Sustainable Development Goals and Humanistic Management in Hospitality and Tourism: Systemic Approaches and Application-Oriented Perspectives Using the Example of Family Businesses

1 Introduction

Climate change, migration challenges and increasing social polarization confront our society – and ultimately the global community (Heintz et al., 2005) – with ever more complex and problematic situations. These challenges are often also attributed to a lack of sustainability of human activity (Herlyn & Lévy-Tödter, 2020b). Moreover, human dignity and opportunities for development for all often fall by the wayside. Against this backdrop, not only is the call for a more sustainable and human design of as many areas of society as possible growing louder, but the pressure for action to translate solution approaches into successful practice is also increasing (Herlyn & Lévy-Tödter, 2020b). “We do not have a problem of knowledge, we have a problem of implementation” (Müller, 2020, p. VI), the former German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and current Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, states accordingly. With the adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda (that took effect on January 1, 2016) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global community has responded to the persistent unsustainability of anthropogenic influences by creating a framework for thought and action that seeks to reconcile the legitimate goals of economic growth with ecological limits and essential basic social needs from a holistic perspective (von Weizsäcker, 2020, p. VIII). This holistic perspective also opens paths toward Humanistic Management (Melé et al. 2011; Pirson, 2017; Winchenbach et al., 2019); a concept advocating the (re-) entry of dignity and well-being into management theory and practice through the promotion of business philosophies and entrepreneurship approaches that align individual human flourishing with the common good to achieve a meaningful, viable future for all. This article explicitly adds to the already established connections between SDGs and Humanistic Management featured in the literature (e. g. Flores et al., 2023; Herrmann & Rundshagen, 2020).

The prospects of success of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda are contested. In view of the complexity of the issues to be addressed, and the interdependence of the 17 SDGs, there is ample ground to call for innovative and above all holistic approaches, and instruments to achieve these goals. In this context, systemic perspectives can provide support (Herlyn & Lévy-Tödter, 2020c). This article draws on a systemic perspective. It deals with family businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry that have decidedly aligned their corporate structures and processes with the concerns of the 2030 Agenda. The conceptual starting point is an international book series with the programmatic title Family Businesses on a Mission, which presents case studies of family-run businesses that successfully implement key sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda from an interdisciplinary or systemic perspective. In addition, this article draws on family enterprise’s favourable characteristics for the implementation of Humanistic Management principles (Glauner, 2021). Against this backdrop, interviews were conducted with selected owners of family businesses from the hospitality and tourism industry. The insights and findings gained are presented here, connecting SDGs and aspects or principles of Humanistic Management.

The following section provides an insight into the conceptual self-understanding of the aforementioned book series. From a conceptual-theoretical perspective, the third section is dedicated to central foundations of systemic thinking, which on the one hand reflects the conceptual orientation of the book series, and on the other hand represents a conditio sine qua non in order to implement both the complex goals of the 2030 Agenda and the core ideas of humanistic management as successfully as possible. The fourth section highlights the methodological approach, which is based on expert interviews. The fifth section then focuses on the central actors of this contribution: family businesses and their owners and their mission. Specifically, the Erlangen-based Creativhotel Luise (in the context of SDG 9; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) is Europe’s first climate-positive certified hotel; Munich-based Klinglwirt (in the context of SDG 12; Sustainable Consumption and Production) is the first organic inn in the Bavarian capital; and Platzl Hotels (in the context of SDG 3; Health and Well-being) is a company with a strong culture of health promotion and employee development. The last section summarizes the article.

2 Conceptual arena: Family Businesses on a Mission an international book series

The starting point for the case studies illustrated in this article is the book series Family Businesses on a Mission, published by Naomi Birdthistle and Rob Hales. Both editors are economists at Griffith University in Australia. Their conceptual concern is as follows:

“The Family Businesses on a Mission series examines how the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) can be applied in family businesses around the world, providing insights into cultural and societal differences and displaying innovative approaches to complex environmental and societal issues.”

