Exploring the key barriers to ESG adoption in enterprises

Following the trend of sustainable development, business operations must consider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in addition to the pursuit of the traditional goal of maximizing profits. Many companies have encountered obstacles in the process of promoting ESG goals, with results that fail to meet expectation. Government authorities of various countries continue to issue laws and guidelines, requiring enterprises to comply with policies for the implementation of ESG goals. This study aims to explore the key factors obstructing ESG adoption in enterprises, and discuss the relationship between these factors. The modified Delphi Method is applied to establish the key obstructive factors to the companies' promotion of ESG, and then the Decision-making and Trial Assessment Laboratory (DEMATEL) is used to explore the causal relationship between the factors. DEMATEL depends upon expert opinions for analysis, but differences in experts’ opinions exist due to experts’ varying viewpoints, positions, and knowledge experiences. The Z number and Rough Dombi Weighted Geometric Averaging (RDWGA) method is applied to integrate these diverse opinions of experts before exploring the degree of mutual influence between key obstacles. Suggestions for successful ESG adoption are provided to ensure the sustainable development of enterprises.