Sustainability and the manager’s perception of reality: towards a theory of bounded perception

Objectives. The aim of this work is to provide a theoretical framework able to identify the role of information systems in overcoming the bounds of perception of environmental issues. Methodology. This is a conceptual paper that explores the concept of manager’s perception of reality and how bounded perception can lead to misinterpretation of environmental signals by providing a theoretical foundation to guide practice on what, trough the help of Information Systems, should be sense and how it should be transformed. Findings. Our findings show how Information Systems could alleviate the problems related to manager’s bounded perception by extending their sensing boundaries and capacity and matching digital streams to analog sensing channels. We offer propositions based on in-depth analysis of three stream of literature: natural science, Information Systems and management. Research limits. This is a theoretical paper, future research efforts should be directed towards both empirically testing the framework and operationalizing it. Practical implications. The paper provides practical ideas and techniques for mangers to extending their sensing boundaries and therefore improve managerial decisions. Originality of the study. There has been little formal theorizing about the role of information systems in overcoming the bounds of human perception to enhance the perception of environmental issue.