A System-of-Systems Framework for Improved Human, Ecologic and Economic Well-Being

Ash M. Genaidy, Ronald L. Huston, Dionysios D. Dionysiou and Waldemar Karwowski
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Ash M. Genaidy: Worldtek Inc., Cincinnati, OH 45249, USA
Ronald L. Huston: Mechanical Engineering Program, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Dionysios D. Dionysiou: Environmental Engineering & Science Program, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Waldemar Karwowski: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2993, USA

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: “Advances in technology and management not keeping pace with the ever-increasing urban problems” is attributed in this research to the poor understanding of person-focused governance of societal, environmental and economic entities. The objective of this paper is to present an adaptive institutional model of person-driven effectiveness and ineffectiveness. The model proposes that human, ecologic and economic outcomes are heavily influenced by a complex system of systems, spanning from individually unique “non-physical influencers” to a broader set of social and environmental influencers that have a common impact on the larger society-environment-economy (SEE) system. At the heart of the model is an analytic formulation that explains the phenomena of non-physical blocker, enhancer and indifferent, which are responsible for the adaptation and maladaptation of social agents and, accordingly, for the sustainability and unsustainability of SEE systems. Examples are provided to illustrate the model applications: (a) the non-physical and maladaptive syndromes as antecedents of multi-morbidity; and (b) the broadened and narrowed minds as sources of sustainability and unsustainability at the SEE system level within the context of emerging technologies such as engineered nanomaterials.

Keywords: sustainability; society; environment; technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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