Stage 2 Review the given tools through Five Level Framework
The methods used for this research for collection includes documentary research and desktop research. The analysis of the data conducted through the use of the Five Level Framework (5LF). There are described below:
7.4.1 Data collection
For further analysis of the given assessment tools, we collected data according to the following criteria:
User's manuals or the tool description guided that contain descriptions of frameworks, models, processes, and actions designed for assessing the impacts of business programs;
Reports published by the tool developers or tool users or IB participants or external stakeholders;
Articles based on the knowledge theory of the core concepts of SSD;
Online evaluation platform or system and indicator databases developed for evaluating or the effects of business programs;
Articles were written for reviewing the given assessment tools.
7.4.2 Data analysis RQ1: How do tools assess the impact of IB?
This phase was set up to answer the RQ1 and understand the function of the given impact assessment tools for IB. It is essential for us to have a clear understanding what each tool is designed for, what the tool is designed to do and if the goal of the tools can be reached in their actual application. Here the given tools were analyzed by the generic Five Level Framework. This framework is useful for planning in complex systems where is an intended success outcome (Waldron et al. 2008). And it provides a clear and unbiased analysis with a structured understanding of the intended purpose of the tools (Robert 2009). Meanwhile, we set up a series parameters to help us understand the given tools at the different five levels. These parameters were selected from academic sources focused on impact measurement in IB, for example, the articles from Asian Development Bank and International Financial Corporation and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). (See Appendix B) Each concept of the criteria was discussed and agreed upon by the researchers, considering that the data contained are an ideal orientation for the assessment of the tools. Moreover, the information corresponds to each level of the 5LF, and the data of each level includes (See the details in Appendix B):
7.5 Stage 3 Review the given tools through FSSD
Methods used for this research for collection includes documentary research and desktop research. The analysis of the data has achieved the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) which helps us to answer RQ2.
RQ 2: To what extent do these Impact assessment tools evaluate the sustainable impacts of IB?
we have a full understanding of the given tools through the 5LF review. In the FSSD analysis, the given tools were reviewed with the approach based on success as defined by the 8SP. 8SP are used in this study to determine the boundary conditions for sustainable solutions, to guide decisions and to move society to a sustainable future, which enabled to find the sustainability gaps within tools and assess to what extent the tools bring an organization towards sustainability aim.
A set of questions was developed based on the primary characteristic of the FSSD, and the issues were used to study the sustainability aspects of the impact assessment tools. The questions (See Appendix C) were discussed and selected by the researchers based on the features, concepts, and principles within five levels of the FSSD.
7.6 Stage 4 How do impact assessment tools used by IB capture how projects will contribute to Sustainable Development?
Our methods used for the third research question included desktop research. Based on the data that we collected and the information that surfaced as we pieced together answers RQ1 and RQ2, we created a conclusion to understand how impact assessment tools used by IB capture how projects will contribute to Sustainable Development. The conclusion was developed concerning the conceptual framework laid out by the FSSD.
We conducted document analysis to understand many Strengths and Weaknesses of the given Impact Assessment Tools from a strategic sustainability perspective and obtain a deep comprehension of the sustainability advantages and disadvantages of the tools in this stage. This advantages and disadvantages analysis helped us to understand how tools used by IB capture how projects will contribute to sustainable. And it also provided relatively objective analysis results to IB participants which can help them decide which tools can be used to assess their IB impacts towards SSD.