Publications

29 Nov 2005
News

It's the Purpose Brand, Stupid

19 Oct 2023
News

Unlocking Organizational Performance With Purpose

28 Oct 2021
News

Creating a Meaningful Corporate Purpose

May 08 2023
Testimonial

Finding Purpose Through Authentic Leadership

July 2024
Case

Living up to Purpose and Performance at Parker Hannifin

By: Hubert Joly, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

In 2019, Parker Hannifin, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of motion and control technologies, did something unusual for an industrial company: it created a purpose statement. Even though it already had a clear business strategy and longstanding culture of... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Health Pandemics; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Communication Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Cleveland; Ohio; United States

September 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Bühler: Mobilizing Industry around a Common Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati, Franz Wohlgezogen and Malini Sen

Bühler Group, a Swiss multinational processing technology provider, started by selling machines for processing grains and later transitioned into selling food processing solutions. A family-owned business in the fifth generation, Bühler’s high-end milling, grinding,... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Customer Focus and Relationships; Machinery and Machining; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Innovation Leadership; Switzerland

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

06 Nov 2019
News

Making Purpose a Central Part of a New Capitalism

07 Oct 2020
News

Bringing Business Ethics Back to Friedman’s Call to Purpose

02 May 2022
News

Spotify, Disney, Ukraine, and Deep Purpose (ft. Ranjay Gulati)

2017
Chapter

Corporate Moral Agency, Positive Duties, and Purpose

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

A long-standing question in business ethics is whether business enterprises are themselves moral agents with distinct moral responsibilities. To date, the debate about corporate moral agency has focused on responsibility for past wrongdoing that involves violating... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Moral Sensibility; Mission and Purpose

Find at Harvard

January 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Learning Resources: Driven by Purpose

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah Mehta and Heather Poco

In January 2023, CEO Rick Woldenberg must make several strategic decisions for his family-owned toy company Learning Resources. View Details

Keywords: Change; Change Management; Ownership; Family Ownership; Leadership; Decisions; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Chicago; Illinois

20 Nov 2023
News

The Value of Corporate Purpose

28 Jan 2021
News

Leading with Innovation and Purpose

15 Jun 2018
News

The Importance of Purpose in Technology & Innovation

May 2019
Teaching Note

Elon Musk: Balancing Purpose and Risk

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-040. View Details