Leadership Archives

Why Purpose Must be at the Heart of Business Strategy

Purpose matters. But if it’s to deliver on its promises, purpose must be authentic, strategic and lived throughout the organisation. How can businesses avoid paying lip service to purpose, and instead harness its power to drive transformational change?

Uncategorized

February 27, 2019

How is Business Rethinking Generation Purpose?

How can business respond to the expectations of millennials, as they pioneer new styles of leadership, push for greater equality and diversity in the workplace, and have an increasingly holistic view on business performance?

Uncategorized

February 5, 2019

Are B Corps an Elite Charade for Changing the World?

Responding to Anand Giridharadas, who recently called elites to account for giving so much lip service to “changing the world,” while mostly upholding an unacceptable status quo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of B Lab, Jay Coen Gilbert welcomes criticism of B Corps.

Governance and Transparency

January 25, 2019

On Purpose

Larry Fink’s annual open letter to corporate CEOs is fast-becoming a fixture at the start of the year. Fink’s views matter. They carry weight. He is, after all, the co-founder and now Chairman and CEO of BlackRock – the biggest money-management firm in the world with more than $6 trillion in assets under management

Engaging Employees, Innovative Business Models

January 24, 2019

The ‘Purpose Paradigm’: Solution or Scam?

There is a clear and deepening frustration amongst some with the rhetoric of “purpose”. For those of us who believe in the power of business to do good, this is an opportunity for some honest self-reflection. But ultimately purpose is still worth believing in for three good reasons.

Corporate Impact

January 15, 2019

Business Fights Poverty Oxford 2019: Embedding Purpose into Business

We’re back at Saïd Business School on 11th July for our annual flagship event, Business Fights Poverty Oxford 2019, with the theme of embedding purpose authentically into business. Apply for a place, nominate yourself or a colleague to be one of our featured speakers, or become a Business Fights Poverty Ambassador. #BFPOXF19

Global Goals, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

January 15, 2019

Multinationals Must Step up Game to Attract Top Business Students

Millennials at leading Swiss business schools say it will take more than a good salary to recruit and retain them. They want jobs with purpose, flexibility, and above all, the opportunity for impact.

Education

January 9, 2019

‘Total Stakeholder Value’: Is This a New Purpose that Can Drive Necessary, Systemic Change?

Business and societal failures have arisen from flawed economic and financial theories, and a skewed, systemic, perspective of purpose and value. A new book argues that we can create a socio-economic system in which all organisations are encouraged and incentivised to generate lasting value for all human stakeholders

Global Goals, Innovative Business Models

January 8, 2019

Most Millennials Will Only Work For Purpose-Driven Firms

Today’s talent is attracted to companies whose values match their own. The most attractive companies to today’s talent are driven by purpose, according to London Business School (LBS) experts.

Education, Engaging Employees

December 19, 2018

8 SSIR Articles on Businesses Pursuing a Social Mission

Stanford Social Innovation Review curate eight articles from their archives- specifically for Business Fights Poverty—that offer insight into how companies can successfully orient themselves around purpose, both internally and externally, to reap its many rewards.

Global Goals, Intrapreneurship, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Social Enterprises, Technology

August 21, 2018

Two Powerful Lessons from Mandela for Today’s Precarious World

Zahid Torres-Rahman, reflects on marking Mandela’s Centenary at the recent Business Fights Poverty Oxford conference and how now is the time to draw strength and inspiration from Mandela’s own example. In particular, the power of purpose and the power of people to make change happen.

Uncategorized

July 23, 2018

Brand Purpose – How Social Impact & Shared Values Win Customer Love

In 2012 Edelman predicted that ‘purpose’ would be the re-engineering of brand marketing. Looks like they were right: in 2017, the online marketing platform CMO proposed that it’s now time to admit that traditional marketing is dead. That brands with real purpose and meaning are already winning the hearts (and wallets) of customers.