The Case for Impact

SUMMARY

The Case for Impact is a practical guide for business leaders and provides compelling business reasons for engaging actively in impact valuation. Full of tangible examples and down-to-earth advice, this book describes several pragmatic ways on how to get started with measuring impact and how to embed it into your strategy and operations. Written by an impact valuation practitioner, the book provides a personal perspective on the role of impact measurement in sustainability reporting and for a future economy of impact.

DOWNLOAD

THE STUDY GUIDE TO

DOWNLOAD

Sonja Haut has worked on impact valuation since 2015. She has earned an MBA from IMD Business School and is a First Movers Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

Since 2019, Ms. Haut has been a member of the WEF Global Future Councils on the New Agenda for Economic Growth and Recovery (2020-2022) and the New Economic Agenda (2019-2020).

Ms. Haut leads the Novartis Value Balancing Alliance (VBA) engagement and is a member of the Capitals Coalition Advisory Panel and a member of the ISSB Technical Reference Group. Prior to her current role at Novartis, she held IT and finance leadership roles.

Ms. Haut holds degrees in physics and mathematics from the University of Freiburg, Germany.

She is the author of various opinion pieces on the role of impact valuation for business, society, and the economy. She likes writing where the WLAN connects automatically.

MORE from Sonja Haut

Haut S. The Triple M Impact Framework: Illustration the Value Creation of Health Interventions across the Micro, Meso and Macro Level. 2025 November 12. Triple-M Impact Framework: Illustrating the Value Creation of Health Interventions across the Micro, Meso, and Macro Level – WifOR Institute
Haut S, Bucher A, Ostwald D, Lightowler M, Tamborra L. Patient Journey Driven, Macro, Micro, Meso
Impact Framework to Illustrate the Value
Creation of Health Interventions. TheTriple M Impact Framework. 2025 November 12. wifor.com/en/download/patient-journey-driven-macro-micro-meso-impact-framework-to-illustrate-the-value-creation-of-health-interventions-the-triple-m-framework/?wpdmdl=360331&refresh=694a75bf4ce761766487487
Capitals Coalition Accounting for Value: Emerging Approaches of Integrated Profit & Loss and Impact Statements. 2025 June 24. https://capitalscoalition.org/publication/accounting-for-value-emerging-approaches-of-integrated-profit-loss-and-impact-statements/
Haut S. From Vague to Value: Mastering CSRD’s DMA with Impact Valuation. 2025 May 16. https://www.corporate-reporting.com/trt-blog-artikel/trt26-haut
Value Balancing Alliance Valuing impact Materiality 2025 February. https://www.value-balancing.com/_Resources/Persistent/e/0/3/e/e03e1f110cb5748e60615c7005294dee39bc6334/Valuing%20Impact%20Materiality%20Report_Final_20250227.pdf
Value Balancing Alliance Impact Valuation Sprint 2024. 2024 May. https://www.value-balancing.com/_Resources/Persistent/6/6/0/6/66060b455c33db3ec8ffb4e9f79559ff8992796a/Impact_Valuation_Sprint_Report_2024_Final.pdf
Haut S. Measuring impact wins public trust and is good for the bottom line. 2023 December 14. https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/purpose/measuring-impact-wins-public-trust-and-is-good-for-the-bottom-line/
Haut S. Connecting Value and Values. 2023 May. Global Solutions Journal 9. https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/3d-flip-book/global-solutions-journal-9/
Haut S, Howitt R. Why “impact” of business is the next big thing. 2023 June. Frankly Speaking – A podcast on Responsible Business #25. https://open.spotify.com/episode/70FGFqhiVL1Zm38f7FhpCD
Haut S, Schoerling M. Why impact valuation is essential for all sectors. 2023 January 30. https://untoday.org/why-impact-valuation-is-essential-for-all-sectors/
Haut S, Cacciatore K. The Sustainable Leading Edge podcast, episode 3. 2023 January 9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru3H8rYmK6o
Haut S. What is impact valuation and how can it measure the business value of social and environmental efforts? World Economic Forum. 2022 October 20. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/10/impact-valuation-measure-social-environmental-efforts?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social_scheduler&utm_term=COP+27&utm_content=21/10/2022+14:15
Haut S, Edinger-Schons L. Impact valuation – building a yardstick for long-term value creation. The Sustainable Business Podcast. 2022 October 18. https://anchor.fm/edinger-schons/episodes/Impact-valuation–building-a-yardstick-for-long-term-value-creation-e1pcu4h
