3rd International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems – 2013 (ICRIIS’13)
Aligning an Information System Strategy with Sustainability Strategy towards Sustainable Campus Feybi Ariani Goni
Muriati Mukhtar
Faculty of Information Science and Technology Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi, Malaysia
[email protected]
Faculty of Information Science and Technology Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi, Malaysia
[email protected]
Shahnorbanun Sahran
Syaimak Abdul Shukor
Faculty of Information Science and Technology Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi, Malaysia
[email protected]
Faculty of Information Science and Technology Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi, Malaysia
[email protected] Abdoulmohammad Gholamzadeh Chofreh Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Skudai, Malaysia
[email protected]
Abstract—Sustainability has increasingly become important for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). A number of researches have acknowledged the HEIs transformation towards sustainable campus. However, there is a lack of research contribution focused on alignment process between sustainability and information system (IS) strategies. This research issue inhibits achievement of sustainability objectives and values. In this study, therefore, the authors propose a sustainability transformation framework, which involves alignment process between sustainability and IS strategies, for sustainability transformation. The authors engage three phases to gain the objective of this study. These phases include problem definition, define objectives of a solution, and framework development. The proposed framework provides a sequential and rigorous approach to effectively transforming HEIs towards sustainable campus. However, there is a need of future works to validate and assess the applicability of the framework in HEIs. Keywords-sustainability; higher education information system; strategy; alignment
I.
institution;
INTRODUCTION
Since 1980s, the concept of sustainability embedded the governments and business agendas, as well as the mission of educational and research programs [1]. In response to this issue, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) throughout the world have begun to adjust their educational missions and visions to embed sustainability into their business and educational processes [2]. A number of research has been made in introduction of sustainability in the new curricula of HEIs [3], sustainability transformation analysis through case
studies [4], and HEIs roles and contributions to education for sustainability development [5]. Thus, it has clearly stated that currently sustainability strategy imperative will be systemized and integrated into day-to-day practices of HEIs. Sustainability will touch education curriculum, research, operation and community in HEIs. On the way to this future, HEIs with a clear vision, strategy, and the execution capabilities to navigate the sustainability development will come out ahead [6]. Recent research has shown that in achieving sustainability values and competitive advantages, organizations need to have effective corporate sustainability initiatives [7] and valid corporate sustainability information systems (IS) [8]. Various studies have acknowledged the implementation of sustainability IS and the importance of sustainability IS to address sustainability issues (e.g. Jenkin et al. [9]; Esteves et al. [10]; Ahmed and Sundaram [11]). However, less number of research has examined the importance of IS in the area of sustainable campus to collect, integrate, and report the sustainability data and information. In practice, the major contributions of IS to sustainability in HEIs has been centered only on certain component of sustainability, such as Environmental Management Systems (EMS) (e.g. Sammalisto et al. [12]; Nicolaides [13]; Disterheft [14]. Meanwhile, in order to support and advance the sustainability initiatives, HEIs need to align the sustainability strategy with IS strategy in their transformation towards sustainable campus [15, 16]. Misalignment between sustainability strategy and IS strategy inhibits achievement of sustainability objectives, such as impacting cost and thwarting value generation opportunities, as the right
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3rd International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems – 2013 (ICRIIS’13) information is not available to the right people at the right time [17]. Hence, the contribution of academic research is necessary to highlight the importance of aligning IS strategy with sustainability strategy towards sustainable campus. The following section of this paper is literature review, which describes the sustainability concept and sustainability transformation in HEIs. The next section is the methodology to gain the objective of this study. Then, the sustainability transformation framework is presented and explained briefly. Finally, this paper ends with conclusion and potential research as an expansion of this study. II.
