Human-caused climate change and its consequences challenge the modern economy, putting pressure on firms to enhance their ecological sustainability. In this study, we argue that digital alliances, i.e., strategic partnerships focused on the co-development, enhancement, and collaborative sharing of information systems (IS) resources, are particularly important for firms’ ecological performance. Our key argument is that digital alliances are critical in acquiring IS knowledge for developing green innovations. Using an absorptive capacity perspective, we theorise that industries’ information technology (IT) intensity affects the assimilation of externally acquired IS knowledge and therefore is a critical contingency for the link between digital alliances and green innovations. We also posit that the continuous development of green innovation shifts the mindset in firms, leading to a green culture, and that industry IT intensity again moderates this link. To test our theorising, we create a panel data set of 184 United States listed firms with 1,424 firm-year observations. Our findings broadly support our theorising. They contribute to the literature on the intersection of alliances and ecological sustainability by showing that IS plays a critical role in developing green innovations.

We examine how firms configure alliance portfolios—that is, networks of partnering firms—in order to exchange, share, or codevelop the capabilities they require to engage in digital innovation. We analyze data from 550 U.S. firms and the strategic alliances they formed within and across industrial sectors to study how the configuration of alliance portfolios in terms of size, degree of exploration, internationality, and competition affects the volume and quality of digital patents. We find that alliances appear to be an effective means, yet alliances for digital innovations require a different configuration when compared with alliances for non-digital innovations. Large and explorative alliance portfolios help with the creation of digital innovations while international alliances and alliances involving competitors do not. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on digital innovation and alliances. We also distill practical advice to executives charged with making strategic decisions about inter-firm partnerships.

Building on the concept of dynamic managerial capabilities, we set out to advance scholarly understanding of the antecedents of the presence of technology leadership in the form of the chief information officer (CIO) in the top management team. We derive a holistic framework from the literature of dynamic capabilities and introduce into that literature the concept of adaptation pressures. We suggest that external and internal dimensions that pertain to information technology, comprising an environmental, structural, and strategic dimension, intensify the pressure on a firm to adapt. The pressure to adapt increases the likelihood that the firm will add a CIO to its top management team. In turn, the presence of a CIO can direct a firm toward exploration as a way to relieve the adaptation pressure. Results from regression analyses of a longitudinal data set covering 503 large U.S. firms from 2006 to 2017 confirm our hypotheses. This study contributes to the literature of both information systems and strategy by clarifying the antecedents of technology leadership in the C-suite and explicating how environmental, structural, and strategic factors can act as such antecedents. Moreover, this study reinforces the notion that IT leadership can induce strategic change.