New directions for energy and behaviour: whither organizational research?

Panel: 9. Dynamics of consumption

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Margaret Taylor, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, Stanford University, USA
Kathryn Janda, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper provides practical, theoretical, and structural grounding for research on organizations in the energy system. The paper begins by demonstrating the importance of organizations in the energy system, as illustrated through engagement with two of the leading frameworks for structuring behavioural research in energy. The paper then briefly reviews some of the existing energy-related research on organizations, with an emphasis on the action-orientation of the organization studied (specifically, organizations that consume energy-using goods and services and organizations that create such goods and services through value chains). The paper also reviews both internally-oriented and externally-oriented theories related to the behaviour of organizations, outside the energy domain, and provides two energy domain examples where a theory-driven approach – either internally- or externally oriented – led to novel insights. The paper concludes by providing a structure that ties together organizational actions in the energy system with organizational theory orientations, in the hopes that this structure will provide a guide to both current and future research, making it more accessible and exposing important knowledge gaps.