Integrating Purpose and philosophy: the key to business growth

Successful firms no longer limit themselves to pursuing economic goals, but seek a deep commitment to collective wellbeing, innovation and sustainability. It is a business context in which purpose ─ a company's goal and sole objective ─ and its values are aligning. A raising of consciousness that guides strategic decisions, driving a positive impact not only for the company itself, but also for the environment and society in which it operates. Philosophy can play a decisive role in this growing belief in purpose. Philosophical thought pushes people to question reality as a whole, tracing its meaning and deepest value. This critical and reflective approach enables companies to explore new horizons, reshape their role in the world, and drive an evolution that goes beyond profit.

In this evolving context, where the objectives are sustainable and responsible growth, the Executive Course in Philosophy for Management aims to strengthen organisational and managerial action through philosophy. The first module is entitled Purpose and Values in Business and is led by Professor Roberto Mordacci, Full Professor of Moral Philosophy at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University ─ Faculty of Philosophy. The aim is to critically address the topic of purpose and how this is fundamental for the development of a company capable of combining economic expectations with attention to human values and the environment. Professor Mordacci gives a clear explanation of how purpose is able to promote the development of a company thanks to the adhesion of the people who work there.

Corporate mission and purpose: why should they be considered together?

In management language these days we interweave three concepts: mission, vision and purpose. The first is the definition of what a company actually does – its product or service; the second is the interpretation of the world into which the activity fits; the third is the clarification of the meaning that the company’s actions have for people. Ideally, it is the purpose that explains why a company exists, for what human purpose, so it is on it this, logically, that everything else depends.

If the corporate objective I want to promote is the human ability to communicate, the vision says how to place ourselves in the world of communication and the mission says with which practical activity we want to achieve the improvement of human communication. It is crucial that the purpose is not a generic value (wellbeing or happiness or responsibility, or a combination of these) but a specific human activity, such as communication, training, mobility, the construction of infrastructures, and so on. Otherwise, these are only abstract concepts that do not characterise the identity of the company.

What are the key factors of purpose?

As mentioned, the really crucial factor is the specificity of the purpose. The “meaning” of a business or its “raison d’être” cannot be a generic term. In the purpose, the company must say that it exists because it has traced a genuine human need and that it intends to facilitate its realisation. And it must want to do so in an innovative, sustainable and fair way. Ockham's razor applies: entities cannot multiply without necessity. A new company is justified if it does something new or better, if it does it in a way that is economically, socially and ecologically sustainable,, and if it does it in a way that is fair, that is, by not fuelling inequalities, discrimination and oppression. There is no innovation without justice: the history of technology (think of Ford’s Model T) shows that lasting innovations are those that reduce inequality, not those that increase it. This must also be borne in mind by so-called ‘high-end’ companies: producing for an elite may well be part of a business, but it does not complete its social dimension.

What is needed for purpose to express its full potential?

We must first think about purpose starting from what we actually do. A mere ideological manifesto serves no purpose and will end up being hypocritical or false. The key ploy is to ask ourselves, “But what do we do?”, and the first level of the answer is simple: for example, “We manufacture cars.” The second level is “What is a car?” i.e. what meaning does the fact that cars exist have for human beings? And the third level is “How does our way of making cars respond to the human need to move?” And finally: “Does the way we do what we do reflect the humanly relevant reason why we do it?”

This last question is crucial. Reflection on purpose is about concrete practices: processes, value chains, relationships with employees and stakeholders, our relationship with society and with the time and place of action. What is the point of our practices? What objective is embodied in our processes? If we took away every statement of principle, what would a visitor or a Martian think when they saw us act?

How can economic and ethical values be integrated?

No serious economist or manager still shares Milton Friedman’s thesis, that the sole purpose of a company is its economic results. This is for the simple reason that these do not come, or do not last, unless we respond to a real need and do so in a way that does not destroy good relations, the context in which we operate, and the environment as a whole. The Friedman doctrine, which is the essence of neoliberal ideology and which persists in the action of the most irresponsible and incorrect companies, has been disavowed by history no less conclusively than has Soviet collectivism been repudiated. Predatory businesses sooner or later fail or are punished by law and public opinion. Both ideologies are expressions of a fundamentally inhumane vision.

The idea of purpose is the product of a humanistic view of management and the sense of enterprise and is the potential engine of a transformation of capitalism in a less iniquitous sense.

The Executive Path in Philosophy for Management reflects all these forces and takes into account the complex economic and social context in which companies operate. The tools offered by philosophical thought enable managers and entrepreneurs to interpret reality and more deeply and manage their role by combining mental flexibility, understanding and empathy.