Transport Coopetition for Environmental Sustainability: Guiding Vertical Standard Design

IS researchers have so far developed conceptual propositions rather than empirical insights into what it takes to green an industry in practice. This paper analyzes an ongoing ten-year action design research effort, which seeks to leverage transport competition for environmental sustainability by guiding vertical standard design. Drawing on extensive field data, the paper theorizes about design challenges that surround attempts to tie together people, technologies, and processes into integrated IT solutions. In doing so, it illustrates the usefulness of a competitive lens for understanding these challenges and their effects on the evolution of such solutions. The paper also suggests that the action design research approach helps IS researchers to guide technology development in real-world situations.