Abstract
Although there are organizations that have adopted legally imposed measures regarding energy-saving technologies, up until now, there has been a lot of unused energy-saving potential. Based on existing theories, such as the adoption theory and the institutional theory, this exploratory research investigates the reasons for firms to (or not to) adopt energy-saving technologies, even though they are legally obligated, and it has a positive impact on economic organizational performance. A “multiple mini-case” study, with six cases in the Dutch metalworking/electrical engineering sector and in the synthetic material/rubber sector, were conducted. Results show that, nowadays, organizations do not feel any regulatory pressures as they are not aware of the existence of the concerned legal obligations, e.g., where an organization’s self-awareness (of the relative advantages of the technologies) begins to play the most important role. To adopt the technologies, decision-makers must be convinced that adopting energy-saving technologies involves advantages for the organization and that the payback time is sufficient. Financial dilemmas negatively influence these adoption processes. Lastly, the continuous intentions of organizations to adopt energy-saving technologies appear to be positively related to the number of adopted technologies.
Highlights
Nowadays, governments worldwide are enacting more policies to stimulate energyefficient technologies within organizations [1]
Though many organizations have adopted technologies imposed by governmental laws, up until now, there has been a lot of energy-saving potential—unused for service and industrial organizations [4]; differences in the adoption of energy-saving technologies are large [5]
Whereas previous studies have increased our understanding on the effects of institutional pressures, the adoption processes influenced by legal obligations that demand energy-saving investment behaviors from firms, have not been investigated
Summary
Governments worldwide are enacting more policies to stimulate energyefficient technologies within organizations [1] These energy-saving technologies are expected to have positive impacts on environmental and economic performances [2], the relationship with economic organizational performance is not always clear [3]. Researchers have investigated the factors influencing the adoption of energy-saving technologies, including the environmental policies of taxation, subsidies, standards, quotas and the ETS-system [2,5,6,7], economic and environmental considerations, e.g., [8,9], social and personal considerations, e.g., [10], and firm and technology characteristics, e.g., [11,12]. Whereas previous studies have increased our understanding on the effects of institutional pressures (e.g., in adopting energy-saving technologies), the adoption processes influenced by legal obligations that demand energy-saving investment behaviors from firms, have not been investigated
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