Within the framework of the interdisciplinary book series, selected case studies are used to show how family businesses anchor or implement the 17 sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda in their corporate strategy. Against this background, four volumes have been published to date. All case studies presented in the volumes are characterized in particular by (1) a systemic approach to the topic; (2) the development of ‘insider’ knowledge through expert interviews; (3) an international perspective with intercultural changes of perspective; and (4) benchmark claims (in the sense of lessons learned).

In order to generate empirical data, the authors of this article were provided with a case study template by the editorial team of the book series. This template ensures the documentation of key aspects and questions that are intended to reveal the profile of the respective company, with an emphasis on its sustainability strategy, and connecting it to relevant and specific SDGs. In a slightly modified version, the case study template also served as a discussion guide during the interviews with the family entrepreneurs. The fourth section of this article provides further information both on the conceptual self-understanding of expert interviews and on the topics covered in the interview guide.

Family businesses are the focus of interest here. These have, also from a global perspective, an enormous economic relevance (Birdthistle & Hales, 2022; Brigham, 2013; Pieper et al., 2021). “Most of the world’s wealth,” Birdthistle and Hales (2023, p. 12) note in this context, “is created by family-owned businesses. For example, the 2021 EY and University of St. Gallen Family Business Index study found that the world’s largest 500 family businesses generate US$ 7.28 trillion in revenue and employ 24.1 million people […]”.

However, not only economic parameters make family businesses worthy of closer examination: as (usually) owner-managed companies they have an underlying set of family’s and entrepreneur’s values, and these form a constitutive dimension of the living company system and dynamics. If the active family and company values are lined up with the company’s stated purpose, they can give direction and momentum to the business (Glauner, 2021). Hence, there is significant potential for substantive focus on entrepreneurial anchoring and implementation of the 17 sustainability goals of Agenda 2030 and/or Humanistic Management principles. In particular, so-called soft success factors feature prominently in the agenda. Walter Leal Filho (2023, p. xv), head of the renowned Research and Transfer Center for Sustainability and Climate Impact Management, assumes that family businesses are predestined to make a valuable contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, due to four central characteristics:

• Longer-term perspectives and thought horizons, allowing the family business to link with the longer-term SDG time frame;

• Focus on aspects of business operation that do not have an immediate return on investment, such as relationship building with stakeholder groups;

• Tendency to rate the importance of ethics higher than standard businesses, thus aligning well with the social dimensions of the SDGs in general and humanistic management in particular;

• Intergenerational perspectives, which is a core principle of sustainability.

Against the background of corresponding success factors, Leal Filho (2023, p. xvi) postulates: “The challenge for family businesses is to use their unique characteristics and set ambitious programs of work that make a meaningful contribution to achieving global goals.” As the following explanations will show, a systemic approach can be a target-oriented approach in this context.

3 Systemic perspectives as sine qua non for successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda

Successful participation in sustainable, human development and the planned implementation of the 2030 Agenda implies being able to address the associated challenges in a targeted manner and, ideally, to solve them. Systemic thinking, which takes into account the multitude of interactions in complex systems from a holistic perspective, represents an important foundation in this context (Bräutigam, 2014; Herlyn & Lévy-Tödter, 2020a; Weitz et al., 2018). The conceptual roots of systemic approaches – with their pursuit and equilibrium and resilience – lie particularly in the natural sciences; consider, for example, biological evolutionary research and its consideration of systems’ change over time. In the social sciences, relevant findings initially entered the discussion under the technical terms biocybernetics and cybernetics (Jeschke, 2020). One of the best-known approaches in this context is the so-called St. Gallen Management Model, which – based on system-theoretical considerations – forms a goal-oriented framework for responsible, and above all, holistically oriented leadership behavior (Bleicher & Abegglen, 2017; Rüegg-Stürm & Grand, 2020; Ulrich & Krieg, 1974).

