**5. Discussion**

Overall, this study shows that energy efficiency seems fairly well established among the surveyed SMEs. The descriptive survey data and correlation analysis indicate no considerable driving influence of the energy demand of the SMEs. Regarding firm size, the descriptive analysis signifies a lesser importance of energy efficiency, less establishment within the enterprises, a higher centralization of responsibility, and less usage of organizational energy efficiency practices among smaller SMEs. However, the correlation analysis indicates only a minor influence on the establishment of energy efficiency within the enterprises and rather the embedding of energy efficiency in corporate strategy, the usage of a broad spectrum of practices, and the strong importance of employee behavior for energy conservation appear as crucial aspects. One possible interpretation of this result is a higher energy demand or a larger firm size do not guarantee these aspects. It seems more likely that the social and cultural contexts shape how the SMEs and their decision makers approach energy efficiency issues. In this sense, the individual results can be read as a description of this contexts.

Starting by analyzing the energy efficiency climate, the meanings of energy efficiency for and within the SMEs were elucidated. Energy efficiency is first and foremost associated with cost reduction—undoubtedly this serves as a major motivator for enterprises to draw attention to energy efficiency. However, energy efficiency can have much broader meanings for the enterprises and their members. Meanings such as differentiation from competitors, conformity to a perceived industrial state of the art, or the aspiration of a positive public image are crucial aspects on how energy efficiency issues are treated by the enterprises, especially with regards to internal competition against other issues, and project a dense web of meanings of energy efficiency that seems vital to generate attention and decisions for measures and new practices. Those additional meanings of energy efficiency refer to four aspects.

First, it indicates that meanings of energy efficiency do not solely depend on internal criteria such as cost reduction or profitability, but also on external criteria. Meanings, such as social or ecological responsibility, modernity, and progressiveness, or the desire for a positive external image are implausible without recourse to expectations of society and the corporate environment. Similarly, an increasing number of studies have already shown that issues such as climate change, energy conservation, and environmental pollution more and more influence practices in SMEs. [14,33,74,75]. Second, it indicates that energy efficiency is perceived as an increasing social obligation – an obligation endorsed by the majority of the surveyed SMEs. Third, the meanings of energy efficiency can sometimes have destructive connotations for individual members of the enterprises due to negative experiences. Fourth, the meanings reflect the benefits of energy efficiency practices, oftentimes distinguished between energy and non-energy benefits [76,77]. As these benefits constitute the source of strategic decisions on energy efficiency [78], their consideration is particularly important for practitioners as well as future research. Overall, the results from fieldwork and survey data indicate that the denser and broader the (positive) meanings for energy efficiency are, the more likely an enterprise will embed energy efficiency in its strategy and the more likely decision makers will opt for energy efficiency measures. In other words: Energy efficiency must accommodate multifunctional meanings for the enterprises [79] to generate attention.

By focusing on the practices, it was shown that the SMEs consider, plan, and carry out a variety of energy efficiency practices in everyday work life. Although the majority of the surveyed enterprises concentrate primarily on technical measures, behavioral measures are rated as equally important. In comparison, organizational measures are perceived to be substantially less relevant according to the survey results, even though the case-study research indicated the driving aspects of organizational practices in establishing energy efficiency within the enterprises. The underestimation of organizational practices by the SMEs might be explained by the informal way the enterprises oftentimes manage their staff and energy use. This might also explain the remarkably high importance of behaviorally related practices.

Energy managemen<sup>t</sup> is often considered a vital means for enterprises to overcome barriers and to improve energy efficiency [80,81]. According to Thollander and Palm, industrial enterprises that adopt energy managemen<sup>t</sup> practices may reduce their energy use by up to 40 % [82] (p. 102). Similarly, the results indicate that the embedding of energy efficiency in corporate strategy combined with a broad spectrum of different practices and the distribution of attention by organizational measures considerably drive the establishment of energy efficiency within enterprises and foster the improvement of energy savings. From this point of view, energy managemen<sup>t</sup> is the key factor in the institutionalization of energy efficiency within enterprises. Yet, the implementation of an energy managemen<sup>t</sup> system (ISO 50001) is oftentimes not a viable option or aspiration, especially for small SMEs. However, as the case studies have shown, SMEs can operate effective energy managemen<sup>t</sup> without being bound to a norm, as long as they follow basic principles.

