Organizational and human factors related challenges to ISO 20000

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore organizational and human factor-related challenges to information technology (IT) service management standard ISO 20000 in an emerging economy context. Then, this research has proposed some implications of the challenges to implementing environmental sustainability and circular economy. Design/methodology/approach - To fulfill the research purpose, an empirical study was undertaken. The data required for the current study, based on a Likert scale and using questionnaires, were collected through surveys, interviews, telephonic conversations and meetings with IT firm managers and staff. The ranking of challenges was obtained based on the mean and standard deviation calculated from the survey responses. Findings - The results indicated that senior management support was the most significant challenge for the successful implementation of IT Service Management systems. Other significant challenges were the justification of significant investment, premium customer support, co-operation and co-ordination among IT support teams, proper documentation and effective process design. Practical implications - The current research is expected to help IT managers implement ISO 20000 and to manage environmental sustainability and circular economy across their organizational networks. Originality/value - To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is the first attempt to explore the organizational and human factor-related challenges to ISO 2000 in an emerging economy context. Furthermore, the current study proposes implications to the challenges to environmental sustainability and circular economy.