In social science-driven tourism research, systemic approaches meet with great interest, especially in the context of sustainable regional development. For example, Hein (2003, p. 49 f.) analyzes the tourism development of a Central American destination in view of post-Fordist globalization processes: “A systemic analysis that analyzes sustainable development, on the one hand, in the context of the understanding of anthroposphere (“society”) and natural sphere, and, on the other hand, as a specific form of social development in the interrelation of the subsystems of “economy” (goal: maximization of income), “social living environment/quality of life” (goal: “good life”), “science/culture” (reference point: true statements) and “politics” (binding regulations of social problems), can help to understand complex processes of social change and to evaluate them with regard to a perspective of sustainable development.” In this sense, it should also be noted that the aspect of tourism acceptance by regional or local populations, not least due to public pressure and extended discourses, has not only arrived on the radar screen of many tourism managers, but is explicitly included in tourism strategies and development plans of destination management organizations (Schmücker & Eisenstein, 2021).

From a systemic perspective, with reference to the 2030 Agenda and its 17 sustainability goals, the corresponding consequence or challenge is obvious, namely to understand all goals as a unit and ideally to implement them in their entirety. If, for example, tourism policy and destination management focus exclusively on aspects of economic development, they not only fail to recognize the interdependence of the Agenda goals, but also worsen the situation in other target areas, such as climate and water protection. In addition, the local and global links and implications of an industry that continues to grow largely unregulated must be considered in the field of tension between the anthroposphere and the natural sphere and with the decided inclusion of the subsystems of economy, social living environment, science and culture, and politics (Scherle, 2020).

Against this background, the authors, with reference to Jeschke (2020, p. 98 f.), assume the following understanding of a system:

• A system is characterized by a complex pattern of effects of its constituent system variables. While open systems are in exchange with their environment and their respective systems, closed systems are limited to patterns of effects within their system boundaries.

• The overriding goal of any system – in the sense of Vester (2015) – is its continued existence. To this end, it maintains control loops that strive for equilibrium situations via responsive loops and thus enable both the performance and the resilience of a system.

• If a company is understood as an open system, this primarily emphasizes the exchange with its environment or with the systems of its environment; a corresponding view assumes that companies ideally adopt a stakeholder perspective, with (largely) equal consideration of all stakeholders (e. g. Andriof et al., 2017).

• Thinking in terms of open systems provides a helpful basis for better understanding the role of individual companies in the overall system of the 2030 Agenda: For the thematic fields postulated in the 2030 Agenda, this means that ‘everything is connected to everything’ – even if often only indirectly and in the longer term^[1]. Against this backdrop, companies do not only influence the 17 SDGs and the design of a human and well-being-oriented working environment, but are also influenced by them in return.

Systemic thinking, with reference to the aforementioned St. Gallen Management Model (and beyond), can also be conceptualized decidedly as a plea for corporate management that is as holistic as possible. In such vein, it supports a mindset of Humanistic Management as well (Deets et al., 2020); implying a radical departure from disciplinary thought patterns as expressed, among other things, in the term ‘business administration’. From a practical business perspective, a holistic and reflexive understanding of business and leadership, especially in family businesses, “cannot be presented as a purely economic tangle of processes. Social, political […], legal, scientific and, last but not least, ethical considerations must always be included.” (Brauchlin, 2007, p. 12).

4 Methodological framework

The findings presented in this article, within the case studies that follow in the fifth section, were generated primarily through expert interviews, which – analogous to problem-centered or narrative interviews – follow the conceptual self-understanding of qualitative social research (Lamnek & Krell, 2016). Qualitative social research, which is primarily indebted to the humanities tradition of German sociology, the Chicago School, and cultural anthropology, encompasses an immensely complex spectrum of different approaches, including the associated scientific theoretical justifications. The coherence of relevant methodological approaches lies less in a closed, let alone uniform conception than in a commonly shared demarcation from traditional quantitative-statistical approaches (Garz & Kraimer, 1991). Qualitative research, which has gained enormous importance, especially in the wake of the so-called cultural turn, elevates the structuring of meaning in social action to a theoretical starting point as well as a methodological guideline of social research. It focuses on the development of a hitherto hardly explored area of reality with the help of sensitizing concepts (Blotevogel, 2003; Blume, 1976; Flick et al., 2022; Hoffmann-Riem, 1990).