According to the analysis, the existence of an energy efficiency strategy appears more effective than typical structural characteristics, which are identified in other studies as major influencing variables in raising attention for energy efficiency issues. This includes firm size [38,56] or the energy demand [52]. The finding of the importance of an energy efficiency strategy essentially coincides with the investigations of industrial enterprises (SMEs and large enterprises) in Sweden [83,84]. According to the authors, the existence of a "long-term strategy" in the enterprises is a key driver for energy efficiency measures. Similarly, the analysis underlines the importance of developing and embedding an energy efficiency strategy in SMEs. Additionally, the results indicate the importance of embedding energy efficiency in corporate strategy for establishing energy efficiency within enterprises—not only by structuring goals and measures, but also by providing symbolic and cognitive frames of references.

The interviews with top managemen<sup>t</sup> personnel and the informal or formal members of the energy teams in the context of the case study research showed one thing very clearly: Establishing energy efficiency within the enterprise is by no means a trivial task and usually means initiating a permanent change process, which is a process particularly challenging to the top managemen<sup>t</sup> and responsible personnel. Due to their decisions, actions, and interactions, they inevitably convey the meanings of energy efficiency for the enterprise, thus providing a frame of reference for the organizational members. If, like in one studied case, energy efficiency is framed by the top managemen<sup>t</sup> only as the fulfilment of an external and unpleasant requirement, it is highly probable that the employees will also interpret corresponding tasks as an annoying duty. This aspect represents the symbolic aspect of leadership, which should not be underestimated.

Looking at the intersection between the enterprise and its members, the study first and foremost shows how important most of the investigated SMEs value the everyday e fforts of the employees to increase the energy savings in the SMEs. The results show that raising awareness among the employees is an important issue for the surveyed SMEs. Raising awareness is the first and most relevant strategy of the SMEs to create energy savings. On the other hand, it is also oftentimes perceived as a frustrating task by the managemen<sup>t</sup> personnel. Nevertheless, it is considered as a necessary task to put energy issues on broad shoulders. In virtually all cases the top managemen<sup>t</sup> of the SMEs at least tried to establish a broad attention for energy e fficiency among their sta ff. Either via the installation of formal energy teams or the involvement and empowerment of informal key personnel, the enterprises distribute attention for energy issues. It seems essentially irrelevant whether these networks of responsibilities exist formally or informally. For instance, and with regard to the case study research, informal energy teams can be equally e ffective as formal energy teams in driving energy e fficiency measures or energy-saving behavior. Similarly, the empowerment of the production personnel by granting authorities (e.g., for internal trainings) and responsibilities (e.g., for the implementation of measures or monitoring tasks) can sometimes be far more e ffective than leaving all issues to a single explicit energy manager. From the perspectives of the studied enterprises and their top management, practices to stem energy e fficiency issues on broad shoulders are a necessity to make the increasing complexity of energy e fficiency manageable.

Energy e fficiency as leadership process must, therefore, not be characterized by the centralization of decisions. On the contrary, the general complexity of industrial energy e fficiency requires the decentralization of attention, responsibility, and authority. The involvement of key persons ("energy e fficiency agents") is, therefore, of particular importance. Thollander and Palm have already pointed out that a "strong leadership in combination with delegated authority is crucial" [82] (p. 102) for e ffective energy management. The distribution of attention and responsibility is also significant for another reason: Exploiting energy e fficiency potentials will not necessarily become less complex in the long term, for example, due to new technologies, legal frameworks, or energy market dynamics. The general complexity of industrial energy e fficiency requires a decentralization of attention, responsibility, and authority in SMEs. The involvement of key personnel ("energy e fficiency agents") and organizational measures, therefore, holds particular importance and will likely become an increasing necessity for SMEs in the long run.

Financial aspects are often cited as key barriers to the adoption of energy e fficient technology, particularly the access to capital [54]. An extensive study from Anderson and Newell among manufacturing SMEs participating on a volunteer assessment program in the US frequently mentioned an insu fficient cash flow as a barrier [85]. Similarly, a survey among 50 Greek industrial firms shows that two-thirds of the respondents stated no access to capital and the high cost of implementation as a barrier [86]. However, the results indicate that the financing of energy e fficiency measures is not a considerable obstacle by a majority of the SMEs studied. This finding raises the question of whether financial incentives are an e ffective policy instrument for the promotion of energy-e fficient technologies in the case of SMEs in Germany.

Although SMEs in Germany are not (yet) politically forced to implement energy e fficiency practices, they nevertheless perceive a discursive imperative to do so. The analysis shows that SMEs attribute this imperative to national and global political discourse and societal expectations in general. Furthermore, the results show that the majority of the SMEs accept this political and societal imperative. Looking at recent movements, such as Fridays for Future, the expectations on industrial enterprises will likely increase in the future. Fawcett and Hampton assume that the increase in public concern and discourse related to environmental issues becomes more salient for SMEs [35] (p.4). Drawing on interviews with 20 SME owners in Liverpool, UK, North and Nurse identified morality—meaning social and pro-environmental values in line with regional cultural mores—as a key driver for the engagemen<sup>t</sup> in e fforts to reduce carbon emissions [74].

