries and
by household computers in five major cities in China in order to demonstrate
the necessity of green computing
4.3.3 Beyond Green IT
The ‘beyond Green IT’ category contains articles pertaining to pre-
implementation, challenges and others addressing measuring of Green IT and its
extensive benefits. Articles which do not readily fit into core the of Green IT and
Periphery segments, yet have a legitimate relationship with Green IT have been
included in this segment. Most of the research performed in the area was from the
perspective of pre-implementation of Green IT which has been further classified into
awareness, organizational readiness, and organizational capability to adopt Green IT.
73
4.3.3.1 Pre-implementation
Pre-implementation research explores Green IT awareness, as well as an
organisation’s readiness and capacity for adopting Green IT and actions before
implementation. Additional focus is placed on what conditions had to be met with
prior to the implementation.
4.3.3.1.1 Awareness
Awareness refers to ways of expanding the general recognition and acceptance of
Green IT throughout organisations and by key individuals (Corbett et al. 2010;
Vazquez et al. 2011). Along with the awareness of Green IT initiatives follows the
growing knowledge of effective policies, necessary regulations, the complete range
of benefits, and positive outcomes from the implementation of Green IT (Ansari et
al. 2010; Chou and Chou 2012).
Ansari et al. (2010) discuss Green IT and the problems associated with this e-
waste. It goes on to describe methods for e-waste management through the disposal
and recycling of mobile phones and batteries. It goes on to look at ways of raising
awareness and reports on upcoming developments for Green IT in Bangladesh in
regard to how firms take into account both the hardware disposal and also the soft-
side concerns in their implementation of Green IT
Babin and Nicholson (2009) perform an extensive literature search and
preliminary fieldwork in order to identify how the Global IT Outsourcing (GITO)
vendors are transforming their Environmental Responsibility (ER) capabilities and
mention that ER issues will become important capabilities for outsourcers to
demonstrate for stakeholders’ environmental concerns
Chai-Arayalert and Nakata (2011) discuss green ICT in detail (strategy,
practice and measurement) and propose a framework to analyse Green ICT and to
provide a scope and an analysis of Green ICT in Higher Education Institution (HEI).
Details discussion of green ICT strategy, green ICT practice, green ICT measurement
has been presented. Authors also attempt to identify the essential components of
Green ICT including how they work together and finds that reduction of energy
consumption is the 1st priority in UK HEIs
74
Chou (2013) Is bound to identify the potential risk factors and uncertainties
that may affect and prohibit Green IT practice and environmental sustainability with
the help of value model approach. This Green IT value model has four separate but
continuous process components - awareness, translation, comprehension,. This study
argues that if the risk factors can be identified and understood then the organisations
can prepare in advance and thus environmental sustainability can be achieved
Korte et al. (2012) analyse the issues related to IS sustainability for medium
to large businesses and multinational corporations and the implications for strategic
IS management. Authors also discuss the current emerging technologies in the field
of ICT and their potential for supporting sustainable IS management
Vazquez et al. (2011) review Green IS/IT literature to study the “green”
movement in the IS field and by using content analysis methodology to conduct
meta-analysis of articles, find that awareness of the Green technology adoption by
organisations has been increased
4.3.3.1.2 Organisational readiness to adopt Green IT
Besides the promoting of awareness, the readiness of an organisation for Green
IT adoption also has to be assessed. It is necessary to carry out an analysis that
judges whether or not an organisation has the required resources, the appropriate
policies, forward-looking corporate vision, and drive for innovation and
sustainability in their mission statement to make conversion to Green IT a
worthwhile goal in the context of their circumstances (Molla et al. 2009a; Vazquez et
al. 2011)
Molla and Cooper (2010) deliver ‘G-readiness’ framework to understand the
drivers, values and antecedents of Green IT. ‘G-readiness’ framework has 5
components - Attitude, Policy, Practice, technology & governance with sub-
component for each. These component measures the readiness/ preparedness of
organisation’s IT to be environmentally responsible and competitive. This study
also argues that g-readiness must be understood clearly before approaching GIT
initiatives as undesirable situation may arise otherwise
75
Molla et al. (2008) propose a framework called G-readiness which is a
measure of preparedness to be environmentally responsive and competitive, based
on the concept of e-readiness frameworks, to help organisations evaluate their
readiness for adopting Green IT. The G-readiness framework discussed five
themes: attitude, policy, practice, technology, and governance and each of them
have influence on sustainability. The article also compares G-readiness with e-
readiness and argues that G-readiness is almost same critical quality in the low
carbon digital economy. It states that G-readiness is very important to understand to
approach Green IT initiatives
Molla et al. (2009a) provide a clear definition of G-readiness, a theoretically
grounded definition of Green IT, to determine the capability of organizations to
turn the ‘IT’ into ‘Green’ or capability implementing GIT. This study also develops
a reliable and valid instrument to operationalize the model. Authors argue that 3
components have higher readiness (Green IT policy, Green IT Practice & Green IT
governance) and the other 2 components have less readiness
4.3.3.1.4 Organisational Capability to adopt Green IT
Along with taking up the correct strategic position as entailed by readiness, an
organisation also has to possess the capability for Green IT adoption. Factors such as
resource allocation, management commitment throughout the lifecycle, and
budgetary projections are important for considering an organisation’s potential for
ongoing success with Green IT adoption
Cooper and Molla (2012) study organisation’s Green IT capability to identify
the processes and the factors that influence the Green IT capability of an IT
organisation to explore the absorptive capacity and the ability to learn and develop
Green IT capability of the IT organisations. Authors find that the absorptive capacity
is dependent on the acquisition of comprehensive external knowledge and prior
experience
Rahim and Rahman (2013) try to identify the relationship between Natural
Resource-Based View (NRBV) and Green IT capability. Two constructs, pollution
prevention and product stewardship, are applied to explain the potential activities
76
related to Green IT capabilities. This study argues that these two constructs can
accelerate both ‘Green of IT’ and ‘Green by IT’
4.3.3.2 Challenges
Within the Challenges category are discussions on the cost of implementation,
purchase of new technology, maintenance and upgrades, the cost of training and
retraining, and all such structural changes that result from the adoption of Green IT
(Molla 2009; Seidel et al. 2010). Also, what cannot be overlooked are any conflicts
that may arise between the imperative of environmental sustainability and
developments in supply costs that may occur through an increase in demand for
Green IT (Hobby et al. 2009).
4.3.3.2.1. Cost of implementation
‘Cost of implementation’ category refers to the initial costs of implementing
Green IT. Consideration is also given to the ongoing costs of maintaining Green IT
following its adoption.
