Towards Data Management for Navigating the Dynamic Landscape of Sustainability Regulations and Standards

Sustainability regulations and standards have proliferated for two decades, shifting from voluntary guidelines to mandatory compliance. The evolving and often ambiguous nature of data requirements derived from these regulations and standards pressure companies to adjust their data management practices. This article examines the dynamic landscape of sustainability regulations and standards through an institutional lens and categorizes them into four groups via the institutional pressures they catalyze. Based on 12 qualitative case studies we uncover key data management practices companies build in response to the institutional pressures. We thereby contribute a categorization of sustainability regulations and standards acting as catalysts of varying institutional pressures, and through emphasizing the data management practices companies develop in response, we bridge the current disconnect between sustainability studies and data management.