The Use of Green Information Systems and its Benefits for Eco-Sustainability This research is concerned with understanding

the use of Green Information Systems (Green IS) and its benefits for eco-sustainability. In this research, Green IS is defined as the inscription, enactment and/or realisation of ecosustainability values in the spirit, practice and impact of IS (Ijab, Molla, Kassahun & Teoh, 2010, p. 438). This area is important to both IS theory and practice because although there is now a recognition that IS can play a key role in making organisations more sustainable, there is a lack of research that provides meaningful explanation and assistance to those organisations unsure about how, where, and when they can use IS to improve their eco-sustainability. Most existing literature on Green IS are conceptual in nature (Jenkin & McShane 2009). Further, most of the other research on eco-sustainability comes from the management and ecology fields (Chen et al, 2008). On the practical side, vendors and practitioners have been pushing for green products and services to their customers (Murugesan, 2008; Watson et al, 2010). Although the ICT industry seems to have acknowledged and reacted to the role of IS in pursuing eco-sustainability (Babin & Nicholson, 2009; Chen et al, 2008), it remains unclear how, or if, organisations are also embracing Green IS as a component of their environmental programs and practices (Jenkin & McShane, 2009). Research to date suggests that organisations often neglect to incorporate IS functions into their environmental assessments, measurement and goals (Jenkin & McShane, 2009). It is not also clear why and what type of information systems lead to eco-sustainable work practices (Jenkin & McShane, 2009; Watson et al, 2010; Melville, 2010). Many studies focus on the adoption and diffusion of IS without differentiating their environmental impact (Chen et al, 2008). Malhotra et al (2010) posit that the benefits of technological use in the pursuit of eco-sustainability can be framed using the three eco-sustainability goals: eco-efficiency (DeSimone & Popoff, 1997), eco-equity (Gray & Bebbington, 2000) and eco-effectiveness (McDonough & Braungart, 1998). Despite these anticipated benefits, the relationship between the use of technology and the broader eco-sustainability goals is not well understood (Berkhout & Hertin, 2004). Thus this current research asks why do organisations use Green IS as part of their eco-sustainability practices and what are the benefits of Green IS use?. The theory of practice will serve as a guiding conceptual framework to help explain the phenomenon of Green IS use in organisations using its three constructs: habitus, field and capital (Bourdieu, 1977). In the theory of practice, the concept of field is regarded as the focal area of study as the relationships within the field are more important than the individual actors (Rhynas, 2005). In this research, the hypothetical field is IS and eco-sustainability which provides the frame of analysis to study Green IS as a practice. The theory of practice can provide the lens to explain how individual and groups act in their social world, how the social groups in the field are formed and interact, what are the groups positions in the field and how are the relationships among them determine their power and struggle to access the fields capital. In particular, the questions of why do organisations use Green IS can be investigated by understanding (a) the dispositions (habitus) of individuals and groups in an organisation towards IS, climate change and eco-sustainability (b) the economic, social, cultural and symbolic capitals available to different agents (such as environmental stewards, IS managers and professionals, top executives, staff) within an organisation and (c) the relationships that exists among the different agents, their stakes, interests, strategies and positions within the field of IS and Eco-sustainability for making their actions and daily practices more sustainable, supported by Green IS. Limitation-wise, while the theory of practice has been used in many social science research, its application in the IS/IT domain is still scarce. For a long time, Bourdieus work has been considered inaccessible as the language and complexity of the work are not easily interpreted and understood (Rhynas, 2005). Therefore, the difficulty in understanding and applying this theory is one of the challenges that we have to tackle. This research will employ a qualitative method and will follow a pragmatism approach as pragmatism links the choice of approach directly to the purpose of and the nature of the research questions posed (Creswell, 2003). Case study is chosen as it is the ideal instrument to investigate contemporary phenomena that concern humans, organisational and ICT issues in their natural settings (Yin, 2003). This method is also suitable in exploring contemporary phenomena with empirical inquiry research on how and why questions (Yin, 2003) and has scarcity of existing research (Benbasat et al, 1987). The research will be based in a single organisation but with multiple stakeholders and data points. The data collection will involve semi-structured in-depth interviews and textual analysis. The interviews will involve 50-60 respondents in various job functions across several divisions of the organisation who are considered to have a stake and interest in the Green IS practice. Retrospective analysis of the organisations archived data will also be used to establish causal relationships of past and current events in the organisation pertaining to Green IS as a practice. As the theory of practice advocates the researcher to be reflexive about their own positions in the field (Rhynas, 2005), this reflexivity stance will also be documented in the findings of the study. Ijab, Mohamad Taha, 2010