Gavrilovska et al. (2013) discuss the challenges that Macedonian companies
have faced to implement Green IT concepts within organisation including
analysing obstacles, long-time benefits and profit of implementing Green IT
Molla (2009) investigates the influence of the regulatory, normative and
economic drivers and motivating factors for Green IT adoption and also
proposes Green IT-Reach-Richness matrix to classify Green IT strategies and
initiatives to assess both the breadth and depth of Green IT adoption
4.3.3.2.2 Conflicts between environmental sustainability and high performance
of IT
Reviewed publications in this section examine how constant increases in IT
performance levels places it in conflict with the need to maintain environmental
sustainability. Reference is also made to how the continual practice of upgrading and
replacing hardware results in greater usage of harmful raw materials and the resultant
cost of recycling or disposing of these materials.
77
Hobby et al. (2009) identify a big challenge for brand companies as the
conflicts between being green of ICT products and their performance
including longevity, functionality & general usability. Authors introduce
TCO standards and certification to address the challenge
4.3.3.3 Literature Review
Several articles reviewed the literature of Green IT (Brooks et al. 2010; Corbett
2010; Lei and Ngai 2013; Nanath and Pillai 2012a) and Green IS (Brooks et al. 2012;
Howard and Lubbe 2012). Furthermore the dimensions of Green IT/IS and
theoretical frameworks to examine Green IT/IS adoption were investigated.
Our review is different to all other review papers as we create the segmentation
to draw the overall picture of Green IT/IS and also gather all other papers that exist
in the literature. Table 9 summarizes these reviews.
Table 9: Identified Articles Expressing a Holistic Review on Green IT/IS
Table 9: Identified Articles Expressing a Holistic Review on Green IT/IS
Reference Publication
Outlet
Description
(Brooks et
al. 2010)
Americas
Conference on
Information
Systems
Involves a comprehensive review of both the
practitioner and academic literatures of Green IT
to identify noticeable gaps in literature and to
provide academic research directions within the
Green IT research area.
(Corbett
2010)
International
Conference on
Information
System
This study considers a small-scale examination of
practitioner literature on Green IT and converses
several dimensions of value related to Green IT
(Elliot 2011) Management
Information
System
Based on analysing and synthesizing of relevant
literature, author develops a framework for IT-
enabled business transformation and claims that
78
Quarterly
this holistic, trans disciplinary, integrative
framework addresses the key issues of uncertainty:
what is environmental sustainability, major
challenges of environmental sustainability and
what is being done about these challenges, and
also what needs to be done. Author considers
business transformation as due to its potential
capacity for innovation and change—locally,
nationally, globally, and business transformation
is recognized as being a critical contributor in
realizing the challenges of environmental
sustainability
(Jenkin et al.
2011)
Information and
Organization
Based on reviewing existing literature of both
Green information technology (IT) and
information systems (IS), this study has proposed
a multilevel research framework in order to
develop propositions and to identify important
future research areas
(Vazquez et
al. 2011)
Americas
Conference on
Information
Systems
Uses content analysis methodology to conduct
meta-analysis of articles from nineteen journals to
review Green IS/IT literature published between
2000 – 2010 to study the “green” movement in the
IS field in order to develop themes of Green-IS/IT
research
(Brooks et
al. 2012)
Springer (Green
Business
Process
Management)
Reviews both the practitioner and academic
literature of Green IS and tries to identify the
current state and trends in Green IS research, and
in bringing out overlaps and differences between
academia and practice to find noticeable
similarities or gaps in order to propose more
focused direction to Green IS researchers
79
(Howard and
Lubbe 2012)
South African
Institute for
Computer
Scientists and
Information
Technologists
Conference
Provides a synthesis of Green IS frameworks in
the relevant research area to investigate “how
organisations can use the existing Green IS
frameworks to achieve strong environmental
sustainability
(Nanath and
Pillai 2012a)
Journal of
Management
Systems
Based on a comprehensive review of literatures on
Green IT, it comes up with three dimensions of
Green IT- Business Value (profitability,
optimization, efficiency etc.), Negative impacts of
Computing (Power, Energy, e-waste etc.) and IT
as a tool for environmental awareness (strategic
alignment, motivation, blogs etc.)
(Stolze et al.
2012)
Social Science
Research
Network
Focusing only on the global top journals from the
AIS Basket of Six and the primarily German-
language journal Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI), this
literature review paper aims to identify the
different research streams and research traditions
within the global IS discipline
(Malhotra et
al. 2013)
Management
Information
System
Quarterly
Reviews three publications of the special Issue
‘IS & Environmental sustainability’ and dispenses
the articles into three transformation themes: (1)
green IS for organizational transformations (Seidel
et al. 2013), (2) green IS for supply-side
transformations (Marett et al. 2013), and (3) green
IS for consumption-side transformations (Loock et
al. 2013)
(Lei and
Ngai 2013)
Pacific Asia
Conference on
Information
Systems
Focuses on a literature review of the adoption of
Green IT and discourses the status of information
systems literature on Green IT and the
Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE)
80
theory to investigate Green IT adoption
(Loeser
2013)
Americas
Conference on
Information
Systems
Performs a literature review in the field of Green
IT ad Green IS to provide clear definitions of the
concepts of Green IT/IS, and to illustrate specific
impact areas of Green IT and Green IS
Figure 7 depicts the comparison among the segmentations. Approximately
three-fifths of the papers fell into the Periphery, making it the predominant group.
Not only were the number of papers in the Core category amounted to one-third the
papers in the Periphery, they also formed a group not much bigger than the papers in
Beyond Green IT, which itself was just over a third of the papers overall. The reason
for this could be that the soft approaches that characterise the Periphery are seen as
more manageable than the hard approaches of the Core. Many of such researchers
are looking beyond Green IT/IS for a broader context forms which to approach
possible solutions in Green IT/IS.
Figure 7: Segmentation Comparison
Figure 7: Segmentation Comparison
4.4 Approach Analysis
The 'approach analysis' herein is inspired by the Green IT classification employed in
Wikipedia (as of 15/03/2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_computing). This
model was chosen as an ideal format because it outlines in a comprehensive strategy
most of the key areas in which Green IT/IS are relevant, as referenced by these one
45. 20%
141. 64%
36. 16%
Core
Periphery
Beyond Green IT
81
hundred and ninety nine articles. It is a method of tabulating for the examination of
an extensive range of categories, referencing issues relevant to the present and the
future. Concepts for developing complementary forms of hardware, software,
network configurations, and user practices are included in this classification. They
aim towards an implementation that will affect information technology from
fundamental levels to the most specific applications. The system places an emphasis
on the importance of increasing efficiency and reducing waste as essential platforms
on which to base further Green IT initiatives. This framework was assessed to be the
most suitable system of classification because it prioritised those approaches that
focused on the most feasible methods for making an immediate impact in Green IT.
These proposals include developing schemes for low energy usage as well as taking
advantage of already available opportunities for the further virtualisation of user
interactions. It also shows other key areas where changes can be readily adopted such
as formats for decision systems that favour energy-efficient outcomes.
