How information technology influences environmental performance: Empirical evidence from China

Information technology (IT) can be the problem and solution for environmental sustainability. While IT is a source of environmental contamination during manufacturing and disposal, IT also presents opportunities for firms to greening IT and/or increasing their efficiency of resource use. We examine the role of IT as a solution possibility for environmental management and sustainability by analyzing how IT influences environmental performance. We propose a model in which IT influences environmental performance by enabling the integration of IT in environmental management processes. The proposed model is tested by using the variance-based structural equation modeling technique with matched-pair survey data from a sample of 151 Chinese firms. We find that: (1) Firm's proficiency in leveraging IT technical infrastructure flexibility, IT personnel skills and IT-business alignment enables the integration of IT in the environmental management processes to improve environmental performance, and (2) this IT integration is stronger when the firm is more oriented to environmental sustainability. We introduce to information systems community the construct IT-environmental management integration, and we explain theoretically and test empirically the role of IT-environmental management integration as a key mechanism through which IT competence influences environmental performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.