Purpose days: the first event dedicated to one of the most important levers of business transformation is born

BCG BrightHouse and POLIMI Graduate School of Management join forces for the launch of “Purpose Days”, the first initiative dedicated to Purpose and its impact on businesses and the Italian economy.

The partnership between BCG BrightHouse and POLIMI Graduate School of Management has given rise to Purpose Days, the first edition of which will take place in Milan on 24 and 25 October at the BCG headquarters in Piazza Duomo and at POLIMI GsoM’s Navigli Campus. This will be an opportunity for discussion between the Italian world of business, institutions and academia on the theme of Purpose, to investigate the role that this plays in the processes of innovation and business transformation.

Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo and one of the most influential voices on these issues, Colin Mayer, Oxford professor and author of “Prosperity”, Ranjay Gulati, Harvard Business School professor and author of “Deep Purpose”, Darren Rudkin, coach and co-founder of The Mind at Work and Alex Edmans, London Business School professor and author of “Grow the Pie”, will inaugurate the first edition of Purpose Days. They will be joined by CEOs and other top executives from the Italian business and industrial world, as well as representatives from academia and wider society.

The centrality of Purpose, understood as the fundamental reason for which an organisation exists, has assumed an increasingly important role on the agenda of the main economic, social, and political decision-makers in recent years. At the same time, Purpose is seen as being a fundamental tool for redefining the functioning of companies and how they relate to stakeholders and society as a whole.

On the occasion of the first edition of Purpose Days, BCG BrightHouse and POLIMI Graduate School of Management, together with BVA Doxa, will present the research “Purpose &Business Transformation: the State of the Art in Italy”, coordinated by Professor Josip Kotlar, Associate Dean for Strategic Projects and Full Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Family Business. The research involved over 500 C-levels, executives and senior managers from companies of different sizes in the services, industry and commerce; the focus of the work was an assessment of the perception and use of Purpose in Italian companies and the correlation with the level of innovation within the corporate context.

“Culture, identity and purpose have firmly entered the agenda of CEOs – observes Francesco Guidara, BCG BrightHouse Managing Director – and have taken on a crucial role in all the most important processes of business transformation and repositioning. We are happy that Politecnico di Milano and BCG BrightHouse have pooled their skills and experience, creating for the first time in Italy a platform dedicated to Purpose.”

The Purpose Days aim to contribute to this conversation by opening up a discussion on different perspectives: from the relationship with ESG and sustainability concepts, to the impact on business, strategy and people, the supply chain and performance.

“We believe that the responsibility of a Business School such as ours is not limited to transmitting and developing solid managerial skills, but also extends to the training and preparation of managers who are capable of questioning the deep meaning of their actions. Partnering with BCG BrightHouse to advance the Purpose Days initiative is a key step in this direction. We want to prepare our students and future generations of leaders to fully understand the importance of Purpose in their organisations and in society as a whole and to face the challenges of the future with responsibility and awareness, to have a positive impact on society,” said Vittorio Chiesa and Federico Frattini, respectively President and Dean of POLIMI Graduate School of Management.

The event, which involves the participation of over one hundred CEOs and top managers of the main Italian companies, will open with greetings from Vittorio Chiesa and Federico Frattini, respectively President and Dean of POLIMI GSoM, and Ashley Grice, Global CEO of BCG BrightHouse and Francesco Guidara, Managing Director of BCG BrightHouse.

The agenda for 25 October is available at this link (https://www.gsom.polimi.it/Brochure/Documents/PurposeDays_Agenda_2510_EN.pdf)