As per the findings the fundamental areas where Green IT effected are computer
science, information systems, and management. These were the three disciplines that
emerged as the most relevant for the selected system of classification as the research
process was being undertaken. The five major categories outlined are product
longevity, data centre design, software and deployment optimization, power
management, materials recycling. Within software and deployment optimization are
found the subcategories of algorithmic efficiency, resource allocation, virtualizing
and terminal servers. Power management is defined by the subcategories of data
centres, operating system support, power supply, storage, and video cards. Table 10
denotes the classification of articles into the categories that comprise approaches of
published articles.
Table 10: Approach Analysis
Table 10: Approach Analysis
Approaches Subcategories Discipline References
Product
longevity
CS (Hobby et al. 2009)
IS (Pitt et al. 2011)
M
Data centre CS (Gupta et al. 2011; Thirupathi Rao et al. 2010)
IS (Molla and Cooper 2014)
82
design M
Software and
deployment
optimization
Algorithmic
efficiency
CS (Bener et al. 2014; Berral et al. 2010; Cheung
and Jacobsen 2011; Siddavatam et al. 2011)
IS (Inoue et al. 2012b)
M
Resource
allocation
CS (Atkinson et al. 2014; Baek and Chilimbi
2010; Beloglazov et al. 2012; Beloglazov and
Buyya 2010b; Chaudhari et al. 2012; Dick et
al. 2013; Germain-Renaud et al. 2011)
IS (Capra and Merlo 2009; Dao et al. 2011; Tan
et al. 2011)
M (Cater-Steel and Tan 2011)
Virtualizing CS (Chang 2009; Dasilva et al. 2012; Guster et
al. 2009; Liu et al. 2011; Metzger et al. 2012;
Müller et al. 2011; Yamini and Selvi 2010)
IS
M (Chen and Yoon 2010)
Terminal
servers
CS (Niyato et al. 2009; Zhou 2014)
IS
M
Power
management
Data centre
power
CS (Beloglazov and Buyya 2010a; Berral et al.
2010; Guster et al. 2009; Liu et al. 2009;
Mata-Toledo and Gupta 2011)
IS (Schödwell et al. 2013)
M (Forrest et al. 2008)
Operating
system support
CS (Chaudhari et al. 2012; Khan and Khan 2013;
Salomie et al. 2011)
IS
M
Power supply CS (Kipp et al. 2011; Kurokawa et al. 2010;
Young Choon and Zomaya 2011)
IS
83
M
Storage CS (Baliga et al. 2011; Inoue et al. 2012a)
IS (Grimm et al. 2013)
M
Video card CS
IS
M
Display CS
IS
M
Materials
recycling
CS (Krikke 2008; Yang et al. 2010)
IS
M
4.4.1 Product longevity
Product longevity is about reducing the ecological footprint of hardware
manufacturing through a focus on upgrading components and installing modular
parts instead of complete systems replacement.
4.4.1.1 Computer Science
Hobby et al. (2009) introduce TCO standards and certification that are
focused at products, from their design to disposal (whole life cycle), that
include environmental factors; influencing climate change, as well as high
demand of usability, performance and durability
4.4.1.2 Information System
Pitt et al. (2011) discuss how smartphones can act as green technologies and
as integral parts of green information systems, towards sustainable
environment. The authors use four dimensions of U-Commerce to prove that
the organizations are trying to pursue and elevate environmentally sound
strategies by using the unique characteristics of smartphones
84
4.4.2 Data Centre Design
The considerations made in ‘data centre design’ are for the purpose of reducing
the energy uptake of data centres with redesigning, that addresses both the initial
setting, layout, building process, and the environmental requirements of day-to-day
maintenance and support systems. A scarcity in the number of articles for the
Computer Science and Management disciplines are visible where researchers need to
prioritize.
4.4.2.1. Computer Science
Gupta et al. (2011) suggest Green Data Centre Simulator (GDCSim) in order
to study the energy efficiency of data centres under various geometries,
workload characteristics, platform power management schemes, and
scheduling algorithms. GDCSim is developed as a part of the Blue Tool
infrastructure project at the Impact Lab and validated against established
CFD simulators
Thirupathi Rao et al. (2010) discuss the opportunities and adoptable methods
for achieving the energy efficiency in data centers by presenting a study on
Data Center Virtualization
4.4.2.2. Information System
Molla and Cooper (2014) study the actions that organisations are taking to
improve energy efficiency and to apply environmental sustainability
considerations in their data centres. Suggestions are provided for data centre
managers to follow either tactical-incremental or deep-green strategy to
manage the implementation of green practices, as the deep-green strategy
expands the measures of the tactical-incremental strategy to redesign data-
centres in a way that helps to neutralise greenhouse gas emissions covering
the IT, power delivery and cooling systems
4.4.3 Software and Deployment Optimization
This fragment refers to initiatives that aim to decrease hardware components
and reduce the cost of development and publishing so as to minimize energy
consumption. Also classified within this category are algorithmic efficiency, resource
85
allocation, virtualising, and terminal servers. (the 'approach analysis' herein is
inspired by the Green IT classification employed in Wikipedia (as of 15/03/2015,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_computing))
4.4.3.1 Algorithmic efficiency
Algorithmic efficiency involves the rewriting of program codes to take lesser
time and process lesser data in obtaining results.
4.4.3.1.1 Computer Science
Enokido et al. (2011) propose the computation and transmission rate based
(CTRB) algorithm to select a server in a set of servers to reduce the total
power consumption of the servers and the overhead of a load balance.
Authors claim that more power consumption can be reduced by using CTRB
algorithm than the traditional round-robin (RR) algorithm and the overhead
of a load balancer can be further reduced in the CTRB algorithm than the
extended power consumption laxity-based (EPCLB) algorithm
Cheung and Jacobsen (2011) investigate on resource allocation algorithms for
the publish/subscribe systems to be able to use system resources to achieve
maximum efficiency. A bit vector supported resource allocation framework
has been developed to minimize system-wide message rates, broker load, hop
count, and the number of allocated brokers and the approach is able to reduce
the average broker message rate by up to 92% and the number of allocated
brokers by up to 91%
Siddavatam et al. (2011) develop an algorithm in order to calculate the
processor utilization by different machines according to the ‘load
distribution’ in a network and propose a strategy to utilize minimum possible
energy by optimal resource utilization in data centre
4.4.3.1.2 Information System
Inoue et al. (2012b) discuss storage-based power consumption (SBPC) model
in order to perform storage and computation processes on a server. SBPC
model, a four state model, can be used to reduce execution time and power
consumption
86
4.4.3.2 Resource allocation
Resource allocation redirects traffic to data centres that are more energy
efficient and to server centres that utilise economies of scale to achieve reductions in
energy use.
