Thomas W. Malnight

Ivy Buche

Charles Dhanaraj

<article-ideainbrief class="article-ideainbrief">
 <h4 class="ideainbrief-title">Idea in Brief</h4>
 <div class="ideainbrief-contents">
  <h5>The Challenge</h5>
  <p>Companies pursuing high growth tend to follow three well-known strategies: creating new markets, serving broader stakeholder needs, and changing the rules of the game. But there’s another critical growth driver: purpose.</p>
  <h5>The Insight</h5>
  <p>Many companies consider purpose merely an add-on to their strategy, but the most successful companies put it at the core, using it to redefine the playing field and reshape their value propositions.</p>
  <h5>The Benefits</h5>
  <p>A purpose-driven strategy helps companies overcome the challenges of slowing growth and declining profits. It also helps with the soft side of management: the people-related aspects of running a business, which so often prove to be the undoing of leaders.</p>
 </div>
</article-ideainbrief><p>Eight years ago we launched a global study of high growth in companies, investigating the importance of three strategies known to drive it: creating new markets, serving broader stakeholder needs, and changing the rules of the game. What we found surprised us. Although each of those approaches did boost growth at the organizations we studied, there was a fourth driver we hadn’t considered at all: purpose.</p>

rwVec5BoT/172Gmud0lpM60AuYc98t8o2tJ2yotZoLGKdTWPjoeX/E7BO8WQremSXq3Q4nJIawPGKzWuku/kjHIIWA7swzBgEW+jh2466aJltxv6E9vw/+5d6XAuxshg2kxR8NbSX6sH3Vz+kFRm4g==

<p>Eight years ago, Malnight, Buche, and Dhanaraj launched a study of high growth in companies, looking at three strategies known to drive it: creating new markets, serving broader stakeholder needs, and rewriting the rules of the game. To their surprise, they discovered a fourth driver they hadn&#8217;t considered at all: purpose.</p>
<p>Companies have long been building purpose into what they do, but usually it&#8217;s seen as an add-on&#8212;as a way to, say, give back to the community. The high-growth companies in the study, in contrast, had made purpose central to their strategies, using it to redefine playing fields and reshape value propositions. The purpose of Mars Petcare, for instance&#8212;a better world for pets&#8212;guided its expansion from pet food into the larger ecosystem of pet health. The purpose of Securitas&#8212;contributing to a safer society&#8212;led the firm to redesign its offering to include not just physical guards but electronic services and predictive solutions.</p>
<p>This article explains how executives can develop and implement a purpose at their organizations. It also describes the benefits they&#8217;re quite likely to see once they do: a more unified organization, more-motivated stakeholders, broader impact, and more profitable growth.</p>

Put Purpose at the Core of Your Strategy

Eight years ago, Malnight, Buche, and Dhanaraj launched a study of high growth in companies, looking at three strategies known to drive it: creating new markets, serving broader stakeholder needs, and rewriting the rules of the game. To their surprise, they discovered a fourth driver they hadn’t considered at all: purpose. Companies have long been building purpose into what they do, but usually it’s seen as an add-on—as a way to, say, give back to the community. The high-growth companies in the study, in contrast, had made purpose central to their strategies, using it to redefine playing fields and reshape value propositions. The purpose of Mars Petcare, for instance—a better world for pets—guided its expansion from pet food into the larger ecosystem of pet health. The purpose of Securitas—contributing to a safer society—led the firm to redesign its offering to include not just physical guards but electronic services and predictive solutions. This article explains how executives can develop and implement a purpose at their organizations. It also describes the benefits they’re quite likely to see once they do: a more unified organization, more-motivated stakeholders, broader impact, and more profitable growth.

Put Purpose at the Core of Your Strategy

Summary.

Partner Center