Publications

March 2002 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Major Dimensions of Company Mission

Having a clear company mission has great managerial benefits. This note describes what a useful company mission should include. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose

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February 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Creating and Measuring Purpose at Viega

By: Ethan Rouen, Suraj Srinivasan and James Barnett

At its headquarters in Attendorn, Germany, Viega’s chairwoman Anna Viegener gathered the company’s leadership team to discuss their progress on formalizing purpose-driven leadership as a strategic driver within the organization. Viega manufactured and distributed... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Measurement and Metrics; Germany

19 Mar 2019
News

Mission Critical

all the things that I probably should not have been doing and learned the opportunities that I had to redefine my leadership. “In our industry, just like any other industry, you really have to inspire and... View Details

Keywords: Health, Social Assistance

01 Jun 2012
News

Global Mission

topic: the global manager. Our lead story recounts how HBS developed a unique research and teaching approach to address the rise of globalization. Since the mid-1990s, the School has established a network of seven far-flung research... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; meta

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

2022
Book

Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies

By: Ranjay Gulati

This book offers a compelling reassessment and defense of purpose as a management ethos, documenting the vast performance gains and social benefits that become possible when firms manage to get purpose right. Few business topics have aroused more skepticism in recent... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Business And Society; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Culture

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October 2016
Case

Elon Musk: Balancing Purpose and Risk

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Sarah Mehta

The case is used to illustrate the place of ‘Purpose’ versus financial risk and returns in a founder’s objectives. It also addresses personal risk profile of different founders, and when paired with the Risk Tolerance Exercise, it enables evaluating one’s own appetite... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicle; Solar Power; Vision; Trade-offs; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Risk and Uncertainty; Entrepreneurship; Failure; United States; North America

Editorial

The Type of Purpose That Makes Companies More Profitable

By: George Serafeim and Claudine Gartenberg

Keywords: Corporate Purpose; Middle Management; Vision; Culture; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Profit

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01 Jun 2007
News

Mission Possible

delivers a message of hope for a better world where no social mission is impossible. Cindy Ko (MBA ’05) Endeavor www.endeavor.org POSITIVE IMPACT: With help from Endeavor, Drillco Tools has become a leading designer View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Margie Kelley; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance

31 Aug 2022
News

Reshaping the Relationship Between Purpose and Profit

13 Nov 2014
News

Turning Missions into Movements

October 2019
Case

David Yin's Vegetarian Mission

By: Boris Groysberg and Evan M.S. Hecht

After the establishment of his critically-acclaimed upscale vegetarian restaurant, King’s Joy, in Beijing, chef and entrepreneur David Yin must decide whether or not to expand to other locations or continue to invest in his existing location in order to fulfill his... View Details

Keywords: Restaurant; Restaurant Industry; Creative Ability; Creative Industries; Values; Entrepreneurship; Creativity; Food; Values and Beliefs; China

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 View Details

28 Jan 2021
News

Leading with Innovation and Purpose

September 2007
Teaching Note

Opportunity International: Measurement and Mission (TN)

By: Herman B. Leonard, Srikant M. Datar, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Mission and Purpose; Opportunities

Web

Advance Your Career with Greater Purpose and Focus

Ascending the Peak: Finding the Leader Within—Virtual is a live online program, conducted in the HBS Live Online Classroom, for mid-career professionals ready to lead with courage, conviction, and resilience. Participants will focus on... View Details

February 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Mission to Mars (A)

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Jay Wynn

This case is set in spring 2000, several months after two successive, failed missions to the planet Mars. Students are asked to evaluate the reasons for these failures in the context of NASA's "Faster, Better, Cheaper" program, which was initiated in 1992. They are... View Details

Keywords: Failure; Change Management; Innovation Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Projects; Management; Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Aerospace Industry; Technology Industry