4.4.3.2.1 Computer Science
Atkinson et al. (2014) introduce the concept of ‘Green Specifications’ that
can be used to optimize the efficiency and energy usage of data centres and
encourage more environmentally friendly IT consumption. ‘Green
Specifications’ provide an important foundation for minimizing the
environmental impact of computing service consumption by describing the
relationship between different consumption choices (at different Quality of
Service levels) and environmental impact in a way that is understandable to
the widest possible range of stakeholders.
Baek and Chilimbi (2010) present a simple and flexible framework called
"Green" for energy-efficient computing and argue that using loop and
function approximation, “Green” can support energy-conscious
programming. Authors discuss designing, implementation and evaluation of
“Green” in detail and argue that they have applied “Green” to real-world
search application and have experienced significantly better performance and
less energy consumption with maintaining quality of service
Beloglazov et al. (2012) outline an architectural framework and principles
for energy-efficient cloud computing and argue that this model can offer
significant cost savings and demonstrates high potential for the improvement
of energy efficiency. After conducting a survey of research in energy-
efficient computing, authors propose an architectural principle for energy-
efficient management of clouds, energy-efficient resource allocation policies
and scheduling algorithms considering expected Quality of Service and a
number of open research challenges that can bring substantial benefits to both
resource providers and consumers
Beloglazov and Buyya (2010b) offer energy efficient resource management
system for virtualized cloud data centres that reduces operational costs by
87
substantial energy savings and at the same time provides required Quality of
Service
Dick et al. (2013) aim to incorporate sustainability issue to the arbitrary
software development process by proposing an agile extension for software
development processes.. Proposed agile methods aim to produce “greener”
software from scratch by reducing energy consumption
Germain-Renaud et al. (2011) present an ontology-oriented approach that
offers the perspective of combining semantic and logical inference for
achieving energy efficiency in IT systems
4.4.3.2 Information System
Dao et al. (2011) discuss the integration of IT resources with HRM and SCM
resources, which influences the firms to develop sustainability capabilities.
the article uses theoretical lens of resource-based-view in order to synthesise
different perspectives on sustainability
Tan et al. (2011) investigate the process of achieving green leadership with a
comprehensive and empirically supported framework for the attainment
and enactment of green leadership. Author also look at Green IT initiatives
4.4.4.3 Management
Cater-Steel and Tan (2011) aim to explore the relationship between IT
Service Management (ITSM) and Green IT. A framework of initiatives
contributing to Green ITSM is presented and analysed to explore the depth
and breadth of Green IT guidance provided in the IT Infrastructure Library
(ITIL) resources. Authors argue that Green IT and ITSM share common goals
and from the survey result claim that most of the IT Service Managers are not
aware of server consolidation but they understand the importance of Green IT
procurement, improving efficiency and controlling waste disposal. Few
recommendations are also proposed for the firms and future work has been
discussed.
88
4.4.5 Virtualizing
Virtualization occurs when multiple systems are run on a single processor to
reduce energy and cooling requirements.
4.4.5.1 Computer Science
Chang (2009) adapts the concept of Green IT by utilizing the integration of
the Xen paravirtualization and Honeynet technologies to design a virtual
research platform and including the implementation to verify the
effectiveness of the virtual architecture
Dasilva et al. (2012) discuss virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) as solution
to the rising energy cost & the global warming issue without compromising
on the quality of service. Authors have used VMware and Wyse technology
to implement a small test virtual desktop environment and identifies that
hypervisor and desktop virtual can offer a much more effective use of
resources (power), save on hardware and deploy new servers and desktops
quicker and cost-effectively. This article also discusses the green incentives
of VDI
Liu et al. (2011) argu that Green IT and cost savings can be achieved through
server virtualization technologies, since it provides a method of reducing
physical space, carbon footprint and most importantly electrical costs
Metzger et al. (2012) outline the way of increasing computing capacity while
simultaneously reducing the amount of energy required without increasing
the actual size of the data centre
Yamini and Selvi (2010) suggest a new system in the area of cloud
virtualization that reduces energy consumption by using new clique star cover
algorithm to connect more number of nodes with minimum number of servers
4.4.5.2 Management
Chen and Yoon (2010) aim to establish a general framework using checklists,
which is based on the cloud deployment models and cloud services models, in
order to understand the implication of cloud computing and the meaning of
89
secure cloud computing via IT auditing. The framework addresses concerns
such as security, privacy and regulations and compliance.
4.4.6. Terminal servers
Terminal servers are using a central server in conjunction with thin clients for
dramatic reductions in energy consumption
4.4.6.1 Computer Science
Niyato et al. (2009) propose an optimal power management (OPM) that
observes the state of a server farm and makes the decision to switch the
operation mode (i.e., active or sleep) of the server to minimize the power
consumption while meeting the required performance
Zhou (2014) analyses and discusses the challenges of cloud computing and
advanced manufacturing technology during the process of development,
security management issues and related privacy
4.4.4 Power Management
Power management is a function of information technology systems which allows
the option to run in a low power state during periods of reduced activity. This
classification also encompasses the categories of Data Centre Power, Operating
System Support, Power Supply, Storage, Video Card, and Display.
4.4.4.1 Data centre power
Adopted measures in data centre power management include virtualisation,
optimizing storage, and installing ultra-efficient cooling technologies.
4.4.4.1.1 Computer Science
Berral et al. (2010) aims to obtain an energy-efficient data centre and
therefore, propose a framework that provides an intelligent consolidation
methodology using turning on/off machines, power-aware consolidation
algorithms, and machine learning techniques to deal with uncertain
information while maximizing performance. Authors claim that when the
level of uncertainty increases, this approach is close to the optimal placement
and behaves better
90
Liu et al. (2009) Authors present the ‘GreenCloud architecture’ by using
Virtual Machine (VM) technology to reduce data centre power consumption,
while maintaining the desired quality of service, and argue that
‘GreenCloud architecture’ can save up to 27% of the energy as it enables
comprehensive online-monitoring, live virtual machine migration, and VM
placement optimization
Mata-Toledo and Gupta (2011) discuss issues of global warming and the
increase of toxic waste generated by electronic devices within the context of
green data centres and the necessity of creating ‘green data centre’ to save the
environment including how green data centres can be both environmentally
and financially efficient by reducing energy consumption
4.4.4.1.2 Information System
Schödwell et al. (2013) reviews literature to analyse green performance
indicators (GPIs) to assess Data Centre’s environmental performance
considering energy, GHG and resource efficiency. Thus, authors provide
academics and practitioners with the body of knowledge on DC green
performance measurement, and formulate open research challenges
4.4.4.2 Operating system support
Operating system support refers to the application of industry standards for power
saving functions that afford centralised control to network administrators and
promote energy reduction practices among end users. With a dearth of articles in the
Information System and Management categories, a wide scope remains for future
research.