The authors follow the definitional approach of Gläser and Laudel (2010, p. 1) regarding their conceptual understanding of expert interviews: “Expert describes the specific role of the interview partner as a source of specialized knowledge about the social issues being researched. Expert interviews are a method of tapping into this knowledge.” In the sense of the two social scientists quoted, the experts we interviewed are not members of a specific functional elite, but experts with regard to the social contexts in which they operate on a daily basis. In addition, the following applies: In the sense of so-called ‘reconstructive studies’, not only selected structures and processes that characterize the family businesses relevant to the project are explored, but also central backgrounds and motives that prompted the actors interviewed to align their businesses with the goals of the 2030 Agenda. Against the background of the qualitative nature of expert interviews, relevant methodological implementation always revolves around the question of what the interviewees consider relevant, how they observe their world and what characterizes their respective lifeworld. Through the ‘narrative principle’ typical of qualitative interviews, the structuring of the meaning of social reality is left to the participating experts. This circumstance enables them to articulate their very specific views and experiences and thus, ideally, to reveal to the interviewers various problem views and approaches to solutions that have not yet been considered (Bohnsack, 2021; Froschauer & Lueger, 2020; Witzel & Reiter, 2012).

In the period from October 2021 to August 2023, expert interviews were conducted in family businesses, the primary aim of which was to explore how the relevant stakeholders have aligned their businesses with the key goals of the 2030 Agenda. In line with the conceptual orientation of the book project presented in section 2, the interviews each focused on a very specific SDG. The interview guide focused on the following main topics:

• Corporate mission statement or corporate philosophy;

• Company-specific products and services;

• Central development strands of the company’s history;

• Relationship between the corporate mission statement and the relevant SDGs;

• Role of stakeholders in the field of tension between companies and relevant SDGs;

• Reflection of the respective business model in the context of the relevant SDG;

• Key challenges in the context of the implementation of the relevant SDG;

• Pointing out future entrepreneurial steps and measures.

The expert interviews generally lasted between one and a half and two hours, with most of the interviewees also allowing a personal tour of their family business – a thoroughly helpful offer that provided further target-oriented insights into internal company structures and processes and repeatedly enabled valuable changes of perspective.

5 Selected case studies from the hospitality and tourism industry

Building on the previous explanations in sections 2, 3 and 4, the following case studies provide selected insights into the implementation of sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda and of principles in line with Humanistic Management at three selected family businesses from the hospitality and tourism industry.

5.1 Creativhotel Luise: the first climate-positive certified hotel in Europe

Creativhotel Luise is a family business rich in tradition that embodies the consistent alignment of its corporate philosophy with SDG 9 and with its conceptual focus on innovation and infrastructure. From the perspective of Ben Förtsch, the director of the Erlangen-based hotel, corresponding aspects represent the “DNA of the company”, which is not only lived top-down, but also bottom-up. Most of the approximately 40 employees have been working at the Creativhotel Luise for several years and have developed the hotel’s sustainability strategy together with Ben Förtsch. Since 1991, the commitment in the area of “environmentally conscious hotel and restaurant operations” has regularly been awarded the gold medal of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Environment.

Fig. 1:

The family business Creativhotel Luise at a glance

Source: Own design

Key facts about the company

• Family business in the third generation;

• First climate-positive certified hotel in Europe;

• Only 9.78 kg of CO₂ generated per overnight stay; this corresponds to climate efficiency class A and represents only one- third of the average consumption of a hotel in the three-star category.

