Paradoxical injunctions: reconcile digital transformation with environmental considerations
Abstract
A digital transformation approach in organizations can no longer escape consideration of the environmental consequences that Information and Communication Technologies generate. In this digital transformation context, we wonder in this paper what paradoxes can emerge between environmental and economic injunctions in the company? Through the combination of the two theoretical frameworks, i.e; the theory of paradox (Smith & Lewis, 2011) and «Technology, Organization, Environment" (T.O.E.), (Tornatzky, & Fleischer, 1990), our research aims to identify the paradoxes relating to decision-making between environmental and ecological issues and the resistances that companies must take into account to respond to the challenges of the sustainability of their information system. Our research relates to a qualitative interpretive research design (Yin, 2018) within the case study of a company working in the environmental sector. Our findings revealed that the company of our case study is facing several paradoxical tensions between economic and environmental goals, individual and collective values, change, and continuity. The existence of these different types of paradoxes in the three dimensions of the TOE framework influences the implementation of Green ICT.