Date of Award
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering Management (MSEM)
First Advisor
Eva Andrijcic
Abstract
Recently developed for urban planners to view cities through the lens of ecosystems and other complex natural systems, the Biourbanism model is a set of metrics to numerically assess the resilience and sustainability of urban systems. This model focuses on ten factors of urban sustainability, which include categories such as energy, infrastructure, and technology, and is intended to help cities achieve more holistic measures of their ability to realize resilience and sustainability goals. The premise of this Integrated Project is that businesses can also be viewed as complex natural systems. Hence, this project examines case studies to show how implementing business metrics that resemble the Biourban metrics can produce insights that can help companies better navigate the changing social and environmental landscapes within which they operate.
The project argues that the existing sustainability frameworks are not specific enough to help companies achieve long-term economic, social, and environmental sustainability goals, and iii proposes a complementary use of more holistic composite metrics that better align with the long-term vision of a company’s social and environmental goals. These metrics also move companies away from focusing primarily on shallow regulatory or standards compliance. This project will propose a framework that enables companies to identify metrics through which they can achieve true long-term sustainability and briefly explore the potential integration of deep learning AI with digital twins, to enable the identification of optimized business strategies based on the proposed business strategy-specific sustainability metrics. While it is expected that the proposed methodology will be universally applicable to a variety of industries, this project will focus on applying the proposed methodology to the coffee industry. The findings of this study can guide future works in integrating sustainability in profit-driven businesses, serving as a foundation for financial stability and resilience against future risks, while acknowledging an ethical responsibility to customers and employees. Such a foundation can offer businesses the opportunity to reduce the barriers to achieving success through ethical means rather than an exploitative business model.
Recommended Citation
Walsh, Samuel, "Implications of Biourbanism on Sustainable Business Strategy" (2025). Graduate Theses - Engineering Management. 8.
https://scholar.rose-hulman.edu/engineering_management_grad_theses/8