Nicole Steller of the European Academy of Management, Albena Björck of the ZHAW School of Management and Law and Guido Möllering of Witten/Herdecke University discuss the emerging chief purpose officer title.
Chief purpose officers: Do firms really need them? For decades, the shareholder primacy model dominated corporate strategy, often displacing explicit discussions of broader organisational purpose. Today, in a world shaped by AI, economic uncertainty and constant organisational change, many stakeholders want companies to stand for something more than short-term results. As a result, the term ‘purpose’, defined as the reason a firm exists in society, has become a powerful business buzzword, especially following the Business Roundtable’s 2019 statement on corporate purpose. However, the more companies talk about purpose, the fewer employees seem to believe them.
Research suggests corporate purpose may be “too good to be true”. Employees increasingly experience purpose rhetoric as vague, superficial and disconnected from everyday work realities. Companies make ambitious promises about values and responsibility to connect with society, yet the day-to-day remains dominated by growth targets, efficiency pressures and quarterly results.
