Although large firms have already begun addressing energy efficiency issues and adopting “cleaner” types of energy, companies with fewer resources, such as small and medium-sized enterprises, are more reluctant to implement these measures. Given that strategies leading to energy sustainability have become a key aspect of business competitiveness, decision makers in small and medium-sized enterprises could clearly benefit from a new approach that provides a better understanding of energy-change impacts on their business activities. The present study combined fuzzy cognitive mapping and the system dynamics approach to develop an informed, transparent model for use in analyses of energy-change effects on the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises. This dual methodology facilitated an examination of cause-and-effect relationships between decision criteria and the clarification of dynamic interactions between variables from a holistic, real-world perspective, thereby enriching the extant literature. The results of the proposed decision-support system were validated by two senior staff members of the Directorate for Energy Sustainability Services of Portugal’s Directorate General for Energy and Geology. The advantages, limitations, and implications of our constructivist, process-oriented framework for research and practice are also discussed.

尽管大公司已经开始着手解决能源效率问题并采用“更清洁”的能源，但是资源较少的公司（例如中小型企业）更不愿执行这些措施。鉴于导致能源可持续性的战略已成为企业竞争力的关键方面，中小型企业的决策者显然可以受益于一种新方法，该方法可以更好地了解能源变化对业务活动的影响。本研究将模糊认知映射和系统动力学方法相结合，以开发出一个信息灵通，透明的模型，用于分析能源变化对中小型企业可持续性的影响。这种双重方法便于从整体，现实世界的角度检查决策标准之间的因果关系，并阐明变量之间的动态相互作用，从而丰富了现有文献。葡萄牙能源与地质总局能源可持续服务总局的两名高级工作人员对拟议的决策支持系统的结果进行了验证。还讨论了我们的建构主义，面向过程的研究和实践框架的优点，局限性和含义。葡萄牙能源与地质总局能源可持续服务总局的两名高级工作人员对拟议的决策支持系统的结果进行了验证。还讨论了我们的建构主义，面向过程的研究和实践框架的优点，局限性和含义。葡萄牙能源与地质总局能源可持续服务总局的两名高级工作人员对拟议的决策支持系统的结果进行了验证。还讨论了我们的建构主义，面向过程的研究和实践框架的优点，局限性和含义。