The lack of information on technology, costs, and benefits as well as the trustworthiness of the information sources are frequently identified as barriers to energy e fficiency measures [56,87]. According to the presented results, two aspects seem particularly relevant with regard to informational issues. First, information sources close to the core operations of the enterprises (such as trade press and industrial associations) are more likely to be listened to than professional groups such as service providers. Second, the analysis indicates that SMEs perceive an inflation of consulting services, which seems to compromise the trustworthiness of external service providers.

#### **6. Conclusions and Future Research**

The main contribution of this research article is to o ffer a perspective on energy e fficiency in industrial SMEs beyond the mere adoption of energy-e fficient technology. With this study, light was shed on how energy e fficiency is established within SMEs in the context of their organizational context and institutional environment. Furthermore, it was presented which practices the enterprises undertake, how energy e fficiency is managed, how the SMEs are challenged to raise awareness for energy savings among their members, and how institutional expectations are perceived.

This study points out the meanings of energy e fficiency as being socially produced by the industrial organizations, its members, and environment. According to sociological neo-institutionalism theory, organizations adopt practices and structures that are perceived as desirable or appropriate within some socially constructed systems of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions [47,88]. Hence, organizational decisions are considered legitimate if they appear desirable and appropriate when measured against the social values, norms, and beliefs of their environment. Apparently, as energy efficiency is perceived as holding strong importance for the environment of the enterprises, decisions on energy e fficiency practices are more likely to be constituted. This result can be interpreted as an opportunity for policy making toward developing more value-driven narratives of energy e fficiency, emphasizing the moral obligation equivalent to the economic benefits. Particularly in the context of the recent rise in public concern about climate change, a stronger political debate on energy e fficiency issues would increase the moral imperatives the SMEs are open to oblige, as the results indicate.

In addition, this article shows how important the everyday actions of employees in the SMEs are considered for increasing energy e fficiency. On the other hand, the sometimes frustratingly perceived efforts to raise awareness within the enterprises were also highlighted. Nevertheless, these practices point to the importance of SMEs and their decision makers as change agents. Their everyday e fforts in establishing energy e fficiency constitute important "institutional work" [89]. A strengthening of the social and political discourse would, therefore, also strengthen the legitimacy of the e fforts of change agents within the enterprises.

Considering the increasing complexity of energy e fficiency issues and the conclusion about the driving e ffects of using a broad repertoire of practices, the institutional facilitation of knowledge seems crucial to us in the long run. The situation of SMEs, in particular, requires attention because, as Cagno et al. state, around two-thirds of the SMEs in Europe "do not implement even simple rules to manage the energy use" [90] (p. 1256). The establishment of basic knowledge and awareness for energy e fficiency issues should become a mandatory part of professional education (e.g., industrial job profiles, trainings). Considering that the financing of measures does not present a di fficult obstacle for the surveyed SMEs, this approach would possibly be more e ffective than financial incentives in the long run. The support of chambers and industry associations that work directly with SMEs could prove beneficial in spreading information and knowledge, as Fresner et al. [91] showed in terms of engaging SMEs in energy e fficiency audits.

It is in the nature of scientific studies that their results reveal limitations or open up new questions. The present study is no exception in this respect. A larger sample size could be the subject of further research to validate and enrich the results. For instance, we were unable to make su fficient comparisons of different sectors. The focus on individual sectors could bring interesting questions to light. Additionally, a comparison between large enterprises and SMEs could reveal considerable differences in practices, motivations, or needs. Furthermore, in-depth comparisons between federal or national states could provide insights into how different institutional contexts shape the focus on different energy practices and the establishment of energy efficiency within industrial enterprises. However, a methodological prerequisite for this would be a parallel analysis of the specific institutional conditions and the specific discourse around energy efficiency.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, W.K., S.L., S.B., and C.S.; Methodology, W.K. and S.B.; Investigation: Ethnographic research, W.K.; Investigation: Survey, C.S.; Validation, S.L.; Visualization, C.S.; Resources, S.L. and S.B.; Software, S.B.; Data curation, W.K. and S.B.; Writing—Original draft, W.K.; Writing—Review and editing, S.L., S.B., and C.S.; Project administration, W.K. and S.L.; Supervision, funding acquisition, S.L. All conclusions, errors, or oversights are solely the responsibility of the authors. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Ministry of Science, Research and Culture Baden-Württemberg (Research program: Innovative projects, 2016) within the scope of the "Decisions for Energy Efficiency" project (project no. 2015.01-Löbbe). The article processing charge was funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Culture Baden-Württemberg in the funding program Open Access Publishing.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