Haut S. ESG should embrace impact to become strategic. CCR. The Reporting Times #21/2022. 2022 October. https://reporting-times.com/app/uploads/2022/10/CCR_Reporting_Times_21_CH_280922-online_13_Haut.pdf
World Economic Forum. Building Back Broader: Policy Pathways for an Economic Transformation. 2022 June 2. https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/building-back-broader-policy-pathways-for-an-economic-transformation
Haut S. Recoupling globally through impact. Global Solutions Journal 8. 2022 March. https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Global-Solutions-Journal-Issue-8.pdf
net. Impact Valuation Places Stakeholders at the Heart of Sustainable Business – Interview with Ms. Sonja Haut. CLUED-iN #20. 2022 February. https://www.inclusivebusiness.net/clued-in/20/article/5522
Vionnet S, Haut S, Adhikari R. The Health Utility of Income and Taxes. 2021 November 22. https://www.valuingnature.ch/post/the-utility-of-income-and-taxes
Elkington E, Haut S. Impact investment is a force for the good, but a better way is needed to assess its value. 2021 September. https://iby.imd.org/magazine/impact-investment-is-a-force-for-good-but-a-better-way-is-needed-to-assess-its-value/
Haut S. The great realignment fuelled by impact: A call for new notions of success, progress and corporate performance. Global Solutions Journal Issue 7. 2021 May. https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/3d-flip-book/global-solutions-journal-7-summit-2021-edition/
Haut S. The coming age of impact. The Reporting Times. 2021 May. https://reporting-times.com/app/uploads/2021/05/CCR_Reporting_Times_18_CH_31.pdf
Vionnet S, Friot D, Haut S, Adhikari R. Screening for human rights impact in corporate supply chains: A methodological proposal for quantitative assessment and valuation – Novartis case study. 2021 January 14. https://www.valuingnature.ch/post/measuring-human-rights-impact-in-corporates-supply-chains
Haut S, Vrede B, Weger D. Building trust through inclusive ESG management. Center for Corporate Reporting. 2020 October 21. https://www.corporate-reporting.com/artikel/building-trust-through-inclusive-esg-management?utm_source=nl&utm_medium=nl&utm_campaign=RI202010&utm_content=de
Albu N, Zubrzycki K, Scholz R, Ostwald D A, Somweber K, Haut S. Direct Gross Value Added Calculation Method. WifOR. 2020 September 1. https://www.wifor.com/uploads/2021/03/Case_Study_Novartis_WifOR_Direct_Gross_Value_Added.pdf
Haut S, Weger D. Transforming business practice through impact valuation. The Reporting Times. CCR. 2020 May. https://reporting-times.com/app/uploads/2020/05/CCR_Reporting_Times_16_CH_27.pdf
Haut S. A new kind of capitalism takes root. World Economic Forum. What if we get things right? Visions for 2030, #19. 2019 October 29. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/future-predictions-what-if-get-things-right-visions-for-2030/
World Economic Forum. Seeking Return on ESG: Advancing the Reporting Ecosystem to Unlock Impact for Business and Society. 2019 January 24. https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/seeking-return-on-esg-advancing-the-reporting-ecosystem-to-unlock-impact-for-business-and-society
Benke N, Scholz R, Albu N, Cramer M, Ostwald D A, Haut S, Kessler D. The Environmental Impact of Novartis Along Global Supply Chains. WifOR. 2018 July 11. https://www.wifor.com/uploads/2019/02/2018_Case_Study_Novartis_Global_Environmental-Impact_WifOR.pdf
Embankment Project for Inclusive Capitalism. 2018. https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_ca/topics/transaction-advisory-services/ey-the-embankment-project-for-inclusive-capitalism-report.pdf
Scholz R, Albu N, Benke N, Cramer M, Ostwald D A, Haut S. The Global Economic Impact of Novartis. 2018 September. https://www.wifor.com/uploads/2019/02/WifOR_Novartis_Case_Study_Global_Economic_Impact.pdf
Seddik A H, Branner J, Helmy R, Ostwald D A, Haut S. The Social Impact of Novartis Products: Two Case Studies from South Africa and Kenya. WifOR. 2018 August. https://www.wifor.com/uploads/2019/02/2018_Novartis_Social-Impact-ZA-and-Kenya_Case-Study_WifOR-4.pdf
Schurr M, Bruch M, Bonnet C, Voeste D, Heller C, Das Gupta J, Kallesoe M, Beutler M, Cassan-Barnel B, Gribaudi P M, Pollard D, Cheetham M, Haut S, Brown C, Stewart C, Abeywardana R, Savelkouls H, McGaughey T, Ritzrau W, Birnmeyer T, Prada M. Operationalizing Impact Valuation. Experiences and Recommendations by Participants of the Impact Valuation Roundtable. WBCSD. 2017 Mar https://docs.wbcsd.org/2017/04/IVR_Impact%20Valuation_White_Paper.pdf

Passionate about impact? Interested to learn more about it? Business school teacher interested in receiving the teaching guide to The Case for Impact?