Twin Transition : Sustainable Digital Decision Making in Enterprise Resource Planning

The European Union is striving to achieve the goal of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. A crucial factor for achieving this goal is the so-called twin transition. It describes the simultaneous digital and sustainable transition of the European economy. If implemented correctly, ongoing digitization contributes significantly to the desired sustainability. It, in turn, also means that digital processes supported by software should consider sustainability goals. Business software and, in particular, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are the most applied tool for the digitization of business processes. For a successful twin transition, it is crucial to combine the idea of sustainability with ERP systems. For this purpose, we conduct a literature analysis. The outcome shows that some research work regarding sustainability and ERP systems and their implementation as a whole exists already. However, a detailed process- oriented examination about the consideration of sustainability in ERP-based business processes is still missing. It should focus on the specific decision processes of business processes and functions within ERP systems. For generating impact on sustainability, the decision-making processes are of particular interest. Therefore, our research aims to examine the twin transition of decision-making processes in ERP-supported business processes. The focus is on considering sustainability in these decisions. Thus, we introduce an approach that integrates both the ERP support by automation and the consideration of sustainability. Subsequently, we apply the model to the process of creating a purchase requisition.