What energy management practice can learn from research on energy culture?

Abstract

Purpose This investigation aims to reframe the sizeable literature on barriers and drivers for energy efficiency measures (EEMs) and the phenomenon of the energy efficiency gap. The authors identify a gap between academic methods and industrial needs, as well as a neglect of the cultural dimension, despite its considerable impact. On the basis of this insight, the purpose of this paper is to integrate all of the various influences on industrial energy behavior previously identified in the literature in a refined energy cultures framework. Design/methodology/approach This paper includes a systematic literature review of research in the field of energy management, energy efficiency and cultural aspects within barriers and drivers of energy behavior. The authors select and refine an existing energy cultures framework for the industrial context. To meet industrial needs, the authors applied an ontology mapping of its core elements onto an international standard common for industrial energy management practice. Findings First, the authors present a refined framework for industrial energy cultures incorporating past barriers and drivers as factors. The framework enables an evaluation of attitude and behavioral aspects, underlying technologies, organizational culture and actions related to energy as a system of interdependencies. Second, the factors are ranked on the basis of the number of appearances and empirical metadata. Economic aspects such as “purchase, installment and hidden costs”, “general investment and risk behavior” and “regulatory conditions” are the highest ranked factors, but “existing knowledge about EEM”, “hierarchy approach: top down” and “environmental concerns” follow closely and represent cultural aspects, which are still underrated. Third, while illustrating a successful mapping onto a standardized process of continuous improvement, the authors also argue for heightened academia–practice efforts. Practical implications Reframing the energy efficiency gap as a problem of what aspirations play a role, what technology is chosen and how technologies are used should increase the level of implementation of EEMs in the real business world. Introducing the refined energy cultures framework serves as a starting point for future transdisciplinary collaboration between academia and practice. Social implications Targeting the energy efficiency gap is an essential part of the sustainable development goals. The refined energy cultures framework allows for a better understanding of the industrial energy behaviors that are responsible for a significant share of a company’s success. The introduction of energy cultures serves as a starting point for future scholarly research within sustainability management accounting. Originality/value The investigation combines existing research streams, their concepts and their results about cultural aspects related to energy efficiency for both academics and practitioners. This review is the first to capture all of the various factors analyzed in academic literature using the energy cultures framework as a basis. The authors add to the theoretical development of that framework with its application to the industrial context. This is identified as a gap. Its refinement helps to holistically understand barriers and drivers of industrial EEMs to support its practical implementation.

In Search of Sustainable Value: A Structured Literature Review

“…All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. [14,[77][78][79][80][81][82][83] 8 Sustainability-oriented innovation, including eco-innovation [84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91] 8 Sustainable performance measurement [92][93][94][95][96][97] 6 CSR and corporate financial performance [98][99][100][101][102][103] 6 Environmental management [104][105][106][107][108] 5 Disclosure [43,56,109,110].…”

Strategy Context of Decision Making for Improved Energy Efficiency in Industrial Energy Systems

“…With regard to the suggested approach, corrective actions can be taken in the following areas. First, through a system of objectives and their decomposition among different structures; second, through the composition of divisions that are interconnected by certain relations; third, through distribution of tasks and functions across all divisions; fourth, through allocation of responsibilities, rights and authority within the organization; fifth, through the information flow and the document flow used; sixth, through the behavioral attitudes of staff continuously entering into various mutual relations to address development objectives [110][111][112][113]. The area and the scale of corrective actions as regards the management of energy saving and energy efficiency improvement, as well as the extent of changes in the behavioral system of staff relations, will be largely determined by the selected option of positioning (Figure 3).…”

Management control for sustainability : Activities and procedures for energy management in industrial companies

“…Trianni et al (2017b) also address how drivers can affect the investment decision-making process by influencing barriers. For example, people with real ambition are important for corporate culture, which has been identified as a factor that should be recognised in the context of energy management (May et al, 2016;Rotzek et al, 2018), and to overcome barriers early in the decision-making process, i.e. to generate awareness and identify opportunities (Trianni et al, 2017b).…”

“…The role of having someone with 'real ambition', or a 'champion' (for example, an energy manager or an engaged top management), has been highlighted in previous research; they are important for enforcing values and routines and creating awareness, influencing corporate culture (May et al, 2016;Rotzek et al, 2018), for energy management and energy efficiency, and overcoming behavioural barriers, e.g. related to priorities, lack of interest, and not sharing objectives (Trianni et al, 2017b).…”

“…Cross-disciplinary approaches have been advocated both in the 'energy' literature stream and for sustainability management control (e.g. Albelda, 2011;Rotzek et al, 2018;Thollander and Ottosson, 2008;Virtanen et al, 2013). By taking different approaches in research design and theoretical framing, this thesis acknowledges these calls and enables for the research problem to be addressed from different perspectives and levels of analysis (described further in 1.8 and chapter three).…”