What is Holistic Sustainability

This book chapter offers a holistic approach to companies in the engineering business to implement sustainability in its wide and full dimension considering different SDGs, as well as different processes, areas of activities, and partnerships within and outside of supply chains. The provided five-stage model - 5Ps - is based upon a qualitative research approach by conducting semi-structured interviews with German engineering companies and comparing sustainability reports of the 30 German DAX enterprises to identify the gaps in understanding the issue of sustainability. The 5 Ps are abbreviations for product, process, people, partnerships, and planet. The easy-to-remember and easy-to-implement model is developed by using the design thinking methodology to enable medium-sized companies to establish the right understanding of sustainable actions and make the issue of sustainability comprehensible to all employees. Through this model, created standardised procedures ensure comparability of results and sustainability reporting.