4.4.4.2.1 Computer Science
Chaudhari et al. (2012) develop energy aware network management system
(NMS) framework based on the centralized decision management system
(CDMS) and claim that it is possible to save approximately 10-16% of power
at the cost of 1-5% end-to-end delay overhead. Green IT can be achieved as
the cost of re-routing and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
91
messages is minimal and acceptable considering the total power saved by
CDMS
Khan and Khan (2013) propose ‘Green IT-Outsourcing Assurance Model’ to
assist outsourcing vendor organisations and to engineers in order to ensure
greenness of the organisations and to develop energy-efficient software at
low cost
Salomie et al. (2011) offer an ‘Energy Aware Context Model’ for
representing the service centre energy/performance related data in a uniform
and machine interpretable manner. This model is used as primary resource to
generate run-time adaptation plans that indicates the greenness level of
service centre as energy awareness is achieved by using reasoning processes
4.4.4.3 Power supply
Power supply concerns enforcing compliance for desktop computer power
supply units so as to have them operating at maximised efficiency.
4.4.4.3.1 Computer Science
Kipp et al. (2011) propose “Green Metrics”, a set of energy-related metrics
which measures the “greenness” of an application and to detect where it
consumes and wastes energy. This article shows how to improve applications
design and execution. It considers an application scenario to show how
monitoring and evaluation of the Green Metrics helps to improve energy
efficiency
Kurokawa et al. (2010) propose a new digitally controlled dc-dc converter
and its transient response characteristics and claim that Green IT can be
achieved by this method as the convergence time of output voltage is less
than 1/3 of that of conventional one when the output capacitance is small and
the proportional gain is large to improve the transient response
Young Choon and Zomaya (2011) address the energy-aware scheduling of
precedence-constrained parallel applications for multiprocessor or
multicomputer systems (MCSs), such as grids and clouds, consisting of
heterogeneous resources and therefore develop a novel objective function
92
which confirms the quality of schedules and energy consumption. Authors
argue that the proposed algorithms with the incorporation of RS (relative
superiority) and MCER (makespan-conservative energy reduction) greatly
contribute to reducing energy consumption and the experimental results of
the comparative evaluation study confirm the superior performance of ECS
and ECS+idle over the other two existing algorithms, particularly in energy
saving
4.4.4.4 Storage
Storage examines conversions to data storage options such as solid state flash
memory as well as conducting further research into online storage practices so as to
find cost reduction measures applicable to this emerging form.
4.4.4.4.1 Computer Science
Baliga et al. (2011) discuss how cloud computing can enable more energy-
efficient use of computing power, especially when the computing tasks are of
low intensity or infrequent
Inoue et al. (2012a) present the storage-based power consumption (SBPC)
model of server storage to perform storage and computation processes and
using this model discuss an algorithm for selecting a server to reduce power
consumption and execution time
4.4.4.4.2.Information System
Grimm et al. (2013) propose a methodological framework for Carbon
Footprint of IT-Services (CFIS) based on the phases of Life Cycle
Assessment to study and to present a comparison of ICT-related energy
consumptions for Offline and Online Storage
4.4.4.5 Video card
Video card initiatives call for sacrificing performance outcomes such as higher
resolution and frame rate output in order to reduce energy consumption costs.
93
4.4.4.6. Display
Display outcomes involve upgrading from out-of-date cathode ray tube
monitors to newer technologies that use liquid crystal displays and light-emitting
diodes.
4.4.5 Materials Recycling
Materials recycling encapsulate donating and making available for salvage, the
un-required components so as to reduce the accumulation of toxic materials in the
environment, not neglecting the need for uniform legislation that encourage these
practices, and addressing concerns that regard data privacy. Due to a lack of attention
in the Information System and Management disciplines, there exists a greater
opportunity for further research.
4.4.5.1 Computer Science
Krikke (2008) highlights major impacts of e-waste (waste of hazardous
electronic equipment) on the environment and describes recycling e-waste as
a solution
Yang et al. (2010) assess incorporating cost and resource efficiency into the
technology innovation process and introduce better recycling technologies by
minimizing process waste, improving resource efficiency, thus reducing the
cost of the recovery process
Prominently featured among the available studies were a range of articles
categorized under the topic of power management. In the area of software
deployment and optimization, virtualization stood out as the primary method that
was given consideration. Not as common among these publications, however, were
approaches that addressed the topics of materials recycling and product longevity.
This result is only a reflection of the sample in its present state. As the research
process continues, it is expected that those additional findings will further augment
the current data set. Please note that though the Wikipedia classification listed
Telecommuting and Telecommunication among its nominal categories, as there are
no papers available in these research areas, these two sections have not been included
in this modified classification.
94
The fundamental areas of Green IT/IS affected by these findings are in order of
significance computer science (CS), information systems (IS), and management (M).
During the course of this approach analysis it became apparent that the allocation of
articles to the IS and M disciplines was becoming a rare occurrence, as the related
terms were more orientated towards CS. Therefore the prominent number of blank
cells in the Discipline column of Table 5 indicates a current underrepresentation of
Green IT research in IS and M. As further investigation is carried, the distribution of
articles as they are spread over these three disciplines may be affected.
4.5 Chapter Summary
This chapter provides the results obtained in the development of the archival
analysis from 2007 to August 2014 to determine the future directions and current
state of Green IT/IS literature.
Chapter 5: Technology – Process – Outcome (TPO)
The objective of this chapter is to present and explore the Technology-Process-
Outcome framework and detailing the results obtained from categorising the articles
into the TPO framework. Subsequently it provides a detailed analysis of the results,
which succinctly identify imperative gaps in Green IT/IS research domain.
5.1 Technology-Process-Outcome Exploration
For the purpose of classifying and facilitating a comprehensive analysis of
Green IT/IS research, it is essential to develop a Technology-Process-Outcome
(TPO) framework that enables a concurrence in the disciplines relevant to Green
IT/IS. Computer Science, Information Systems and Management all have a vital role
in expediting the current understanding of Green IT/IS methods. Currently their
relationship to each other within the area of Green IT/IS research remains largely
unexplored. Without a resolution in the synergy between these three disciplines,
proposals for Green IT solutions will encounter resistance in organizations where a
silo mentality is prevalent. As a countermeasure to help in the imminent
95
appropriation of Green IT, the TPO framework aims to prevent such hindrances from
materializing.
The synergized approach made conducive by the TPO framework overcomes
the restrictions to which current Green IT/IS research has been subjected. With
limited awareness of next generation technologies and a lack of opportunities for in-
field testing, researchers have not been able to accurately gauge the conditions under
which implementations of Green IT will occur. These restrictions highlight the
importance of deriving further understanding about the management of outcomes for
the visualizing and designing of the dynamic flow models required for the
efficacious adoption of Green IT. The TPO approach works to remedy these
limitations in the research by comprising them into a new synergy for revealing the
most feasible methods through which to implement Green IT.