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Sustainability Sustainability is an emerging business megatrend which is imperative for all executives to respond about it [18]. The most commonly adopted term of sustainability is from Brundtland commission, which defines sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” [19]. However, this term is extensive and complex for organizations to understand and apply. As a result, the focus on sustainable development leans toward an environmental view point without the explicit inclusion of the social and economical aspects of sustainability [20]. Currently, many business and nonprofit organizations have adopted the triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability perspective that considers three dimensions of performance: environment, society, and economy [21, 22]. TBL also known as people, planet, and profit, or the three pillars. This means that by considering people, planet, and profit, the negative impacts of business on the environment, economy, and society is minimum. Moreover, it drives more sustainable outcomes [21]. In fact, it is argued that long-term profitability is best served by balancing it with social and environmental goals [23-25]. The concept of sustainability has extraordinary rise after United Nation conference over two decades [1]. In term of business transformation towards sustainability, Elliot [26] develops a multilevel and multi-systemic model that provides a structure on reviewing the current work on sustainability. The model encompasses six major categories: environment, society, government, industry and alliances, organizations, and individuals and groups within organizations. While each category is distinct, there is an interactive relationship between categories. This model presents the cybernetic relationship between human beings (stakeholders) and the area of the study in sustainability literatures [26]. By this knowledge improvement, governments, activists, and media have become skilful to push corporations to open an account for the social outcome of their activities and put sustainability into their agenda. Thousands of organizations evaluate companies’ performance to achieve corporate social responsibility goals. Although the methodologies for this assessment are disputed, these evaluations are
considerable for public [23]. By the aware and consideration of the people about sustainability, the consumption pattern and lifestyle is changing positively toward sustainability development [27]. According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the curiosity of the consumers to know the world behind the products they purchase increased. Besides price and quality, they are interested to know who, where, and how the products has produced. The awareness of the customers about environmental and social problems can be considered as an opportunity for industries and governments [28]. As a result, sustainability has emerged as inevitable priority for every company in every country [23]. Environment Society Government Industry & Alliances Organizations Individuals & Groups in organizations
Figure 1. Conceptual impact model of environmental sustainability. Source: Elliot [26]
B. Transforming the HEIs towards Sustainable Campus HEIs hold a distinctive position in society. HEIs are important places of knowledge production, knowledge perpetuation, and knowledge dissemination. In addition, HEIs have unique potential to encourage synthesis and integration of different types of knowledge and to enhance the application of knowledge to social change [29]. Based on Holmberg and Samuelsson [30], there are internal and external drivers for HEIs transformation towards sustainable campus. Internal drivers include size of institution, the existence of a coordination unit or project the sustainability transformation, connectors who refer to people from interdisciplinary research groups, sustainability champions and leadership. External drivers include pressure from stakeholders, source of funding, and employment availability. Similar to sustainability drivers, there are potential barriers to transforming HEIs into sustainable campus, include the structure of the HEI, resistance to change, and pressure from society [31]. In achieving sustainability values and competitive advantages, organizations need to have effective corporate sustainability initiatives and valid corporate sustainability information systems (IS). Organizations, especially HEIs, require to measure consumption of sustainability resources, to calculate emissions, to report consumption and emissions externally, to identify reduction and optimization avenues,
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3rd International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems – 2013 (ICRIIS’13) reduce consumption and emissions [32]. To provide these goals, they have to measure their impact on the environment, continuously monitor the performance through reports, and then analyze and manage it by setting reduction targets and optimization plans [32]. However, organizations face the challenge of collecting, integrating and reporting the sustainability information [33]. They still widely use manual reporting systems, such as spreadsheets, to provide the information. Moreover, the other issues for organizations are time consuming, lack of integration across the organization’s systems and processes, lack of integration and coordination across all levels in an organization, and lack of data integration and quality [33]. The absence of effective integrated IS for managing strategic sustainability resources indicates a misalignment between sustainability strategy and IS strategy [15, 16]. This issue inhibits the achievement of sustainability objectives, such as impacting cost and thwarting value generation opportunities, as the right information is not available to the right people at the right time [17]. To solve this issue, therefore, the authors propose a sustainability transformation framework for HEIs, which involves the alignment process between sustainability and IS strategies. III.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study engages three phases: problem definition, objectives definition, and framework development. The research flow of these three phases is illustrated in Figure 2 below. Phase 1: Define problem in HEIs transformation towards sustainable campus Phase 2: Define objectives of a solution
Phase 3: Design and development of a framework Figure 2. Research flow.
