Software and Web-Based Tools for Sustainability Management in Micro-, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

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Recently, new approaches to organizational level sustainability management and reporting have emerged in the form of software and web-based applications. At first glance, it appears that such software and web-tools are applicable in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they offer user-friendly and cost-effective alternatives to assess, manage and report on company-wide sustainability activities. Nevertheless, it remains academically and practically uncertain if such technological advancements will be adopted by a great number of SMEs. Using the Individual-Technology-Organization-Environment (ITOE) model as a theoretical framework and empirical data from a recent survey with 1,250 German SMEs, this paper investigates various firm-internal and external factors that might influence managers’ decisions to adopt or reject this new technology. This paper reveals which factors might play a role in the adoption of such web-tools in SMEs. In addition, this paper proposes a conceptual framework of an IT-assisted sustainability analysis and reporting scheme for micro-enterprises and startups. Based on existing software for larger enterprises, the paper describes the main content and potential layout of such a web-based tool.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances and New Trends in Environmental and Energy Informatics : Selected and Extended Contributions from the 28th International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection
EditorsJorge Marx Gómez, Michael Sonnenschein, Ute Vogel, Andreas Winter, Barbara Rapp, Nils Giesen
Number of pages16
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer International Publishing
Publication date2016
Pages259-274
ISBN (print)978-3-319-23454-0
ISBN (electronic)978-3-319-23455-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

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