1.
PURPOSE
A sense of purpose is increasingly
recognised as essential for
business and personal success.
© Copyright 2012 London Business School

2.
Purpose, defined by Douglas Ready
and Emily Stecker Truelove is
“the company’s reason for being;
why it exists; its core mission as an
enterprise”.
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 1

3.
Nikos Mourkogiannis, author of
Purpose: The Starting Point of
Great Companies says
successful companies define
purpose in one of four ways.
1 2 3 4
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 2

4.
Discovery - This type of purpose involves a love of the
1 new and innovative, and it animates many
technological businesses. Seeking the new does not
mean constantly changing course.
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 3

5.
Excellence - Excellent businesses prefer to turn away
2 customers than compromise their quality standards.
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 4

6.
Heroism - Think of Henry Ford’s creation of his world-
3 changing motor company or Bill Gates’ Microsoft.
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 5

7.
Altruism - This purpose could take the form of
4 personal service beyond that normally expected,
delivering products at affordable prices, or using
technology and ideas to improve lives.
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 6

8.
Purpose in numbers
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 7

9.
A strong, strategically coherent
and well communicated corporate
purpose is associated with up to
17% better financial performance.
IMD/Burson Marsteller Corporate Purpose Impact Study 2010
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 8

10.
Only 10% of managers take purposeful
action — a powerful combination of
energy and focus. Meanwhile, 30% of
managers procrastinate, 20% show
detached behaviour and 40% exhibit
distracted behaviour.
Sumantra Ghoshal and Heike Bruch
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 9

11.
“Management was, is, and always
will be the same thing: the art of
getting things done.”
Bob Eccles and Nitin Nohria, Beyond the Hype.
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 10

12.
Only 40% of employees understand
their organisation’s strategy.
Accenture High Performance Workplace Study
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 11

13.
88% of highly engaged employees
believe they can positively impact
the quality of their organisation’s
products; only 38% of disengaged
employees think so.
Towers Perrin 2008
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 12

14.
“You cannot foster true innovation
without engaged employees.”
Julian Birkinshaw, MLab and London Business School
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 13

15.
Only 4% of UK workers exhibit the
highest level of engagement with
their work.
Corporate Leadership Council
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 14

16.
“The purpose of business is to
create a customer.”
Peter Drucker
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 15

17.
40% of a company’s reputation is
determined by its purpose and
60% by performance.
Burson Marsteller/Penn, Schoen & Berland, 2008
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 16

18.
This report was part of Business Strategy Review,
Volume 22 – Issue 3 2011
Visit our website www.london.edu/bsr
BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 17