ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approach

Unlocking the power of sustainable growth, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles are redefining the future of responsible investment and corporate excellence. ESG regulations ensure that organizations maintain sustainable development and improve non-monetary metrics, such as stakeho...

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Main Authors: O. N. Arunkumar, D. Divya, Chandan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Business & Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311975.2025.2450092
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author O. N. Arunkumar
D. Divya
Chandan
author_facet O. N. Arunkumar
D. Divya
Chandan
author_sort O. N. Arunkumar
collection DOAJ
description Unlocking the power of sustainable growth, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles are redefining the future of responsible investment and corporate excellence. ESG regulations ensure that organizations maintain sustainable development and improve non-monetary metrics, such as stakeholders’ engagement, customer satisfaction, market acceptability, societal ethics, and values. Higher ESG scores demonstrate commitment towards responsible business practices and indicate higher market value for companies, which are valid for all sectors, including IT. However, existing literature reveals that IT sector companies pay less attention to planning their operations to make them more sustainable. Therefore, IT firms must identify methods and practices to maintain high ESG scores to achieve sustainable growth. The current study leads the readers into a new area of ESG through the help of an advanced method, DEA. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) methodology has been used to identify the decision units’ relative efficiency scores and helps identify peers and followers based on ESG scores. The study reveals that among the selected IT firms using the output-oriented strategy, 56.25% experience increasing returns to scale, 18.75 per cent experience decreasing returns to scale, and the remaining 25.00 per cent report constant returns to scale. This indicates that most IT industry firms can generate greater output change in proportion to the input change.
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spelling doaj-art-00ed3407dcc14bcf908bcf2e1d8d06df2025-01-11T07:18:39ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Business & Management2331-19752025-12-0112110.1080/23311975.2025.2450092ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approachO. N. Arunkumar0D. Divya1Chandan2Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Symbiosis International (Deemed University) (SIU), Bengaluru, Karnataka, IndiaSchool of Business and Management, Christ University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, IndiaSymbiosis Centre for Management Studies (SCMS), Symbiosis International (Deemed University) (SIU), Bengaluru, Karnataka, IndiaUnlocking the power of sustainable growth, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles are redefining the future of responsible investment and corporate excellence. ESG regulations ensure that organizations maintain sustainable development and improve non-monetary metrics, such as stakeholders’ engagement, customer satisfaction, market acceptability, societal ethics, and values. Higher ESG scores demonstrate commitment towards responsible business practices and indicate higher market value for companies, which are valid for all sectors, including IT. However, existing literature reveals that IT sector companies pay less attention to planning their operations to make them more sustainable. Therefore, IT firms must identify methods and practices to maintain high ESG scores to achieve sustainable growth. The current study leads the readers into a new area of ESG through the help of an advanced method, DEA. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) methodology has been used to identify the decision units’ relative efficiency scores and helps identify peers and followers based on ESG scores. The study reveals that among the selected IT firms using the output-oriented strategy, 56.25% experience increasing returns to scale, 18.75 per cent experience decreasing returns to scale, and the remaining 25.00 per cent report constant returns to scale. This indicates that most IT industry firms can generate greater output change in proportion to the input change.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311975.2025.2450092DEAESGIT sectorefficiency analysisFinanceEnvironmental Economics
spellingShingle O. N. Arunkumar
D. Divya
Chandan
ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approach
Cogent Business & Management
DEA
ESG
IT sector
efficiency analysis
Finance
Environmental Economics
title ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approach
title_full ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approach
title_fullStr ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approach
title_full_unstemmed ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approach
title_short ESG efficiency analysis in the IT industry: a DEA-based approach
title_sort esg efficiency analysis in the it industry a dea based approach
topic DEA
ESG
IT sector
efficiency analysis
Finance
Environmental Economics
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311975.2025.2450092
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AT ddivya esgefficiencyanalysisintheitindustryadeabasedapproach
AT chandan esgefficiencyanalysisintheitindustryadeabasedapproach