Systemic Symbolic Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Corporate Purpose: A Cautionary Tale

In this paper I describe the multilevel and systemic nature of symbolic management and decoupling as it applies to corporate social responsibility (CSR), and consider the implications for the corporate purpose movement. I explain how and why the symbolic management system, including the various forms of decoupling that have compromised CSR, could be readily extended to corporate purpose. I further suggest why (i) the symbolic management of purpose would extend a historical pattern of decoupling that has penetrated into ever more fundamental arenas of corporate governance, and (ii) at least some characteristics of corporate purpose may render it even more vulnerable to symbolic management and decoupling than CSR. I conclude that although the corporate purpose movement carries a substantial, downside risk of symbolic management and decoupling, it nonetheless has upside potential to improve corporate social performance, and that academic researchers have a key role to play in realizing that potential. I suggest several research strategies for detecting the presence and extent of symbolic decoupling of corporate purpose.