Selected measures in the context of SDG 9

• Cradle to Cradle® philosophy;

• Drywall for interior design in wood stud construction with straw building boards;

• Shower technology originally developed for NASA’s Mars mission;

• Carpet tiles with Ecotrust felt backing made from recycled PET water bottles;

• Intelligent radiator control;

• Hanging lamps made of FSC birch wood with solvent-free varnishes and glues.

“Green nut” – when Klaus Förtsch, Ben Förtsch’s father, took over the hotel management from his parents at the end of the 1980s and from then on began to put his ‘green corporate philosophy’ into practice at Creativhotel Luise, terms like these were among the more harmless ones addressing him. Today, Ben Förtsch is the third generation to run the 96-room hotel, with the ‘green transformation’ in accordance with SDG 9 taking place gradually. According to Ben Förtsch in the expert interview, sustainability and profitability are by no means mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they are in harmony. Ben Förtsch is committed to the Cradle to Cradle® philosophy as part of his sustainability strategy and remarks in this vein: “If you want to run a sustainable business, as we do, it’s lucrative.”

Fig. 2:

The regrowing hotel room©

Source: Creativhotel Luise (2022)

Against the backdrop of SDG 9, the focus of the ‘green transformation’ is primarily on the hotel’s infrastructure, which is consistently geared toward climate positivity. In this context, the central mission of hotelier Ben Förtsch is marked above all by the so-called ‘renewable hotel room’ (see Fig. 2), which is regarded as a blueprint for the ‘renewable hotel’ of the future. This not only follows the principles of the circular economy, but also subsumes – beyond the success factor of sustainability – other important hospitality aspects such as comfort, design, and quality. All rooms already have a so-called eco-passport^[2]: the furniture is made of local solid wood, living plants improve the indoor climate and shielded electrical cables avoid additional electro smog. The wallpapers are consistently made of recycled paper and smoothed with beeswax. All paints, varnishes and adhesives are organic and solvent-free. Pollutant-free carpeting made from recycled fishing nets is part of the décor, as is flushing toilets with rainwater. The hotel uses a solar power system to generate heat and otherwise obtains only green electricity from hydroelectric power plants. In addition, a charging station for electric vehicles is available for hotel guests.

“Sustainability,” says Ben Förtsch during the expert interview, “is like a game, I want to reach the next level at all costs. There is always a final opponent, but I can and want to constantly optimize myself!” The ambitious entrepreneur’s motto certainly seems to be paying off. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that the family business, which has won numerous awards, was named Europe’s first climate-positive hotel.

5.2 Klinglwirt: Munich’s first organic inn

Since its opening in 2011, Klinglwirt has earned an excellent reputation in the Bavarian capital, both for the excellent quality of its food and – in the spirit of SDG 12 – for the consistent orientation of its corporate philosophy toward sustainable production and consumption. The regional specialties offered are exclusively homemade. The meat used for this comes from organic and species-appropriate animal husbandry. Naturalness and regionality are also central selection criteria for all other foods. With this in mind, Sonja Obermeier, the founder and managing director of the family business, sources her products primarily from organically certified farms. The associated advantages are obvious: the foodstuffs used are of a particularly high quality and freshness, and in addition they have a significantly better CO₂ balance.

The Munich-based family business has flanked the “green transformation process” by further measures that have led to more sustainable production and consumption patterns step by step. For example, the Klinglwirt has dispensed with disposable packaging made of aluminum, Styrofoam or plastic since 2011. Since 2012, the restaurant has been proactively offering smaller portions on the menu; a thoroughly unconventional but purposeful step toward greater sustainability, especially when one considers how much food continues to be downright ‘thrown away’ in the restaurant trade. In view of the fact that to-go meals have become increasingly popular since the COVID 19 pandemic, the family business has opted for the Relevo reusable system in order to avoid unnecessary waste (see Fig. 4).

Finally, the following measure taken by the young family business owner shows that ‘more’ sustainability in restaurants does not have to be limited to the gastronomic offer: a rainwater cistern feeds both the water for watering the plants and for flushing the toilets.

