Adoption of reporting systems for sustainable development: organizational innovation

Abstract

The article describes the adoption by firms, a major managerial innovation: systems of
sustainability reporting. The study proposes an original theoretical framework that
integrates institutional theory (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Selznick, 1949) and sociorational
view of innovation diffusion (Rogers, 1983). Led by a positivist approach, this
research first of its kind on the adoption of software sustainability reporting, analyse the
institutional framework governing the adoption decision and assesses the importance of
coercive normative and mimetic institutional pressures type. In practical terms, it
highlights the perceived benefits of sustainable software, fears related to their complexity
and degree of compatibility with sustainable development strategies pursued by firms. The
originality of this research is to provide a new vision of decision-making in a context where
institutional pressures can be significant. This research underlines the importance of
choices made in sustainable software by the leaders.