IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orstsc/v8y2023i2p139-148.html

Inside-out and Outside-in Perspectives on Corporate Purpose

Author

Listed:
  • Juan (“John”) Almandoz

    (Managing People in Organizations Department, IESE Business School, New York, New York 10019)

Abstract

Corporate purpose is receiving an extraordinary amount of attention from both scholars and practitioners. But do existing theories of management help us to understand this unexpected development? This study represents an effort to understand purpose better. I characterize inside-out and outside-in perspectives on purpose as distinct but connected phenomena related to different research traditions. Inside-out purpose is a channeling of the passion and commitment employees feel toward fulfilling stakeholder needs; outside-in purpose is society and external stakeholders urgently calling on the organization to live up to its responsibilities. I devote special attention to theories that best explain the present moment’s unique awareness of corporate purpose. Among them is the work of Philip Selznick, emphasizing values, and the literature on the new institutionalism and institutional logics. I conclude with a section on how leaders can leverage the benefits of both perspectives while mitigating their risks. I also make recommendations for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan (“John”) Almandoz, 2023. "Inside-out and Outside-in Perspectives on Corporate Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 139-148, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:8:y:2023:i:2:p:139-148
    DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2023.0180
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2023.0180
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/stsc.2023.0180?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marya Besharov & Björn Mitzinneck, 2023. "The Multiple Facets of Corporate Purpose: An Analytical Typology," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 233-244, June.
    2. Alvaro Lleo & Miquel Bastons & Carlos Rey & Fernando Ruiz-Perez, 2021. "Purpose Implementation: Conceptualization and Measurement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    3. Soo-Yeon Kim & Hyojung Park, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility as an Organizational Attractiveness for Prospective Public Relations Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(4), pages 639-653, November.
    4. Claudine Gartenberg & Andrea Prat & George Serafeim, 2019. "Corporate Purpose and Financial Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Robert G. Eccles & Michael P. Krzus & Jean Rogers & George Serafeim, 2012. "The Need for Sector-Specific Materiality and Sustainability Reporting Standards," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 24(2), pages 65-71, June.
    6. Rodolphe Durand, 2023. "From the Boardroom: Making Purpose Research Relevant for Practice," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 149-158, June.
    7. Christopher Marquis & Michael W. Toffel & Yanhua Zhou, 2016. "Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 483-504, April.
    8. Ju Young Lee & Pratima Bansal & Alice Mascena Barbosa, 2023. "Seeing Beyond the Here and Now: How Corporate Purpose Combats Corporate Myopia," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 302-310, June.
    9. Grant, Adam M. & Campbell, Elizabeth M. & Chen, Grace & Cottone, Keenan & Lapedis, David & Lee, Karen, 2007. "Impact and the art of motivation maintenance: The effects of contact with beneficiaries on persistence behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 53-67, May.
    10. Anita M. McGahan, 2023. "The New Stakeholder Theory on Organizational Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 245-255, June.
    11. Michael G. Pratt & Luke N. Hedden, 2023. "Accounts and Accountability: On Organizational Purpose, Organizational Identity, and Meaningful Work," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 182-192, June.
    12. Christopher Michaelson & Michael Pratt & Adam Grant & Craig Dunn, 2014. "Meaningful Work: Connecting Business Ethics and Organization Studies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(1), pages 77-90, April.
    13. Ranjay Gulati & Franz Wohlgezogen, 2023. "Can Purpose Foster Stakeholder Trust in Corporations?," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 270-287, June.
    14. James D. Westphal, 2023. "Systemic Symbolic Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Corporate Purpose: A Cautionary Tale," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 221-232, June.
    15. Caroline Flammer, 2015. "Does product market competition foster corporate social responsibility? Evidence from trade liberalization," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1469-1485, October.
    16. Claudine Gartenberg, 2023. "The Contingent Relationship Between Purpose and Profits," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 256-269, June.
    17. Joseph T. Mahoney, 2023. "Corporate Personhood and Fiduciary Duties as Critical Constructs in Developing Stakeholder Management Theory and Corporate Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 212-220, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael G. Pratt & Luke N. Hedden, 2023. "Accounts and Accountability: On Organizational Purpose, Organizational Identity, and Meaningful Work," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 182-192, June.