Even though Sonja Obermeier – in all modesty – would never call her Klinglwirt a benchmark business, she hopes that her ‘green transformation process’ will find some imitators: “We make Bavarian organic cuisine with many vegetarian and vegan dishes and a high organic content. That and our other measures are our contribution to sustainability and climate protection. We certainly do not do it perfectly, but we have made a start. And we hope that many other restaurants will follow a similar path!”

Fig. 3:

Klinglwirt family business at a glance

Source: Own design

Key facts about the company

• Traditional family business and Munich’s first organic inn;

• The offer profile is focused on homemade and regional specialties;

• The meat used comes exclusively from organic and species-appropriate animal husbandry, sustainability and regionality are also at the forefront of all other dishes.

Selected measures in the context of SDG 9

• Eliminate disposable aluminum, Styrofoam and plastic packaging;

• Restoration and use of used inn furniture instead of buying new;

• Pro-actively offering small portions on the menu;

• Relevo reusable packaging for takeaway food.

Fig. 4:

Relevo reusable system

Source: Klinglwirt (2022)

5.3 Platzl Hotels: focus on resource conservation as well as health and well-being

Under the umbrella of Platzl Hotels in Munich, two hotels as well as a diverse range of gastronomic establishments are united under the brand names of Platzl Hotel, Marias Platzl Hotel, Pfistermühle, Ayinger am Platzl, Platzl Karree, Josefa Bar & Kaffee, Kreszenz – Der Saal and Ayinger in der Au. Since 2014, Peter F. J. Inselkammer has been the operational manager of the Platzl Hotels umbrella brand with over 160 employees. His family took over the building complex at Platzl after World War 2. Platzl Hotels sees itself as a pioneer in sustainability. Among other things, short delivery routes play a central role in the restaurant and hotel business: long transport routes and maintaining cold chains cause immense emissions and are not necessary. The chefs at Pfistermühle restaurant, Ayinger am Platz or Aying at Au are in constant exchange with farmers, hunters, and fish or cattle breeders from Munich’s surroundings. In addition to the support of local producers, resource conservation, quality instead of quantity, the health prevention of employees plays a central role. As a family-owned company, Platzl Hotels Group sees many opportunities to improve the health and well-being of its employees and thus to fulfill its corporate responsibility in line with SDG 3, while at the same time improving business opportunities and results. The business model of Platzl Hotels rests on two central pillars: highly efficient revenue management and a proven commitment to employees.

Fig. 5:

The Platzl Hotels family business at a glance

Source: own design

Key facts about the company

• On July 9, 1956, the most modern 200-bed hotel in the city of Munich at the time was opened under the name Platzl Hotel;

• Group of companies with a total of 8 businesses/brands and over 160 employees in the hotel and gastronomy sector, since 2014 under the operational management of Peter F. J. Inselkammer;

• First place in the Hospitality HR Award 2021 in the category “HR Strategy Individual Hotels, Gastronomy & Leisure”;

• First place in the Hospitality HR Award 2018 in the category “Employee retention and development” (positive working climate and environment, low staff turnover, salary policy, working time models);

Selected measures in the context of SDG 3

• Weekly “Functional Training” offer with the cooperation partner Bi PHiT;

• Individually tailored care by personal training, fitness trainer, therapists;

• Discounts for the holistic offer of the body + soul group with various fitness and yoga courses, cardio and strength training equipment, professional training supervision.

Fig. 6.:

Training situation (example)

Source: www.pixabay.com/ karabulakastan (2023)

At Platzl Hotels, the introduction of an internal health management system can support the well-being of the company’s employees. Healthy and motivated employees are seen as a basic prerequisite for the success and competitiveness of the corporate group. Also, against the backdrop of demographic change and an increasing shortage of skilled workers, the company has systematically incorporated the promotion of the physical and mental health of its employees into its operational and human resources management. One of the challenges is that the health and well-being offering has so far met with interest primarily among the management and administrative staff, but less so among the kitchen and service staff. However, the company is endeavoring to expand the willingness to participate through low-threshold offers promoting health and well-being.

