In this chapter, the authors discuss the challenges and key issues of assessing the impact of sustainable business models (SBMs). Such an assessment is needed to explore coherency of economic, social and environmental (sustainability) performance of SBMs and to provide decision-makers with accurate and relevant information. Building on literature in the field of business models and sustainability assessment methods, four normative propositions were developed to clarify prerequisites for the assessment of SBMs. In addition, the authors present and discuss examples of sustainability methods that can be applied in the context of SBM assessment, as they are widely known and partly or fully consider the concept of sustainable development. Finally, the authors conclude with some remarks as well as an outlook on future research.
Export Date: 8 September 2021; Book Chapter; Correspondence Address: Rauter, R.; Institute of Systems Sciences, Austria; email: romana.rauter@uni-graz.at; Funding details: Österreichische Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung; Funding details: VINNOVA; Funding details: Bundesministerium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort, BMDW; Funding text 1: Acknowledgements The financial support by the VINNMER program from Vinnova Swedish Government Agency for Innovation Systems and by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development is gratefully acknowledged. QC 20210914