Social Purpose - Publications - Faculty & Research

22 Dec 2020
Cold Call Podcast

Dove: Maintaining a Brand with Purpose

25 Sep 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Purpose and Firm Ownership

Keywords: by Claudine Gartenberg and George Serafeim

December 1995 (Revised November 1996)
Background Note

Corporate Purpose and Responsibility

Presents several conceptions of corporate purpose and responsibility as articulated by a variety of groups and individuals during the period 1970-95. Included are materials from the Business Roundtable, the American Law Institute, the Royal Society of Arts and... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; History; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

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December 2011
Case

PepsiCo India: Performance with Purpose

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

In 2010, PepsiCo India's management is working to translate PepsiCo's new mission, "Performance with Purpose," into practice in the India market. The mission calls for continued financial performance and market leadership, as well as greater emphasis on healthy... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Food and Beverage Industry; India

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08 Feb 2022
News

Deep Purpose with Ranjay Gulati

07 Sep 2021
News

Funding His Purpose

discussion back then.” He thought about his work, about the projects he had undertaken around the world that had left him satisfied and about those that made him proud; and, finally, he thought about a meeting with Vera Cordeiro, a Brazilian View Details

22 Dec 2020
News

Dove: Maintaining a Brand with Purpose

01 Sep 2013
News

Passion & Purpose

curveballs life throws.” After successfully leading turnarounds at Converse and Keds, Jacobson launched Strategic Grant Partners, a foundation and pro bono consulting firm that collaborates with social entrepreneurs to improve the lives... View Details

Keywords: awards; Finance; Computer Systems Design and Related Services; Professional Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

25 Feb 2020
News

Profits and Purpose

students have a 35- or 40-year career in front of them, and we have a duty to prepare them for the competitive landscape in their careers. My hypothesis is that it is going to be a very different world, where natural capital and social... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

20 Sep 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Larry Fink at BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit

Keywords: Re: George Serafeim; Financial Services

15 Apr 2022
News

Funding His Purpose

Leonardo Letelier (photo by Paula Giolito) Leonardo Letelier (MBA 2002) was looking for purpose in his career when he launched SITAWI Finance for Good in Brazil in the mid-2000s. The nonprofit, an early participant in what is now called... View Details

November 15, 2021
Article

Putting Your Corporate Purpose to Work

By: Hubert Joly

Making a company purpose come to life is an arduous journey that requires a multi-pronged and sustained approach. Yet as hard as it is, the journey is well worth it and will yield positive transformation not only for the company, but also for the people who work there.... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations

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April 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

The Mahindra Group: Leading with Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

India headquartered Mahindra Group is a multibillion-dollar federation of companies operating across the globe. It is ahead of its time in articulating its purpose and mapping its values, something it had first done at inception and then refreshed yet again as ‘Rise’... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Communication Strategy; Family Ownership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Revenue; Auto Industry; Financial Services Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; India; Mumbai; South Korea; Italy; United States

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Most forward-thinking executives have embraced the notion that purpose-driven companies can solve social and environmental problems while also generating wealth, creating win-win outcomes that benefit everyone. But ideal solutions are rare. Many... View Details

01 Aug 2017
News

Finding Purpose in Profit

Growing up, Kim Coupounas (MBA/MPA 1995) explored careers as varied as attorney and Anglican priest. “I knew that I wanted to lead and to fight for justice and social good,” she says. “Ironically, I’m doing that now but on a far different... View Details

June 2023
Article

Can Purpose Foster Stakeholder Trust in Corporations

By: Ranjay Gulati and Franz Wohlgezogen

As part of institutional changes toward more responsible capitalism, firms increasingly articulate a purpose beyond simply profit as a central tenet of their governance. Management scholarship has noted the potential advantages of such purpose-focus for stakeholder... View Details

Keywords: Stakeholder Management; Moral Identity; Mission and Purpose; Trust; Corporate Governance; Business and Stakeholder Relations

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Research Summary

Social Entrepreneurship

By: James L. Heskett

This project is centered around an analysis of data and experiences of 31 executive directors of not-for-profit organizations who completed the Denali Initiative on social entrepreneurship, of which I was volunteer faculty chairperson, between 1999 and 2002. The... View Details

07 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Innovation Labs: Where Passion and Purpose Meet

unmet need and grow it into a purposeful entity. The i-lab, the original component of the now three-lab ecosystem, opened in 2011 in Batten Hall with the vision of offering a “One Harvard” learning and convening space where venture teams... View Details