Organizational (Non-) Adoption of Legally Obliged Energy-Saving Technologies: Why (Not) Comply?

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, decisionmakers 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.