Adoption of quality standards for corporate greenhouse gas inventories

Abstract

This paper studies factors for the adoption of quality standards. The identified factors are applied to a typical example of such a standard; a new standardized measurement and calculation methodology for corporate greenhouse gas inventories. Standardization of these methodologies fosters innovation, as it will provide innovators and regulators in this field with qualitatively superior and more homogeneous emissions data. This will allow for the creation of better substantiated and more focussed innovations and regulations. A framework of 31 factors that determine the adoption of quality standards was first established from extant literature. The framework consists of tangible and intangible standard characteristics, standard supporting alliance, standard creating process, standard support strategy, and stakeholders. Factor weights were determined by applying the Best worst method, and interviews with experts in the field of greenhouse gas accounting were conducted. The existing literature on success in standardization is mainly concerned with compatibility standards; this paper contributes to the existing standardization literature by focusing on quality standard adoption factors. Counterintuitively, the most important factors for adopting quality standards are not related to strategic considerations or the standard's tangible technical characteristics but to pressure from customers and support from governmental bodies.