Factors influencing the adoption of environmental enterprise systems

An increasing number of organizations are shifting from spreadsheet-based tools to enterprise-grade software platforms, which we refer as environmental enterprise systems (EES), to manage environmental data, processes, resources, footprints, and commitments. Despite this trend, and in view of differences in EES modules, form and functions, why organizations choose EES software have not been researched. This is an important issue as it reflects, albeit indirectly, organizations’ commitment to environmental sustainability. Under the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and ecological sustainability context, this study investigated the factors that influence the adoption of EES in four Australian service organizations. The findings indicate limitations of precursor systems, relative advantages and perceived benefits of EES, and software experience of sustainability managers affect the decision to adopt an EES software. Additionally, IT-dependent environmental strategies, the complexity of environmental portfolio management, and commitments to voluntary sustainability reporting requirements influence both the adoption decision as well as the selection of the specific EES module. These findings contribute more nuanced insights to the body of knowledge on Enterprise Systems and Green Information Systems adoption.