Is your new business model really better? Using LCT to assess burden shifting in online aggregator platforms

Main Presenter:    Sanjeevan Bajaj 

Co-Authors:   Vandana Vasudevan                                               

Background
With the rise of m-commerce, increasing sophistication of aggregator platforms and their expanding integration with social media, these business models are here to stay. However, it is also becoming apparent that these systems level interventions are not an unmixed blessing. Models optimized for profit and customer convenience often externalize harm onto other stakeholders like workers, communities, or the environment. The model built on the premise of fast-delivery for online orders is a classic case of shifting burden from consumers to delivery workers and urban infrastructure. In fact, in some ways the model might also turn out to be harmful for customers themselves. Life cycle approach based on systems thinking offers methods to assess impacts and expose shifting of burdens, and can be a promising option to assess the sustainability of business models. For this, the approach has to stretch beyond LCA of products, services, and organizations to assessing systems, thereby supporting
the emergence of truly sustainable business models.

Research questions
How to use LCA methodology to assess alternative business models? Stretch LCA beyond assessing impact-per-unit to assessing impact-by-model?
How to map model assessment to ISO 14040 LCA steps?
Since this requires integrating A-LCA, C-LCA, hybrid LCA, and S-LCA, which is quite complex, how can AI assist in managing this complexity?

Approach | Methods
Build fact-base: Desk research for business model types, pros/cons by type, burden shifting impacts
Analyze: Develop “To-be” scenarios based on burden-shifting revealed through fact-base
Demonstrate: Application of ISO 14040 principles to compare “As-is” with “To-be” scenarios
Recommend: AI assistance requirements to manage complexity of integrating A-LCA, C-LCA, hybrid LCA, and S-LCA

Key findings | Expected results
A taxonomy of online aggregator platform business models
ISO 14040 based guidance for impact assessment
Exposure of burden shifting potential points
Indicative requirements for AI assisted tools integrating A-LCA, C-LCA, hybrid LCA, S-LCA

Novelty | Significance
With estimated CAGR of 15%, online aggregator platforms are here to stay. Better understanding of their impacts is needed to steer them towards more benign pathways. Applying life cycle approach to business model impact assessment elevates status of LCA from being an impact calculator and eco-design tool to a design tool for platforms, from calculating product footprints to assessing system consequences, from comparing products satisfying the same need to comparing socio-technical systems delivering the same optimization.

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