A. Phase 1: Define problem in HEIs transformation towards sustainable campus In this phase, the authors define problem in HEIs transformation towards sustainable campus from literatures and practices. The authors reviewed current literatures, include published journals and proceedings. In addition, the authors interviewed a number of experts from HEIs in Semenanjung Malaysia to find problem in their transformation towards sustainable campus related to IS utilization. The main objective of the preliminary analysis conducted in this research is to look into the way HEIs transform their core activities of teaching and research, institutional management and operational systems towards sustainability. Based on an examination of literature and preliminary analysis results, HEIs do not consider integrated IS strategy and application at the early stage of sustainability transformation. They do not implement
sustainability and IS simultaneously and harmoniously. Consequently, current sustainability decision making is silobased, the HEIs unable to analyse their performance, and the problem of overlapping data, information and activities arise. These problems can lead to ineffective and inefficient sustainable campus operations and can increase the implementation costs and time. B. Phase 2: Define objectives of a solution Based on the problem definition and knowledge of what is possible and feasible, the authors infer the objectives of a solution. In this case, the objective of a solution is to propose a sustainability transformation framework, which considers alignment of sustainability and IS strategies, for HEIs to implement sustainable campus. This framework could be a procedure for HEIs for transforming their researches, curriculum and operations towards sustainability. C. Phase 3: Design and development of a framework In this phase, the authors design a framework as a solution to particular problem. The main contribution of the framework to the knowledge is the alignment of sustainability and IS strategies in sustainability transformation. This framework was developed by examining the literatures in two fields include sustainability transformation and information systems. The following section briefly describes the sustainability transformation framework and its components. IV.
SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION FRAMEWORK
As a solution to problem, the authors design and develop a sustainability transformation framework, which presents the sequential activities, for HEIs transformation towards sustainable campus. This framework contains of three essential factors: (i) decision making levels, (ii) transformation phases, and (iii) transformation procedures. Figure 3 shows the sustainability transformation framework based on an examination of the literatures in sustainability transformation and preliminary analysis. The first factor is decision making levels, which usually defined according to the planning time horizon, specifically strategic, tactical and operational. At the strategic level, the HEIs establish objectives that are consistent with a higher order mission statement and define strategies to achieve each of those sustainability objectives. Strategic decisions are long-term in their impact. They affect and shape the direction of the whole business. They are generally made by senior managers. The top level managers of the HEIs need to take a strategic decision about sustainability initiatives. Long-term forecasts of sustainability practices set against internal and external conditions will help to determine the sustainability transformation. The tactical level covers the planning of sustainability transformation, schedules, and the forecasting of sustainability initiatives. Tactical decisions help to implement the strategy. They are usually made by middle management. The operational level deals with day-to-day short term sustainability decisions. Plans and schedules to
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3rd International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems – 2013 (ICRIIS’13) meet actual demand are executed at the operational level, such as middle or junior managers. The researcher translated sustainability transformation knowledge into practical and comprehensive phases. The researcher makes a distinction between five different phases of sustainability transformation, each phase with its own characteristics, drivers, target groups and strategy. These transformation phases include initiating, planning, implementation, monitoring controlling and closing. The third factor is sustainability transformation procedures, which defined as a series of steps taken to accomplish the strategies. The researcher classified the transformation procedures according to the transformation phases.
A. Phase 1: Initiating In this phase, the top management level need to identify the internal and external stakeholders. Engaging stakeholders is an important activity in sustainability transformation. The HEIs required understanding the regulations, requirements, and needs from internal and external stakeholders. This enables HEIs to have better-motivated workforce and better relationship [34]. Another activity in initiating phase is identifying the sustainability policy. In this section, HEIs need to identify the general sustainability policy and adopt it for sustainability transformation. Stakeholders’ involvement Identify and understand the regulations, requirements, and needs from internal and external stakeholders
Stakeholders’ involvement Phase 1: Initiating
Sustainability policy development S T R A T E G I C
Sustainability policy development
Sustainability strategic planning
IS identification
Operational analysis & BPR planning towards sustainability IS
Figure 4. Phase 1: Initiating phase. Phase 2: Planning
Sustainability IS formulation T A C T I C A L
- Leadership and commitment to sustainability - Sustainability policy definition and alignment with business strategy
Sustainability IS planning process establishment
Sustainability integrated system (SIS) specification
Documentation for SIS implementation
B. Phase 2: Planning In the planning phase, HEIs need to establish the sustainability transformation project committee and team, which include experts from various disciplines and faculties. In addition to this, the alignment process between sustainability and information system strategies shown in the planning phase. This means the HEIs must identify the information system opportunity to address sustainability issues and support sustainability initiatives. For instance, the HEIs need an integrated IS to collect, integrate, and report sustainability data and information. In this step, therefore, the project team needs to design a plan for sustainability IS formulation. Sustainability IS planning process establishment
O P E R A T I O N A L
BPR towards sustainability IS
SIS development
Internal & external communication SIS implementation review & corrective action Project closing
- Sustainability committee establishment - Sustainability project team establishment
Phase 3: Implementation
Phase 4: Monitoring & controlling Phase 5: Closing
Sustainability strategic planning
IS identification - Analyze the information system environment - Identify information system strategy
- Establishment of corporate vision and objectives - Identify sustainability strategy
Figure 3. Sustainability transformation framework.