    2. Marya Besharov & Björn Mitzinneck, 2023. "The Multiple Facets of Corporate Purpose: An Analytical Typology," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 233-244, June.
    3. William Ocasio & Matthew Kraatz & David Chandler, 2023. "Making Sense of Corporate Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 123-138, June.
    4. Anita M. McGahan, 2023. "The New Stakeholder Theory on Organizational Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 245-255, June.
    5. Witold J. Henisz, 2023. "The Value of Organizational Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 159-169, June.
    6. Violina P. Rindova & Luis L. Martins, 2023. "Moral Imagination, the Collective Desirable, and Strategic Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 170-181, June.
    7. James D. Westphal, 2023. "Systemic Symbolic Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Corporate Purpose: A Cautionary Tale," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 221-232, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. William Ocasio & Matthew Kraatz & David Chandler, 2023. "Making Sense of Corporate Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 123-138, June.
    2. Witold J. Henisz, 2023. "The Value of Organizational Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 159-169, June.
    3. Sarah Kaplan, 2023. "The Promises and Perils of Corporate Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 288-301, June.
    4. Marya Besharov & Björn Mitzinneck, 2023. "The Multiple Facets of Corporate Purpose: An Analytical Typology," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 233-244, June.
    5. Michael G. Pratt & Luke N. Hedden, 2023. "Accounts and Accountability: On Organizational Purpose, Organizational Identity, and Meaningful Work," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 182-192, June.
    6. Blanche Segrestin & Jérémy Lévêque & Kevin Levillain, 2025. "Companies with Multiple Purposes: A Study of Governance in French Sociétés à Mission," Post-Print hal-05015380, HAL.
    7. Sergio G. Lazzarini, 2025. "The Strategic Imperative: Do We Need Normative Considerations in Strategic Theories of Stakeholder Engagement?," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 300-315, December.
    8. Claudine Gartenberg, 2023. "The Contingent Relationship Between Purpose and Profits," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 256-269, June.
    9. Claudine Gartenberg & Shun Yiu, 2023. "Acquisitions and Corporate Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(4), pages 444-463, December.
    10. Aseem Kaul & Jiao Luo, 2018. "An economic case for CSR: The comparative efficiency of for‐profit firms in meeting consumer demand for social goods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1650-1677, June.
    11. Antonio Cabrales & Esther Hauk, 2026. "Optimally designing purpose and meaning at work," Papers 2601.05005, arXiv.org.
    12. Yichen Wang & Christopher Marquis, 2025. "Does Product Market Competition Promote or Reduce Firms’ Corporate Social Responsibility Behavior? How Stakeholder Attention Shapes Responsiveness to Stakeholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 200(4), pages 867-896, September.
    13. Hussam Al Halbusi & Pablo Ruiz‐Palomino & Jorge Linuesa‐Langreo & Germán Scalzo, 2025. "Ethical Leadership as a Driver of Supervisor Technical and Social Effectiveness: A Triple Helix for Cultivating Employees' Sense of Purpose," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 2013-2033, October.
    14. Anita M. McGahan, 2023. "The New Stakeholder Theory on Organizational Purpose," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 245-255, June.
    15. Anna Jasinenko & Josephina Steuber, 2023. "Perceived Organizational Purpose: Systematic Literature Review, Construct Definition, Measurement and Potential Employee Outcomes," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(6), pages 1415-1447, September.
    16. Harry G. Barkema & Uta K. Bindl & Lamees Tanveer, 2024. "How Entrepreneurs Achieve Purpose Beyond Profit: The Case of Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 1042-1071, May.
    17. Song, Fenghua & Thakor, Anjan & Quinn, Robert, 2023. "Purpose, profit and social pressure," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    18. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Gazizova, Irina & Khalilov, Akram, 2025. "Demand-driven corporate social responsibility: Symbolic versus substantive change after environmental disasters," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. Kyoko Sasaki & Wendy Stubbs & Megan Farrelly, 2023. "The relationship between corporate purpose and the sustainable development goals in large Japanese companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2475-2489, September.
    20. James D. Westphal, 2023. "Systemic Symbolic Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Corporate Purpose: A Cautionary Tale," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 221-232, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:8:y:2023:i:2:p:139-148. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.