The relationship between digital technologies and the circular economy, both characterised as disruptive, is attracting increasing attention in company boardrooms, policy and pressure groups and in academic communities. Nevertheless, studies to date highlight a lack of understanding of how digital technologies enable organisations to improve their resource flows and value creation to promote the circular economy. This article looks to address this gap in the academic literature by an examination of if and how a small number of organisations are using digital technologies to support their sustainability objectives and circular economy initiatives. The research approach is inductive, using questionnaires and interviews with IT professionals employed in a range of organisations. The article concludes that where organisations are pursuing circular economy initiatives, the connection with digital technology deployment is not evident, even though a more general association with sustainability is. Digital technologies are bringing about greater efficiencies, improved processes and better data management, which are supporting and enabling sustainability objectives, but a more direct linkage with the circular economy will require clearer use cases of how specific digital technologies can progress the circular economy, both within organisations and across the supply chain. Enhanced information systems that facilitate the reporting and analysis of the operational performance of circular economy activities against set objectives will also be needed.

The textile and clothing (T&C) industry is not usually viewed as an exemplar of sustainable development and the circular economy (CE), as the industry has hitherto developed its products in a linear fashion, with relatively little recycling of the finished goods. This article examines the industry’s approach to the core sustainability concept and the CE in particular through a review of the available academic literature, evidence from corporate sustainability reports and websites, and feedback from an online survey of industry professionals. More specifically, the article investigates how German T&C companies are addressing sustainability in their corporate strategies and what activities relating to the CE are being pursued in the industry. The role of digital technologies in the transition to sustainability and the CE in the German T&C industry is also explored. The study finds that whilst sustainability is now firmly embedded at the strategic level in the vast majority of the companies studied, attitudes towards the CE are mixed. The use of digital technologies in support of sustainability objectives is also limited at present, but the need to meet compliance requirements and new customer perceptions of sustainability will speed the transition to CE activities, which will be facilitated by the greater exploitation of these technologies. An operational framework for initiating such a transition is developed, and action lists in the key areas of change organization, products, and processes are presented. These may be used as a guideline for practitioners, and the findings also make a small contribution to the scarcity of literature in this field of research.

The increasingly stellar attraction of the digital technologies and the growing, though not universal, consensus of the need to build a sustainable future, are two powerful trends within society. The aim of this article is to offer an exploratory review of how the leading companies within the digital transformation market have addressed sustainable development. As such, the article’s originality and value lie in offering a review of current corporate thinking within that market. The study adopts an inductive, qualitative approach based on an examination of published company reports, and identifies six major sustainability themes being actively promoted and supported. The article concludes that the current sustainability objectives of the technology companies are driven as much by commercial reality as any altruistic motives, and that support and promotion of the circular economy may offer the best opportunity for digital technologies to meaningfully impact sustainable development.

This article explores how digitalisation is impacting the hospitality industry and assesses the evolving role of an Information Technology (IT) strategy in the digitalisation process. The research approach is qualitative and inductive, based on six in-depth interviews with senior IT professionals in the hospitality industry. Findings indicate significant differences in the role of an IT strategy in guiding digitalisation in the companies studied. The depth of information provided by the interviewees supports the development and application of a model that profiles the companies regarding their degree of digitalisation and technology integration. Analysis of interview material allows the identification of key properties for successful digitalization: process agility, workforce adaptability, and technology manageability, along with a clear data culture and ensured cybersecurity. However, disparate systems and technologies, and a lack of data integrity, are key issues that leave hospitality companies with difficult choices in progressing digitalisation initiatives. The applied model and identification of key properties for successful digitalisation contribute to the development of related theory and can also be used as a reference point for senior IT professionals working in the industry.

As businesses increasingly adopt digital processes and solutions to enhance efficiency and productivity, they face heightened cybersecurity threats. Through a systematic literature review and concept development, this article examines the intersection of digitalisation and cybersecurity. It identifies the methodologies and tools used for cybersecurity assessments, factors influencing the adoption of cybersecurity measures, and the critical success factors for implementing these measures. The article also puts forward the concept of cybersecurity governance process categories, which are used to classify the factors uncovered in the research. Findings suggest that current information security standards tend to be too broad and not adequately tailored to the specific needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when implementing emerging technologies, like Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and artificial intelligence (AI). Additionally, these standards often employ a top-down approach, which makes it challenging for SMEs to effectively implement them, as they require more scalable solutions tailored to their specific risks and limited resources. The study thus proposes a new framework based on the Plan-Do-Check model, built around the cybersecurity governance process categories and the three core pillars of governance, culture and standards. This is essentially a bottom-up approach that complements current top-down methods, and will be of value to both information technology (IT) professionals as an operational guide, and to researchers as a basis for future research in this field.

The hotel industry has historically suffered from a misalignment of IT and business strategies, and yet has embraced digital technologies in many aspects of its operations in recent years. This article explores and assesses the options and dilemmas facing the hotel industry in selecting and implementing information systems and digital technologies as part of an evolving IT strategy. The methodology centres on a narrative synthesis of pertinent academic literature and industry source material available on the internet. Earl’s model of IT strategy development is also used as a frame of reference to assess the options facing the industry in the digital era. The article finds that some of the digital technologies have been widely deployed in the hotel sector, and an increasing number of software packages are also now available, some of which provide the requisite functionality to allow a one-stop purchase ensuring systems integration. Other packages rely more on the use of third-party software products to provide integration of different packages and digital technology applications. Findings suggest that three perspectives need to be pursued together in a balanced fashion to develop an effective overall IT strategy—top-down technology integration, bottom-up evaluation of required functionality and digital technology options—along with the inside-out matching of these needs with what is available in the marketplace. The article provides new perspectives on developing and applying IT strategy in the hotel sector in the digital era and suggests that proven approaches to IT strategy development are still of value in the planning and management of digital transformation initiatives.