Tesi etd-09252025-151107
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Tipo di tesi
Corso di Dottorato (D.M.226/2021)
Autore
TAFURO, MARTINA
URN
etd-09252025-151107
Titolo
BUSINESSES AND SOCIETY:
THE ROLE OF CORPORATE PURPOSE
Settore scientifico disciplinare
SECS-P/08
Corso di studi
Istituto di Management - Ph.D. in Management Innovation, Sustainability and Healthcare
Commissione
relatore Prof. PICCALUGA, ANDREA MARIO CUORE
Membro Prof.ssa SFERRAZZO, ROBERTA
Presidente Prof.ssa SIGNORI, PAOLA
Membro Prof.ssa SFERRAZZO, ROBERTA
Presidente Prof.ssa SIGNORI, PAOLA
Parole chiave
- Corporate purpose
- purpose contagion
- purpose as a frame
Data inizio appello
07/11/2025;
Disponibilità
parziale
Riassunto analitico
In recent years, corporate purpose has gained growing attention in management research and practice (George et al., 2023; Mayer, 2023). The debate is fuelled by the urgent societal challenges that businesses face, such as climate change, inequality, and public health crises (Henderson, 2021), as well as by the increasing demand from investors, employees, and customers for organizations to embrace objectives that go beyond profit maximization (Mayer, 2016). Corporate purpose has thus been conceptualized as a foundational element of strategy, a motivational force for organizational members, and a framework for value creation that extends to stakeholders and society.
However, despite this growing interest, the literature remains fragmented, with several open questions. First, research on purpose has often developed in silos, producing a plurality of definitions, conceptualizations, and approaches that hinder cumulative progress. Second, empirical evidence on the outcomes of purpose within organizations is limited and often inconclusive, with recent work highlighting the ambivalent effects of superficial or performative purpose adoption (Gulati & Wohlgezogen, 2023). Finally, relatively little is known about how purpose diffuses beyond organizational boundaries, influencing external stakeholders and inter-organizational relationships (Rindova & Martins, 2023).
This dissertation aims to address these gaps by offering an integrated perspective on corporate purpose through three essays. Each essay examines a different dimension of the phenomenon: its conceptual foundations, its diffusion beyond the firm, and its effects within firms. Together, they contribute to clarifying the role of business in society and advancing the understanding of how corporate purpose can be authentically enacted and become good for society.
Essay 1 – Bridging the understanding of corporate purpose with its effectiveness: a systematic literature review and research directions.
This essay provides a systematic literature review of more than one hundred contributions, with the objective of organizing the fragmented body of knowledge on corporate purpose. By adopting a process perspective, it develops a comprehensive framework that integrates the antecedents, management practices, and outcomes of corporate purpose. The analysis highlights the mechanisms through which purpose can become effective and identifies promising research avenues for future studies. This contribution responds to recent calls for greater theoretical clarity and cumulative insights in purpose research.
This essay is published in Journal of Management & Organization (https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2025.10044)
Essay 2 – Purpose-driven approach: is it contagious?
The second essay shifts attention beyond the firm’s boundaries to examine how purpose may spread across organizational systems. Drawing on stakeholder theory and a grounded theory design, it investigates the interactions between four large purpose-driven companies and their 33 key stakeholders, including suppliers and clients. The study uncovers a three-stage process of “purpose contagion”: enablers, dynamics, and diffusion. The findings show that purpose can be transmitted both intentionally and spontaneously through interaction mechanisms based on recognition and value alignment, and that over time it can become embedded in stakeholders’ strategies and structures. The essay contributes to a systemic understanding of purpose, highlighting its relational and transformative potential.
Essay 3 – “If you choose to be driven by purpose, don’t stop halfway”: Purpose as a frame for firm’s resilience.
The third essay turns to the internal dimension of corporate purpose, analysing its effects on organizational resilience. Based on survey data from 268 Italian firms, the study tests the relationship between purpose and resilience, defined as the cognitive and emotional capacity to absorb shocks, reconfigure practices, and sustain performance under uncertainty. The findings reveal a non-linear, asymmetric U-shaped relationship: resilience declines at low-to-medium levels of purpose but increases significantly when purpose is clearly articulated and deeply embedded. Moreover, the study shows that firm characteristics (i.e., being a Benefit Corporation or family-owned) moderate the relationship in distinct ways. This essay contributes empirical evidence to the debate on the ambivalent effects of purpose and advances our understanding of how purpose acts as a sensemaking frame that can both enable and constrain resilience.
