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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,505)
- People (9)
- News (820)
- Research (1,135)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (39)
- Faculty Publications (817)
- 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
Anteby, Michel, and Amy Wrzesniewski. "In Search of the Self at Work: Young Adults' Experiences of a Dual Identity Organization." Research in the Sociology of Work 25 (2014): 13–50.
- 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
Serafeim, George, and Claudine Gartenberg. "The Type of Purpose That Makes Companies More Profitable." Harvard Business Review (website) (October 21, 2016).
- September 1989
- Background Note
Vision Thing
Describes the challenge of creating, communicating, and committing to a "vision" for an organization. Visions are characterized as a critical building block for stimulating a successful major change in an organization. Considers characteristics of a good vision, an... View Details
Jick, Todd D. "Vision Thing." Harvard Business School Background Note 490-019, September 1989.
- Winter 2023
- Article
Moral Firms?
Building a new political economy requires transforming our markets, our institutions, and our policy and regulatory regimes. In this essay, I argue that it also requires transforming the purpose of the firm: from a singular focus on maximizing financial returns to the... View Details
Henderson, Rebecca. "Moral Firms?" Daedalus 152, no. 1 (Winter 2023): 198–211.
- November 2017
- Editorial
Facebook, BlackRock, and the Case for Purpose-Driven Companies
By: George Serafeim
Purpose-driven companies have been shown to outperform their peers over the long term. But purpose-driven companies are also hard to come by. Why is that? Because purpose is costly. At the very least, it requires a credible commitment to that purpose. And credible... View Details
Keywords: Facebook; BlackRock; Purpose; Corporate Purpose; ESG; Short-termism; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Governance; Leadership
Serafeim, George. "Facebook, BlackRock, and the Case for Purpose-Driven Companies." Harvard Business Review (website) (January 16, 2018).
- 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
Joly, Hubert, and Adi Ignatius. "Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly: Empowering Workers to Create ‘Magic’." Harvard Business Review (website) (December 2, 2021). (Interview with Adi Ignatius, with embedded video.)
- 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
Paine, Lynn S. "CEOs Say Their Aim Is Inclusive Prosperity. Do They Mean It?" Harvard Business Review (website) (August 22, 2019).
- July 2024
- Module Note
The Scope of the Corporation
By: David J. Collis
Every company, regardless of size or configuration, has to make decisions about the appropriate scope of its operations. In fact, the issue is so fundamental that Ronald Coase won the Nobel Prize in Economics for merely asking the question, “what determines the scope... View Details
Collis, David J. "The Scope of the Corporation." Harvard Business School Module Note 724-494, July 2024.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Firm Purpose and Problem Wickedness: A Review of the Academic Literature
By: Caroline Adelson, Charlotte Kuller, Cate Tompkins, Ellora Sarkar, Samantha Price and Marco Iansiti
Our understanding of the firm’s role in society has evolved greatly over the past 70 years, with more recent years seeing a sharp rise in interest for how firms can contribute more than profits to society – that is, have a purpose beyond profits. Businesses engaged in... View Details
Adelson, Caroline, Charlotte Kuller, Cate Tompkins, Ellora Sarkar, Samantha Price, and Marco Iansiti. "Firm Purpose and Problem Wickedness: A Review of the Academic Literature." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-063, April 2023.
- October 28, 2021
- Article
Creating a Meaningful Corporate Purpose
By: Hubert Joly
Today, most company leaders believe that their companies’ larger purpose is to make a positive difference in the world—not just to maximize shareholder value. Defining a corporate why and making sure it guides decisions and operations has therefore become a cornerstone... View Details
Keywords: Corporations; Purpose; Meaningfulness; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation
Joly, Hubert. "Creating a Meaningful Corporate Purpose." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (October 28, 2021).
- August 6, 2020
- Article
Companies Must Go Beyond Random Acts of Humanitarianism
By: Frank Cooper and Ranjay Gulati
Any organization can write a check or mobilize resources when confronted with a crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic or a social movement such as Black Lives Matter. But corporate crisis response becomes much more meaningful when stakeholders know that the organization... View Details
Cooper, Frank, and Ranjay Gulati. "Companies Must Go Beyond Random Acts of Humanitarianism." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (August 6, 2020).
- 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
Haigh, Nardia, and Andrew J. Hoffman. "Hybrid Organizations: The Next Chapter in Sustainable Business." Organizational Dynamics 41, no. 2 (April–June 2012): 126–134.
- 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
Kramer, Mark R. "The Backlash to Larry Fink's Letter Shows How Far Business Has to Go on Social Responsibility." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (January 31, 2019).
- 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
- 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
Klein, Janice A. "Sedalia Revisited." Harvard Business School Case 687-004, July 1986. (Revised September 1989.)
- Article
How Mission-Driven Companies Create Long-Term Shareholder Value
By: William W. George
George, William W. "How Mission-Driven Companies Create Long-Term Shareholder Value." Academy of Management Executive 15, no. 4 (November 2001).
- 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
- 01 Mar 2016
- News
Maiden Voyage
Space Missions, Science, and Technology Management. In that role, he will be helping the agency and the UAE to develop and manage its short- and long-term space mission projects and to develop the UAE’s capability in science and... View Details
- February 2025
- Article
Seeing the Whole: Configurational Cognition and New Venture Resource Mobilization
By: Goran Calic, François Neville, Santi Furnari and C. S. Richard Chan
Research is scant on how multiple venture attributes combine as “whole packages” of signals (or cognitive configurations) in resource holders’ eyes, shaping a venture’s ability to mobilize resources. Drawing on a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 1,395 crowdfunding... View Details
Calic, Goran, François Neville, Santi Furnari, and C. S. Richard Chan. "Seeing the Whole: Configurational Cognition and New Venture Resource Mobilization." Strategic Management Journal 46, no. 2 (February 2025): 309–347.