Explain the difference between Absolute measure approach and relative measure approach which are used in context to "Sustainable Value Added (SVA)".

Traditionally, an enterprise focuses on value maximization. The conventional management takes into account just one dimension - economic - when creating value in an enterprise. All resources including environmental and social resources are neglected. This point of view is not acceptable when speaking about sustainable development. Over the last decades, theorists emphasize wider scope of entrepreneurial objectives besides obtaining the greatest value possible. Sustainable development is a normative concept laid out as the combination of economic prosperity, environmental integrity and social equity. Value is created whenever benefits exceed costs. There are two approaches to measure corporate contribution to sustainability i.e. Absolute Measures and Relative Measures. Absolute Measures: The absolute measure of assessing corporate contributions to sustainability is to subtract the costs form the benefits created by a company. For this purpose both internal and external costs need to be considered. The underlying idea is, that a company contributes to sustainability, if the benefits exceed the sum of internal and external costs. The result is 'Green Value Added'. (GVA). Relative Measures: The relative measures express corporate contributions to sustainability as benefits per unit of environmental or social impact. The best known example of a relative measure is eco- efficiency. There are two different uses of the term eco-efficiency. As a maxim eco-efficiency refer to the reduction or even minimization impacts. The second notion uses the term eco- efficiency to describe the ratio of created value per environmental impact added. Sustainable Value Added takes into account both, the efficiency and the absolute level (effectiveness) of resource use. It has never been more important for businesses to use their economic, environmental and social resources efficiently. Conceptually, SVA stresses the complementary disposition of economic, environmental and social resources. Sustainable Value Added is the extra value created when the overall level of environmental and social impacts is kept constant. Current approaches to measure corporate sustainable performance take into account external costs caused by environmental and social damage or focus on the ratio between value creation and resource consumption. As Sustainable Value Added is inspired by strong sustainability, it measures whether a company creates extra value while ensuring that every environmental and social impact is in total constant. Therefore, it takes into account both, corporate eco and social efficiency as well as the absolute level of environmental and social resource consumption (eco and social effectiveness). As a result, Sustainable Value Added considers simultaneously economic, environmental and social aspects. The overall result can be expressed in any of the three dimensions of sustainability. Sustainable Value Added allows assessing the sustainable performance of enterprises similar to financial performance in monetary terms and this, in turn, enhances creative leadership and better formulation of a resource efficient business strategy.