‘Information Technology’ (IT) is a field involving the use of computing
devices, network systems and telecommunications hardware for the storage,
retrieval, transmission and manipulation of data, broadly applied across both the
private and public sectors. The term ‘Green Information Technology’ (GIT) is used
in reference to the innovative use of methods and materials designed to increase
efficiency and develop means of sustainability that lead to an overall decrease of
environmental pressures caused by the expansion of Information Technology. Such
techniques can range from ways of reducing the levels of power usage in data centres
to the installation of virtualized terminals in IT workspaces.
Appropriation of technology generally refers to how users alter the intended
application of a technology to adapt and integrate it into their particular situation. In
the context of sustainable development, the special term ‘Appropriate Technology’
refers to the customized implementation of Green IT systems that are efficient in
their use of energy and have a minimal effect on the environment. At the present
time this is not a practice being readily taken up due to a lack of promotion and
legislation. In a case where Green IT components may have been supplied to a
workplace, its actual installation may be neglected due to a lack of compulsion and
disregard for its necessity. Such situations emphasis how broader cultural changes
are required at the corporate level for Green IT to attain mainstream stature.
Outcomes in sustainability management can be measured through surveying
and reporting on a range of indicators that give an assessment of information
96
technology’s impact on economy, society, and the environment. One of the most
widely applied matrices is the Triple Bottom Line accounting method, which takes
into equal consideration the outcomes for not just ‘People’ and ‘Profits’, but also the
‘Planet’. Within the global information and communications technology (ICT)
industry, ICT Ensure is a matrix designed for meeting the sustainability standards
documented in Millennium Development Goal 7 (MDG7) by the United Nations
Development Programme. At a national level, the Australian Information Industry
Association aims to work in co-operation with the agenda outlined in Australian
Government ICT Sustainability Plan to become more effective, efficient, and
productive in their methods of acquiring, installing, maintaining, utilizing and
disposing of hardware components, in order to minimise the information and
communications technology industry’s impact on the environment.
The majority of publications that address Green IT/IS tend to focus mainly on
the Technology aspect and largely overlook Process and Outcome. Furthermore,
these three areas are only regarded in isolation from each other and the necessary
cycle of procedure between them is not taken into account. This “SILO” approach in
Green IT/IS research may be a major factor why the widespread implementation of
Green IT/IS still remains neglected in the corporate mainstream. Without more in-
depth studies in the areas of Process and Outcome, it will be difficult to resolve the
synergy between these three components. Integrating the strategic elements of
Technology with the operational aspects of Process is the key to optimising
Outcome. As a complex adaptive system, anticipating conversion to Green IT as a
sustainability measure requires more extensive modelling and simulation to
demonstrate the efficacy of various approaches. Therefore Green IT/IS research has
to expand its scope to consider the nature of interaction between all three sections so
as to assist management structures in establishing a dynamic flow within the
Technology-Process-Outcome cycle.
In the ecological context, sustainability refers to the maintenance of optimum
conditions in the natural environment whereas sustainable development broadens its
perspective out to the role of economic, political and cultural influences. For White
(2013) the meaning of sustainability is relative as he states that “sustainability
remains an elusive concept. It means different things to different people and is
difficult to define.” With deference to White’s cautious approach, it can still be
97
asserted that sustainability is the capacity to maintain a certain process or status and
that its success or failure is measurable over a defined period of time. The results of
applying sustainability can be assessed by the now influential Triple Bottom Line
agenda. This is a comprehensive matrix that gives equal weighting to the concerns of
society, commercial enterprise, and the environment.
Green IT itself is specifically concerned with ensuring sustainability practices
in the design, manufacture, usage and disposal of materials most commonly
appropriated by information technology. Within this scope, sustainable IT can be
equated with Green IT. As Smeitink and Spruit (2013) says “Research on IT
sustainability has mainly focused on describing harm done by IT on the environment
and scarcely on how IT can be an enabler for sustainability”. Therefore, since the
general concept of sustainability encompasses too broad an agenda, sustainability in
its wider context will be excluded from this study. For the purpose of a more focused
analysis, the reach of this study will not extend beyond Green IT, which has been
chosen for its immediate relevance in addressing the ecological concerns that are
being raised by the impact of the information technology industry on the
environment. Table 11 summarizes our analysis of TPO matrix in in Green IT/IS
papers.
Table 11: Technology – Process – Outcome Matrix
Table 11: Technology – Process – Outcome Matrix
Technology Process Outcome
Theories and
Frameworks
N/A
In the selected sample,
there was an absence
of studies in
frameworks or
theories that regarded
technology.
A possible reason is
the difficulties
DI,OT, IT, TCT2
Many theories in Green
IT research focused on
process, therefore,
process section is rich
compared to technology
and outcome.
No native theories and
too much focus on
BTF, GIVM, BAOF3
Economic modelling and
indicators have been used in
compiling most of these
theories.
Green IT specific indicators
are rarely referenced and
2 Diffusion of innovation, Organisational Theory, Institutional Theory, Transaction Cost Theory 3 Business Transformation Framework, Green IT Value Model, Belief–Action–Outcome Framework
98
associated with the
studying of futuristic
patented technologies
that are not made
available for guiding
and affirming
proposed theories and
frameworks.
motivation for Green
IT, but attention need to
be given on
implementation and
readiness.
therefore difficult to place
within broader sustainability
context.
Segment
Analysis
Conceptual
(Defining Green IT,
Promotion and
Management of Green
IT)
Studies markedly
identify need for
Green IT make
convincing case for its
implementation.
Credibility may be
slightly affected by
failure to examine
alternative causes and
solutions
Situational
(Motivation,
Challenges, Lifecycle)
Studies engage in
thorough assessment of
existing conditions and
feasibility of Green IT
in current business
sectors.
No studies addressing
Green IT adoption by
governmental
institutions -- though
public sector tends to
lead the way
Executional
(Solution Initiatives,
Adoption Level)
Studies give coverage to
both soft and technical
approach in Green IT
implementation and outline
three-tiered functioning
Absence of studies that
regard ongoing effects
following implementation
99
Approach Analysis
Computer Science
(Data Centre Design,
Video Cards, Storage)
Studies provide clear
vision of realistic next
generation Green IT
models
Futuristic
conceptualisation in
studies hindered by
state of present IT
Information Systems
(Algorithmic
Efficiency, Virtualising,
Terminal Servers)
Studies outline market-
orientated measures that
organisations currently
tend to favour for Green
IT
Solutions proposed in
studies are highly
complex
Management
(Resource Allocation,
Materials Recycling System
Support)
Studies identify strategic
and operational factors for
implementation of Green IT
Many factors cited in studies
need regulations
Sustainability is the capacity to maintain a positive environmental state. Since
the general concept of sustainability encompasses too broad an agenda, for the
purpose of a more focused analysis, the reach of this study will not extend beyond
addressing the concept of sustainable ‘Green Information Technology’.