In addition to the health/prevention measures, there are special conditions for employees and their families and relatives for overnight stays in the Platzl Hotels. There is a 50 % discount in the F&B outlets. Platzl Group staff also receive various benefits from the Privathoteliers cooperation, e. g. discounted rates or exclusive offers via a corporate benefits platform. Furthermore, an employee canteen, free cleaning of uniforms and staff rooms are on offer, at least for transitional periods. The latter plays a significant role in Munich, as the cost of renting housing in Munich is among the highest in Germany. Platzl Hotels has set itself further goals in the area of training and personnel development. For example, it is planning its own academy for personnel development, which will focus on the topics of employee participation, leadership, etc. The findings shall be used in individual training sessions, and they are to be incorporated into individual training courses, which will offer employees perspectives strengthening well-being and mental stability. It will also make a significant contribution to employer branding.

6 Conclusion

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the UN General Assembly for the first time adopted a global objective in the field of sustainability. The 17 SDGs that are relevant in this context are intended – with particular intention to inter- and intra-generational justice concerns – not only to act as a central basis for a dignified life, but also to preserve the natural foundations of life on our planet. In this context, the role of business and companies as powerful actors should not be underestimated (Brussels, 2020). Against this backdrop, this article focused on selected family businesses from the hospitality and tourism industry that have already successfully initiated a transformation process towards a more sustainable and equitable economy, partly with an added emphasis on the well-being of their employees (Blanca et al., 2022, Winchenbach et al., 2019); both notions are cornerstones of Humanistic Management. In many respects, this process can serve as a benchmark or as an inspiring model for other companies. Family businesses can act as role models of sustainable development processes, and of Humanistic Management pioneers due to certain business specifics; in particular, a pronounced ethical foundation of thought and courses of conduct in the sense of the rediscovered principle of the ehrbarer Kaufmann (honorable merchant) (Albach, 2003). Furthermore, intensive stakeholder contacts and a business philosophy that typically emphasizes intergenerational perspectives support this line of thought. In addition to these defining aspects of family businesses, we have to honor the absence of another characteristic constitutive of the contemporary corporate world: shareholder value orientation that suffocates human, environmental or other concerns outside sheer financial maximization logics – although these notions have not gone as far in Germany as in the Anglo-Saxon world (Jürgens et al., 2000).

On a final note, it is paramount to acknowledge that these case studies – far from representing perfect or ideal-world implementations of SDGs and/or humanistic management principles – have shown that, for many representatives of a family business, the anchoring of such pursuits is primarily a question of attitude or conviction. From a more disillusioned perspective, the actions of individual actors in the face of the enormous challenges facing our global community may ultimately represent no more than a ‘drop in the bucket’. In such vein, Radermacher (2020) underlines that individual contributions are important elements for a sustainability-oriented (and humanistic) course, but are still insufficient. Ultimately, it is a systemic condition of humanity. Environmental, climate, poverty and justice issues must be resolved at a global level, although broken down to regional, industrial, and demographical contexts. The main inhibitor of more sustainable, humanistic pathways is the persistence of misguided incentives and distorted worldviews, including views of human nature as rational profit maximizers or narratives of greed (e. g., Waddock, 2018). We support the pleas for a holistic view and systemic approaches to the highly complex construct of sustainability, especially as extended by (new) narratives of Humanistic Management. However, this approach, also advocated in this article, still falls by the wayside far too often due to particular interests and uncoordinated patterns of thought and action. Multi-actor partnerships based on trust, which have become increasingly relevant in the hospitality and tourism industry in recent years, can provide extremely valuable impetus here (Haufschild & Reiser, 2023; Scherle, 2023). It is clear that concerted action can achieve significantly more for the well-being of people and a more livable planet than uncoordinated solo efforts or other predominantly profit-oriented narratives.