July 2021 – This working paper summarises why a purpose-driven approach to business is the optimum route to create a durable, equitable and sustainable future.
Unleashing the sustainable business: how purposeful organisations can break free of business-as-usual
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Never before has the question of what a sustainable business is and how it can be achieved been more important or urgent. Simply put, sustainability is about achieving prosperity and welfare for all of society over the longer term. The objective of such wellbeing is primarily twofold: first, optimising equitable wellbeing outcomes; and secondly, protecting and regenerating the social and natural resource base that underpins this wellbeing. Given that business serves as the engine of an economy, it is equally legitimate to consider companies as being central to the delivery of sustainability.
So, what are the optimum pathways through which companies can best deliver these outcomes?
This question provides the central thread of this paper, which is the first in a series about the nature, role, and delivery of purpose-driven business. It is the contention of this series of papers that tweaking today’s mainstream economic and business models will fall short in delivering the sustainable outcomes that are now so urgently needed. Such an approach may lead to a ‘less bad’ form of business, but this is no longer enough.
This paper examines an alternative, purpose-driven approach to business that presents a fresh vision for creating durable, equitable wellbeing. We hope this will lead to a shared vision of how future businesses consider their role in society and a common understanding of the potential pitfalls ahead.
This paper is built around the following core tenets:
- Business-as-usual undermines sustainability.
- Tweaking business-as-usual does not lead to sustainability.
- Many of today’s leading companies are still operating under a business-as-usual logic.
- A purpose-driven approach to business is the best route to sustainability.
Citing this report
Hurth, V., and Vrettos A. (2021). Unleashing the sustainable business: how purposeful organisations can break free of business-as-usual. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
July 2021 – The second paper in this series seeks to move from theory to practice. It aims to provide management-focused responses on how purpose-driven companies think and act and what it means to transform from a business-as-usual organisational system to a purpose-driven one.
Unleashing the sustainable business: how purpose transforms an organisation
Download the working paper
Purpose done well, the report argues, operationalises sustainability. It aligns the individual’s desire for meaning with the interests of society, business, nature in a way that other operational business sustainability concepts have so far failed to do.
A mature purpose-driven company will be increasingly displaying its purpose in all aspects of organisational culture – its cultural hardware such as systems, processes, structures, materials, investments, artefacts and all strategic decisions, and its cultural software, such as assumptions, practices and behaviours.
Companies with a robust and genuine intent to deliver long-term wellbeing cannot and should not wait until they get everything right. They need to, and can, be transparent about their goals and carve a robust plan for transition to build momentum with employees and stakeholders for the delivery of their shared purpose.
The paper addresses four critical questions:
- What does it mean to be a purpose-driven organisation?
- What are the first steps in orientating towards a particular purpose?
- How does purpose enable sustainability goals to become fully integrated into company practice and strategy?
- How does a purpose-driven approach reorientate corporate imperatives such as competition, growth, and innovation?
Citing this report
Hurth, V., and Vrettos A. (2021). Unleashing the sustainable business: how purpose transforms an organisation. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