‘Information Technology (IT)’ itself is a field involving the use of computing
devices, network systems and telecommunications hardware for the storage,
retrieval, transmission and manipulation of data. With limited awareness of next
generation technologies and a lack of opportunities for in-field testing, researchers
have not been able to accurately gauge the conditions under which implementations
of Green IT will occur.
As far as sustainable development is concerned, the customized
implementation of Green IT systems is not a practice being readily taken up. In a
case where Green IT components may have been supplied to a workplace, it’s actual
installation may be neglected due to a lack of compulsion and disregard for its
necessity. Such situations emphasis how broader cultural changes are required for
Green IT to attain mainstream stature.
100
Outcomes in sustainability management can be measured through surveying
and reporting on a range of indicators that give an assessment of information
technology’s impact on economy, society, and the environment. One of the most
widely applied matrices is the Triple Bottom Line (People/Profits/Planet) accounting
method, which takes into equal consideration the outcomes for not just society and
commercial enterprise, but also the environment.
At the present time, Green IT/IS research is hindered by lack of cross
disciplinary study. No studies consider more than one approach at the same time.
Corbett et al. (2010) propose that the “incorporation of multidiscipline decision
making and experiential learning represent two excellent opportunities to do just
that.” Therefore, since all sustainability initiatives reinforce each other, it is
counterproductive for them to be studied in isolation from each other. For facilitating
a comprehensive analysis of Green IT/IS research, Computer Science, Information
Systems and Management all have a vital role, but their relationship to each other
within the area of Green IT/IS research remains largely unexplored. The Technology
Process Outcome matrix aims to overcome the silo mentality and resolve the synergy
between all the disciplines.
5.2 Chapter Summary
This chapter provides the results obtained in the development of Technology-
Process-Outcome framework and analysis was performed on to reveal the
importance of TPO in the initiation, implementation and continuation of Green IT
101
Chapter 6: Conclusions
6.1 Research Gap Analysis and Future Work
This literature review undertakes a comprehensive assessment of articles
circulated within the fields of Green IT and Green IS in order to provide a better
understanding of trends in the research, and identify any noticeable gaps in
publications referencing Green IT and Green IS.
Problems associated with Green IT will only be resolved with further analysis
and development of existing theory. Bose and Luo (2011) support the contention that
a major gap in the literature of Green IT exists due to the lack of a theoretical
framework. Nanath and Pillai (2012a) mention that only 22% of the overall
publications contribute to theory. In addition, very few studies investigate the issues
managing Green IT after implementation, and there are not many studies about the
complete lifecycle of Green IT (pre-adoption to post adoption). Furthermore, more
focus is required on the regulatory motivation of Green IT, Green IT policy
disclosure and regulations, empirical studies on what is actually happening within
organizations, as well as the regulation of discloser.
Our archival analysis has also revealed an absence of studies in the essential
area of Technology-Process-Outcomes (TPO). This gap in the research has left
Green IT/IS without any consideration being given to how the process of
incorporating sustainable technologies into current IT practices can be enacted to
provide optimum outcomes. There we are looking to draw the focus of any future
research undertaken onto the importance of TPO in the initiation, implementation
and continuation of Green IT.
Areas that are underrepresented in the approach analysis classification include
studies on the types of graphics hardware and monitors that can help meet targets in
sustainable IT initiatives. These accelerators and display units require further
examination for the purpose of a Green IT redesign.
This study has attempted to identify the research trends and emerging areas in
the Green IT/IS field and identifies any gaps in the literature. Research can be
directed towards replication across more studies and across different disciplines in
102
the future. Further insight is able to be obtained through reviewing contemporary
Green IT and Green IS literature. Additional research should be directed towards
performing an analysis on the real challenges to manage Green IT (life cycle)
through the interviewing of vendors, consultants, researchers and users
Chapter 6: Conclusions 103
6.2 Conclusions and Outcomes
This study was conducted to better understand the state Green IT/IS, identify
key gaps (mentioned in 6.1) and concepts that have reached theoretical saturation.
The current study also helps to establish emerging trends and future directions in the
Green IT/IS research. This study has identified the established and emerging areas in
the Green IT/IS field and identifies gaps in the literature for future research to take
place. To address research question 1 (Q1: What are the important trends and
patterns emerged from Green IT/IS research between 2007 and 2014?), this study
reviews the practitioner and academic literature to provide a summary of published
research and to pinpoint the current trend of Green IT/IS research in the Information
System discipline (Such as a substantial growth in academic papers on various
‘Green’ initiatives on diverse topics is eminently visible, publications in M and IS
discipline are underrepresented compared to CS). Literature shows an increased
interest of the scholars to this interesting and imperative topic to fully understand the
benefits and challenges of Green IT. The urgency of addressing the identified gaps
(such as lack of a theoretical framework in Green IT/IS literature, less studies to
investigate the issues managing Green IT after implementation, very little studies to
consider the complete lifecycle of Green IT/IS) is detected in this research in order to
answer research question 2 (Q2: What are the gaps that are present in the Green IT/IS
literature?). This research also responses to research question 3, (Q3: How could it
advance to fill some of the critical gaps remaining in this research area?) as it
presents various opportunities for establishing cumulative knowledge to Green IT/IS
research area (such as TPO analysis), and also suggests replication across more
studies and across different disciplines.
This research is different to all other review papers as it has developed the
segmentation to draw the overall picture of Green IT/IS and has presented approach
analysis being inspired by the Green IT classification employed in Wikipedia. This
research is different compared to previous Green IT/IS studies, as articles have been
selected from three disciplines: Computer Science, Information Systems and
Management; and synthesized them accordingly. This research is also unique for the
presentation of the Technology-Process-Outcome (TPO) framework. This study also
has explored the relationship and finally this research argues that expand its scope to
consider the nature of interaction between all three sections so as to assist
Chapter 6: Conclusions 104
management structures in establishing a dynamic flow within the Technology-
Process-Outcome cycle.
This study has identified the established and emerging areas in the Green IT/IS
research in Information System, Computer Science and Management discipline and
identifies gaps in the literature for future research to take place. The research
performed in this thesis has led to a conference paper being accepted into the
‘Americas Conference on Information Systems’ (AMCIS), a journal article has been
submitted in ‘Sustainability’ and another journal article has been submitted in the
‘Communications of the Associations for Information Systems’ (CAIS) and has
conditionally been accepted .
6.3 Limitations
Several limitations are apparent in the study. One such is that the study was
limited to 199 articles specified. The obvious criticism is directed towards the
reliability and generalizability of the analysis. Not all Green IT/IS papers are
accounted for, although we argue that examining 199 articles are useful for a nascent
research area. Moreover, we have argued that the allocation of articles to the IS and
M disciplines was becoming a rare occurrence, therefore M and IS are
underrepresented compared to CS, this could potentially be caused by the fact that
the approached model we have used seem to be more focussed on CS topics (mainly
technology issues) and related terms were more orientated towards CS.. This study
cannot assert that the result would be similar if the sample size considers
supplementary numbers of articles. Despite these limitations, this study makes
several contributions to the Green IT/IS research field. It opens up various
opportunities for establishing cumulative knowledge to the discipline and will help
researchers to identify potential focuses in future studies.
