The digitalization in EMAS-registered organizations: evidences from Italy and Poland

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to investigate the scope of digitalization in the EMAS-registered organizations for better understanding its extent in environmental committed firms' activities.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis was employed to examine the environmental statements of the EMAS-registered organizations. About 60 Italian and Polish entities were selected from the EMAS database using simple random sampling method.FindingsThe article fills the gap in the theory of managing change in an environmental context, suggesting that the action plan for sustainable development does not meet the objectives of digitalization. Organizations registered in EMAS do not express a strong tendency to introduce ICT in the pursuit of environmental goals, which is contrary to the assumptions about the benefits of digitalization for sustainable development.Research limitations/implicationsThe first limitation refers to the small size of the sample. Since environmental statements are always published in national languages, only two countries – Italy and Poland – were chosen for investigation. The use of national language hinders comparison, but the inclusion of more registered organizations could give additional explanations. Secondly, the content analysis would have benefited from the collection of additional source of information (webpages and company documentations), since many firms do not refer to digitalization in the environmental statements. Gathering primary data from managers explaining the motives behind their strategic environmental decisions could be also useful.Practical implicationsGiving the agreement about the environmental advantages of digitalization, this study offers to the practitioners the chance to catch new opportunities within the field of environmental sustainability by the employment of more integrated approach to digitalization.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine two dynamically developing areas, namely digitalization and environmental sustainability. This study enriches current knowledge about both areas, examining the level of digitalization of European high-environmental performing firms. In doing this, it reports lack of important use of digitalization in the action plans for environmental commitments in Polish and Italian EMAS-registered organizations.

The circular economy and its benefits for pro‐environmental companies

“…In summarising the above analyses and their results, one may be tempted to argue that those Polish enterprises that clearly communicate a pro‐environmental approach in their goals and that have based their strategy on such goals have not made extensive use of environmental tools. That result is in line with other studies indicating a relatively low level of use of advanced tools in pro‐environmental polish organisations (Canestrino et al, 2020). According to the results, enterprises have limited themselves to the application of two tools (LCA and muda elimination), which translates into only limited benefits.…”

“…At the level of the organisation, it is possible to use tools connected with the design or manufacturing process. Activities connected with, e.g., consumption or waste management regulated by the guidelines of the European Circular Economy Action Plan (COM [2020] 98 final) are areas over which individual organisations have little influence. In these cases, measures taken at the macrolevel, including national, interregional and international legal solutions, are of key importance, since in the present study the authors have focused on the activities of a single enterprise and have only referred to those tools that they can implement.…”

A sustainable University: Digital Transformation and Beyond

“…The consulting giant McKinsey identified those organizations that have efficiently implemented the DTS have come high performing digital enterprises constantly producing monetary benefits. Those companies are able to gain superior digital enterprise performance by scoring in six building blocks, namely, (a) strategy and innovation, (b) process automation, (c) organization, technology, (d) data and analytics and (e) the customer decision journey (Canestrino et al, 2020 ). Utilizing these combinations of blocks to capitalize on the changing market conditions/need is viewed as the organization’ capacity to desirably regulate the customer journey.…”

Transparency in the digitalization choices and the cost of equity capital

“…The first stage is represented by the identification of items based on academic literature and studies performed by important worldwide institutions and practitioner literature. Regarding the academic literature, relevant recent studies on the topic of the level of digitalization of companies were examined (Al-Samawi, 2019; Canestrino et al , 2020; Galindo-Martín et al , 2019; Ibem et al , 2018; Martín-Peña et al , 2019; Pessot et al , 2020; Rubino et al , 2019, 2020; Stoldt et al , 2018; Vadana et al , 2019). Furthermore, as regards the studies performed by important worldwide institutions, the works of Eurostat (2017), OECD (2019) and the DESI offered by the European Commission (2019) were examined.…”