A
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3rd International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems – 2013 (ICRIIS’13)
SIS implementation review & corrective action
A
- Review of progress - Corrective action - Seeking continuous improvement
Sustainability IS formulation - Comparison between sustainability and IS strategy - Identify the sustainability information system strategy
Figure 7. Phase 4: Monitoring and controlling phase.
Operational analysis & BPR planning towards sustainability IS
Sustainability integrated system (SIS) specification
- Understand and measure existing business process - Identify business process change
- Define information flow model - Identify requirement for integrated system development
E. Phase 5: Closing The final stage of sustainability transformation is project closing. The purpose of the closing phase is to confirm the completion of sustainability transformation project deliverables to the satisfaction of the stakeholders. This required finalizing all activities across all of the project team to formally close the project. V.
Documentation for SIS implementation Figure 5. Phase 2: Planning phase.
C. Phase 3: Implementation In implementation phase, the project team starts to transform sustainability process and develop a sustainability integrated system (SIS) to support sustainability activities. These activities must be aligned and harmonized in order to achieve successful sustainability objectives. In sustainability transformation process, the project team needs to identify the sustainable campus components and focuses. These components may include environmental, social and economic components. Meanwhile, the experts in information system need to develop SIS to collect, integrate, and report the sustainability data and information. BPR towards sustainability IS
SIS development
Internal & external communication Figure 6. Phase 3: Implementation phase.
D. Phase 4: Monitoring and controlling The sustainability transformation for HEIs involves monitoring and controlling the sustainability transformation. In this phase, sustainability project team needs to review whether the objectives and targets set in the sustainability policy have been met. Therefore, this phase is an iterative process with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target, and result.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
Practicing sustainable campus is a long-term and multilevel challenge which requires strategic thinking, which shows the alignment process of sustainability and IS strategies. In this study, the authors examined the literature in two fields, including sustainability transformation and information systems. In addition, a preliminary analysis established to look into the way HEIs transform their core activities of teaching and research, institutional management and operational systems towards sustainability. Moreover, through preliminary analysis, the authors observed the real problem of practitioners in HEIs in practicing sustainable campus. In summary, HEIs do not consider integrated IS strategy and application at the early stage of sustainability transformation. They do not implement sustainability and IS simultaneously and harmoniously. Therefore, current sustainability decision making is silo-based, the HEIs unable to analyse their performance, and the problem of overlapping data, information and activities arise. These problems inhibit the effectiveness and efficiency of sustainable campus operations and can increase the implementation costs and time. To solve this issue, hence, the authors developed and proposed a sustainability transformation framework, which consists of three important factors: (i) decision making levels, (ii) transformation phases, and (iii) transformation procedures. This framework could be an integrative way and process in transforming sustainability. However, the sustainability transformation framework has not been applied in real world case study. Thus, there is a need for other researchers to expand this study by validating the framework in a group of experts, and applying this framework in HEIs. Nevertheless, this study gives a contribution to the knowledge in term of alignment of sustainability and IS strategies in sustainability practices. In addition to this, the framework could be a guideline for practitioners to implement sustainable campus effectively.
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3rd International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems – 2013 (ICRIIS’13) ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to thank Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for providing the funding for the project under the research grant of UKM-GUP-2011-237 and also the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education for the grant of ERGS/1/2012/TK01/UKM/02/5. REFERENCES [1]
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