A quantitative dataset collected from an established oil and gas company in Europe. Survey-based research was developed based on institutional theory and carried out among the company’s employees. Our survey helps understand the process of legitimating new sustainable technologies (renewable energy) in an established oil and gas company. The data was used in two articles. The first article introduces and validates a measure of a company’s institutional profile for sustainability, develops a model, tests the model fit and validates the measures. The second article develops a model that focuses on the drivers, barriers and strategy selection criteria that lead the company to invest in a technology that is outside its core business.