6.4 Recommendations
This study opens up various opportunities for establishing cumulative
knowledge to the related disciplines. Future research can be directed towards
replication across more studies and across different disciplines. The implication of
this analysis for the novice information system researcher is that it provides a
Chapter 6: Conclusions 105
summary of published research areas and identifies gaps to identify and develop their
study focus. For established researchers, the archival analysis captures insights on
areas of research that have reached theoretical satiety and consequently identify
emergent topics. This will allow researchers to shift away from studying concepts
that have reached theoretical saturation to those topics that have been neglected,
which will provide a comprehensive understand of Green IT/IS across its entire
implementation.
Bibliography 107
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Appendix 121
Appendix
Appendix A
References of Articles Read
Appendix A: Articles Used in the Archival Analysis
Year Reference Total
2007 (Mines et al. 2007; Vlek and Steg 2007) 2
2008 (Boudreau et al. 2008; Chetty et al. 2008; David 2008; Forrest et al. 2008;
Fuchs 2008; Huang 2008; Kovačić et al. 2008; Krikke 2008; Martinez and
Bahloul 2008; Molla 2008; Molla et al. 2008; Murugesan 2008; Wang
2008; Woodruff et al. 2008)
14
2009 (Babin and Nicholson 2009; Capra and Merlo 2009; Chang 2009; Chen et
al. 2009; Chetty et al. 2009; Chow and Chen 2009; Daly and Butler 2009;
Dedrick 2009; Eastwood 2009; Esty and Winston 2009; Guster et al.
2009; Harmon and Auseklis 2009; Hasan et al. 2009; Herrick and
Ritschard 2009; Hobby et al. 2009; Huang 2009; Liu et al. 2009; Mann et
al. 2009; Molla 2009; Molla et al. 2009a; Molla et al. 2009c; Niyato et al.
2009; Ruth 2009; Sarkar and Young 2009; Sayeed and Gill 2009;
Vykoukal et al. 2009)
26
2010 (Ansari et al. 2010; Bachour and Chasteen 2010; Baek and Chilimbi
2010; Beloglazov and Buyya 2010b; Berral et al. 2010; Brooks et al.
2010; Chen and Yoon 2010; Cooper and Molla 2010; Corbett 2010;
Corbett et al. 2010; Datta et al. 2010; Dedrick 2010; Doh et al. 2010; Garg
et al. 2010; Iacobelli et al. 2010; Ijab et al. 2010; Kim and Ko 2010; Kuo
and Dick 2010; Kuo 2010; Kurokawa et al. 2010; McLaren et al. 2010;
Melville 2010; Mithas et al. 2010; Molla and Cooper 2010; Osch and
Avital 2010; Schmidt et al. 2010a; Schmidt et al. 2010b; Seidel et al.
2010; Thirupathi Rao et al. 2010; Watson et al. 2010; Yamini and Selvi
2010; Yang et al. 2010; Ying and Al-Hakim 2010; Zhang et al. 2010)
35
2011 (Aoun et al. 2011a; Aoun et al. 2011b; Babin and Nicholson 2011; Baliga
et al. 2011; Bengtsson and Ågerfalk 2011; Bose and Luo 2011; Butler
42
Appendix 122
2011; Cater-Steel and Tan 2011; Chai-Arayalert and Nakata 2011;
Cheung and Jacobsen 2011; Dao et al. 2011; Dubey and Hefley 2011;
Elliot 2011; Enokido et al. 2011; Erek et al. 2011; Germain-Renaud et al.
2011; Gupta et al. 2011; Hanne 2011; Jain et al. 2011; Jenkin et al. 2011;
Kipp et al. 2011; Lamb 2011; Liu et al. 2011; Loeser et al. 2011; Loock et
al. 2011; Loos et al. 2011; Mata-Toledo and Gupta 2011; Molla and
Abareshi 2011a; Molla et al. 2011; Müller et al. 2011; Nedbal et al. 2011;
Nishant et al. 2011; Pitt et al. 2011; Rao et al. 2011; Salomie et al. 2011;
Siddavatam et al. 2011; Taha Ijab et al. 2011; Tan et al. 2011; Vazquez et
al. 2011; Wang and Wang 2011; Wati and Koo 2011; Young Choon and
Zomaya 2011)
2012 (Beloglazov et al. 2012; Bose and Luo 2012; Brocke et al. 2012; Brooks
et al. 2012; Butler 2012; Chaudhari et al. 2012; Chou and Chou 2012;
Cooper and Molla 2012; Dasilva et al. 2012; Erek et al. 2012; Fradley et
al. 2012; Harmon et al. 2012; Hedman et al. 2012; Howard and Lubbe
2012; Ijab et al. 2012; Inoue et al. 2012a; Inoue et al. 2012b; Korte et al.
2012; Lei and Wai Ting Ngai 2012; Loeser 2012; Metzger et al. 2012;
Mohan et al. 2012; Molla and Abareshi 2012; Nanath and Pillai 2012a;
Nanath and Pillai 2012b; Nazari and Karim 2012; Pauwels et al. 2012;
Pernici et al. 2012; Scott and Watson 2012; Seidel and Recker 2012;
Simmonds and Bhattacherjee 2012; Stolze et al. 2012; Uddin and Rahman
2012; Unhelkar 2012; Zhiwei 2012)
36
2013 (Brocke et al. 2013; Cai et al. 2013; Chou 2013; Cooper and Molla 2013;
Dick et al. 2013; Fradley et al. 2013; Gavrilovska et al. 2013; Gholami et
al. 2013; Grimm et al. 2013; Khan and Khan 2013; Koo et al. 2013; Lee
et al. 2013; Lei and Ngai 2013; Loeser 2013; Loock et al. 2013; Malhotra
et al. 2013; Marett et al. 2013; Nishant et al. 2013; Rahim and Rahman
2013; Rawai et al. 2013; Rogers et al. 2013; Schödwell et al. 2013; Seidel
et al. 2013; Smeitink and Spruit 2013; Trimi and Park 2013; Vom Brocke
et al. 2013a; Vom Brocke et al. 2013b; White 2013; Yunus et al. 2013)
29
2014 (Atkinson et al. 2014; Bener et al. 2014; Grant and Appan 2014; Grant
and Marshburn 2014; Hilpert et al. 2014; Lei and Ngai 2014; Mancha et
al. 2014; Mishra et al. 2014; Molla and Cooper 2014; Nomani and Cater-
15
Appendix 123
Steel 2014; Opitz et al. 2014; Simmonds and Bhattacherjee 2014; Stiel
2014; Zheng 2014; Zhou 2014)