Taken together, these three essays provide a multi-level exploration of corporate purpose. By integrating conceptual foundations, external diffusion, and internal outcomes, the dissertation offers a comprehensive account of how purpose shapes firms and their relationships with society. Ultimately, it aspires to clarify under what condition corporate purpose can move beyond rhetoric and become a genuine driver of resilience, collaboration, and societal value creation—that is, how it can truly be good for society.
However, despite this growing interest, the literature remains fragmented, with several open questions. First, research on purpose has often developed in silos, producing a plurality of definitions, conceptualizations, and approaches that hinder cumulative progress. Second, empirical evidence on the outcomes of purpose within organizations is limited and often inconclusive, with recent work highlighting the ambivalent effects of superficial or performative purpose adoption (Gulati & Wohlgezogen, 2023). Finally, relatively little is known about how purpose diffuses beyond organizational boundaries, influencing external stakeholders and inter-organizational relationships (Rindova & Martins, 2023).
This dissertation aims to address these gaps by offering an integrated perspective on corporate purpose through three essays. Each essay examines a different dimension of the phenomenon: its conceptual foundations, its diffusion beyond the firm, and its effects within firms. Together, they contribute to clarifying the role of business in society and advancing the understanding of how corporate purpose can be authentically enacted and become good for society.
Essay 1 – Bridging the understanding of corporate purpose with its effectiveness: a systematic literature review and research directions.
This essay provides a systematic literature review of more than one hundred contributions, with the objective of organizing the fragmented body of knowledge on corporate purpose. By adopting a process perspective, it develops a comprehensive framework that integrates the antecedents, management practices, and outcomes of corporate purpose. The analysis highlights the mechanisms through which purpose can become effective and identifies promising research avenues for future studies. This contribution responds to recent calls for greater theoretical clarity and cumulative insights in purpose research.
This essay is published in Journal of Management & Organization (https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2025.10044)
Essay 2 – Purpose-driven approach: is it contagious?
The second essay shifts attention beyond the firm’s boundaries to examine how purpose may spread across organizational systems. Drawing on stakeholder theory and a grounded theory design, it investigates the interactions between four large purpose-driven companies and their 33 key stakeholders, including suppliers and clients. The study uncovers a three-stage process of “purpose contagion”: enablers, dynamics, and diffusion. The findings show that purpose can be transmitted both intentionally and spontaneously through interaction mechanisms based on recognition and value alignment, and that over time it can become embedded in stakeholders’ strategies and structures. The essay contributes to a systemic understanding of purpose, highlighting its relational and transformative potential.
Essay 3 – “If you choose to be driven by purpose, don’t stop halfway”: Purpose as a frame for firm’s resilience.
The third essay turns to the internal dimension of corporate purpose, analysing its effects on organizational resilience. Based on survey data from 268 Italian firms, the study tests the relationship between purpose and resilience, defined as the cognitive and emotional capacity to absorb shocks, reconfigure practices, and sustain performance under uncertainty. The findings reveal a non-linear, asymmetric U-shaped relationship: resilience declines at low-to-medium levels of purpose but increases significantly when purpose is clearly articulated and deeply embedded. Moreover, the study shows that firm characteristics (i.e., being a Benefit Corporation or family-owned) moderate the relationship in distinct ways. This essay contributes empirical evidence to the debate on the ambivalent effects of purpose and advances our understanding of how purpose acts as a sensemaking frame that can both enable and constrain resilience.
Taken together, these three essays provide a multi-level exploration of corporate purpose. By integrating conceptual foundations, external diffusion, and internal outcomes, the dissertation offers a comprehensive account of how purpose shapes firms and their relationships with society. Ultimately, it aspires to clarify under what condition corporate purpose can move beyond rhetoric and become a genuine driver of resilience, collaboration, and societal value creation—that is, how it can truly be good for society.
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