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This article is based on an excerpt of the book Beyond Shareholder Primacy: Remaking Capitalism for a Sustainable Future, written by Stuart L. Hart, published in MIT Sloan Management Review. The original publication can be found here. It is shared here for informational purposes only, with full credit to the original authors and publisher.
Business purpose has has long been defined by the traditional view of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics: maximizing short-term profit for shareholders. In the face of the complex, interconnected challenges facing people and the planet, this meaning has shifted.
A Social Purpose Business is a company whose enduring reason for being is to create a better world, using the act of conducting business as a means to address these challenges.
Yet, while many organizations have articulated a clear sense of purpose, far fewer have translated that ambition into meaningful transformation. Purpose is often not fully integrated into core decision-making, corporate structure, governance, or capital allocation.
What distinguishes leading organizations is their commitment to fully engaging and aligning the entire organization, including strategy, operations, and culture.
Articulating purpose is a necessary piece to the puzzle, but it is by no means sufficient. To truly address complex challenges, purpose must be accompanied by a systematic realignment of the organization that engages every level and function.
Why Embedding Purpose Matters Now
Canada’s purpose economy is accelerating, with over 450 signatories to A Call to Purpose, including organizations such as GreenShield, Libro Credit Union, Concert Properties, and ABC Recycling. The Canadian Purpose Economy Project exists to accelerate the transition to the purpose economy—one where social purpose business is the norm, attracting capital, talent, and partners.
From customers, to employees, to financial performance, it is clear that purpose matters for business. The question now for companies is how deeply this purpose is embedded. As expectations from stakeholders—including employees, customers, investors, and communities—continue to evolve, organizations are being called to move toward purpose as a driver of strategy and decision-making.
Embedding purpose at every level of the organization ensures that purpose does not exist independently within communications or corporate social responsibility efforts, and instead integrated into how a business allocates capital, designs products and services, engages its workforce, and measures success.
This level of integration is what differentiates organizations that are signalling intent from those that are delivering meaningful impact.
What It Means to Embed Purpose at Every Level
Embedding purpose is an operating model that requires aligning the full architecture of the business around a shared reason for being.
This reshaping is an embodiment of the economics of higher purpose proposed by Robert Quinn and Anjan Thakor. The idea is that when companies align their strategy and operations with an authentic social purpose, they unlock stronger employee performance and thus better economic outcomes.
“[Authentic purpose] results in higher motivation and better business results only when it is not undertaken with the intent of generating better business results. To create this belief, higher purpose must be the arbiter of all major business decisions—not just when it is convenient or serves short-term performance needs.”
Embedding purpose can be framed as a system:
- Purpose provides direction, clarifying why the company exists and where it aims to lead
- Values set the foundation, creating the conditions for the purpose to come to life
- Strategy determines how it will compete and win in delivering on its purpose
- Goals and metrics create accountability
- Incentives ensure the organization is mobilized to deliver
When these elements are integrated, purpose becomes a practical tool, defining and guiding how the business operates every day, quarter, and year.
From Intent to Integration
Griffith Foods shows what this looks like in practice. After engaging leaders and stakeholders, the company translated its purpose, “we blend care and creativity to nourish the world,” into three concrete business aspirations, each with clear impact and financial targets across its value chain. By 2030, it aims to derive set shares of profit from regenerative agriculture, from products that meet stringent nutrition and sustainability standards, and from serving economically and nutritionally underserved markets—directly tying capital to a greater purpose.
Seventh Generation offers another example of integrating purpose at the people and performance level. The company’s purpose is rooted in the Iroquois proverb, “in our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” The company ties this purpose directly to goals, metrics, and the bonus system—a portion of compensation is linked to the company’s guiding business aspirations, creating a shared performance agenda that shapes how work is prioritized and rewarded.
The Role of Ecosystem Enablers
Despite these inspiring examples, no single company can deliver on its purpose in a vacuum. Embedding social purpose on a large scale depends on an enabling ecosystem: policies, capital, norms, and intermediaries that make it easier for businesses to align profit with long-term well-being for all.
That is why the Canadian Purpose Economy Project emphasizes ecosystem enablers such as governments, investors, procurers, business schools, ESG and CSR professionals, funders, associations, nonprofits, boards, and accountants. These actors shape the conditions that determine whether purpose remains unique to some leading businesses or becomes the norm across the economy.
By convening, connecting, and collaborating with these leverage points, the Canadian Purpose Economy Project helps to build the infrastructure around social purpose businesses. In doing so, ecosystem enablers turn individual corporate efforts into a broader shift toward a Canadian purpose economy.
The Bigger Picture
This endeavour requires a national shift, which is why the Canadian Purpose Economy Project aims to reach 25% of Canadian businesses embedding purpose. This is the tipping point, triggering a cascading effect so that the greater ecosystem allows purpose businesses to thrive in harmony with one another.
Now, more than ever, is the time to collaborate and to lead with purpose. The Canadian Purpose Economy Project’s Call to Purpose is clear: we need more leaders, businesses, and communities to champion a new economy—thriving, growing and driving lasting impact.
Let’s continue building a future where business is a force for good. We encourage you to get involved, become a sponsor, sign the Call to Purpose, stay connected and keep the conversation going.
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