Publications

2014
Article

In Search of the Self at Work: Young Adults' Experiences of a Dual Identity Organization

By: Michel Anteby and Amy Wrzesniewski

Purpose: Multiple forces that shape the identities of adolescents and young adults also influence their subsequent career choices. Early work experiences are key among these forces. Recognizing this, youth service programs have emerged worldwide with the hope of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Identity; Socialization; Youth; Youth Service Programs; Identity; Mission and Purpose; Age; Personal Development and Career; Service Industry; Europe

December 2, 2021
Article

Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly: Empowering Workers to Create ‘Magic’

By: Hubert Joly and Adi Ignatius

Hubert Joly was behind an amazing turnaround at Best Buy. While everybody was saying he should lay people off to solve the company’s problems, Joly instead listened to the people working for him and found solutions that didn’t involve people losing their jobs.... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Meaningful Work; Employee Empowerment; Mission and Purpose; Employees; Organizational Culture; Leadership

August 22, 2019
Article

CEOs Say Their Aim Is Inclusive Prosperity. Do They Mean It?

By: Lynn S. Paine

Earlier this week, the Business Roundtable issued a statement on corporate purpose. It is noteworthy both for its endorsement of inclusive prosperity as an ideal and for its rejection of maximizing shareholder returns as the sole corporate objective. However, the real... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Governance

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16 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘The Strategist’

Editor's Note: Back in the day, crafting and owning the company strategy was at the forefront of a business leader's priorities. Over the years, though, more and more, the responsibility has tended to be outsourced to consultants armed with shiny frameworks and... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia A. Montgomery

April–June 2012
Article

Hybrid Organizations: The Next Chapter in Sustainable Business

By: Nardia Haigh and Andrew J. Hoffman

In this article, we describe how hybrid organizations are developing business models that are competitive and create positive social and environmental change. We discuss the distinctive characteristics of the hybrid business model, both conceptually and in practice. We... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Management; Social Enterprise

January 31, 2019
Article

The Backlash to Larry Fink's Letter Shows How Far Business Has to Go on Social Responsibility

By: Mark R. Kramer

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest investor with $6 trillion under management, evoked heated controversy with his remarks last week that his company would change its hiring and potentially its compensation structure to advance diversity and ensure that... View Details

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

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2016
Working Paper

Innovation Adoption and Organizational Identity: Identity Dynamism as a Strategic Resource for Top Management Team Decision Making

By: Ryan Raffaelli, Mary Ann Glynn and Michael Tushman

Organizations continuously face decisions about whether to adopt radical innovations. We examine the relationship between innovation adoption and identity, linking identity with firm strategy to explain innovation adoption over time. We conceptualize identity as... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Managerial Capabilities; Organizational Identity; Innovation Adoption; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Invention; Adoption

July 1986 (Revised September 1989)
Case

Sedalia Revisited

The Sedalia Engine Plant was one of the first models of socio-technical work designs. This case is an update of the activities in the plant over its eleven-year history. The main problem facing the third plant manager is a change in world competition and a need to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Change Management; Manufacturing Industry

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Article

How Mission-Driven Companies Create Long-Term Shareholder Value

By: William W. George

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Business Ventures; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value

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October 2023
Supplement

Rheaply: Circularity For Every Business Supplement 1

By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani

Pitch deck explaining the early vision of the company that was presented by the CEO to potential investors. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Social Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial Finance; Mission and Purpose; United States; Chicago; Illinois

12 May 2011
Research & Ideas

The Difficult Transition from For-Profit to Nonprofit Boards

schools and why, appropriately socialized, those with for-profit backgrounds can contribute so much to the nonprofit world. Repeatedly we have seen new trustees and ineffective boards try to wag the mission dog with the financial tail.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2022
Book

O Coração do Negócio Os princípios de liderança e a chave para o sucesso

By: Hubert Joly and Caroline Lambert

A remarkable turnaround by a leader with a remarkable philosophy: Find your noble purpose. Put people at the center. Unleash human magic.
"It was fall in Minnesota. It was getting cold and we were supposed to die." This is how Hubert Joly describes the early,... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Leading Change

May 2021
Teaching Note

BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Aiyesha Dey and George Serafeim

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 120-042 View Details

Keywords: BlackRock; Investment Management; Stewardship Codes; Stewardship Role Of Institutions; ESG; Purpose; Corporate Purpose; Investment; Asset Management; Corporate Governance; Mission and Purpose; Financial Services Industry; United States

May 2003
Case

Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse

Sun Hydraulics, 32-year-old global hydraulics engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida; confronts tough choices due to the economic downturn in 2001. The company leadership debates how to maintain profitability and reduce labor costs... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Financial Crisis; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry; Florida

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