Thermoeconomics Meets Business Science: Systemic Exergy Management (SYMNX) as a New Theoretical and Flexible Framework for Sustainability

Abstract

Históricamente, la evaluación del desempeño corporativo ha priorizado los indicadores financieros, ignorando los efectos ambientales y de eficiencia de recursos. Este artículo introduce el marco de Gestión Sistémica de la Exergía (SYMNX), que integra principios termoeconómicos en la medición del desempeño. Mediante un enfoque de construcción teórica y razonamiento abductivo a partir de una amplia revisión bibliográfica, se formula un constructo que mide la efectividad del consumo de recursos mediante análisis de exergía y permite desarrollar indicadores de sostenibilidad en ambiente, economía, sociedad y tecnología. SYMNX ofrece una visión más integral del desempeño organizativo, al considerar resultados financieros, eficiencia de recursos e impactos ambientales. Se sostiene que el marco puede fomentar prácticas corporativas éticas y mejorar la medición del desempeño, promoviendo la sostenibilidad sistémica y abriendo líneas para validaciones empíricas y aplicaciones sectoriales adaptables a entornos de negocio cambiantes.

Historically, corporate assessment of performance has placed a significant emphasis on financial measures, while largely ignoring the broader environmental and resource efficiency implications of organizational operations. This paper introduces a novel framework that integrates thermoeconomic principles into performance measurement. Systemic Exergy Management (SYMNX) The study employs a theoretical construction approach, deriving conceptual claims from an extensive literature review to bridge the gap between thermoeconomics and existing frameworks. These claims are then synthesized into a novel theoretical construct, designated the SYMNX framework, through the process of abductive reasoning. This flexible paradigm focuses on measuring the effectiveness of resource consumption in organizations using exergy analysis. Moreover, it enables the development of sustainability performance indicators for assessing impacts on the environment, economy, society, and technology. SYMNX offers a more comprehensive perspective on organizational performance, accounting not only for financial outcomes but also for resource efficiency and environmental impacts. The study posits that SYMNX has the potential to advance business science in two main ways: by fostering ethical corporate practices and by enhancing performance measurement. In conclusion, the framework promotes systemic sustainability while offering new avenues for empirical validation and industry-specific applications, thereby ensuring adaptability to evolving business environments.