BM_IMD_REPORT-How-Authentic-is-your-Corporate-Purpose

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Figure 1. Authenticity of Corporate Purpose: A Conceptual Model We chose identity and image to capture the idea that authenticity has both internal and external components and that an authentic corporate purpose is both about how the organization sees itself as well as how others see the organization. Identity: Translating measures from the authentic leadership and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature, we found that activities related to leading and stewarding the company within society reflect more broadly how an organization sees itself and thus pertains to organizational identity. For example, authentic leaders are described as having highly developed systems of selfawareness and self-regulation. They have realistic, balanced concepts of themselves that are rooted in strong values and they tend to base their actions on these core values, acting transparently and leading from conviction. Similarly, we argue that organizations with an authentic corporate purpose will also act with awareness, self-regulation, balance and transparency and that these activities are central to leading with an authentic corporate purpose. Similarly, how an organization chooses to interact with its stakeholders, the environment and the broader community in which it operates can also be seen as a reflection of how a company defines its role within society. Therefore, these stewarding activities are also deemed part of organizational identity. 12
Leading Image: In contrast, research into the authenticity of brands and communications focuses more on how external constituents, notably consumers, view an organization’s activities. Delivering reliable and consistent brand experiences, for example, has been found to be central to authenticity in the marketing literature. Part of being authentic is also being distinct and being recognized for your passion and excellence, which can be attributed to an organization’s differentiation strategy. As more externally driven factors, delivering and differentiating are thus largely indicative of a company’s image. We now elaborate on identity and image by defining the four broad sets of organizational activities within identity and image that directly contribute to perceptions of authenticity of corporate purpose. We classify these organizational activities as leading, stewarding, differentiating and delivering. Leading refers to the set of organizational activities that relate to how the company chooses to interact with its stakeholders and make decisions that affect these stakeholders. The dimensions associated with leading the organization authentically are derived from the authentic leadership literature and they include balance, awareness, transparency and self-regulation as defined below: Dimension Balance Awareness Transparency Self‐regulation Description The company solicits and objectively takes into account in its decision‐making all relevant information and points of view regardless of source, including views that challenge deeply held positions or evoke its own organizational limitations and shortcomings. The company – through direct interactions with its stakeholders – has acquired a deep understanding of its own strengths and weaknesses, what drives or motivates its actions and how it impacts stakeholders and the environment. The company promotes trust by openly sharing information with its stakeholders, demonstrating coherence between “talk” and “walk”, is honest and truthful about its activities, admits mistakes when they are made, and does not pretend to be something it is not. The company makes decisions that are true to its stated corporate purpose and that exhibit restraint with regard to growth and profit ambitions based on strong internalized moral standards and values that promote legal and ethical norms and positive stakeholder impact. Stewarding refers to the set of organizational activities that reflect how the organization sees its role in the broader environmental and social context. We identified three dimensions of stewarding, which are drawn primarily from the authentic, CSR, corporate citizenship and sustainability literature. Embeddedness, long-term orientation and connectedness are defined as follows: 13
Page 1 and 2: How Authentic is your Corporate Pur
Page 3 and 4: Contents Executive summary ........
Page 5 and 6: Executive summary Introduction Over
Page 7 and 8: although awareness is critical to a
Page 9 and 10: Research by Burson-Marsteller and I
Page 11: To validate the dimensional structu
Page 15 and 16: 4. Survey Results and Key Findings
Page 17 and 18: Figure 4: Top Five Companies with a
Page 19 and 20: We then asked more specifically for
Page 21 and 22: 6. Leadership and Authentic Corpora
Page 23 and 24: 7. Qualitative Research Findings In
Page 25 and 26: One executive described the “doub
Page 27 and 28: companies as members. Other such fo
Page 29 and 30: - Is the organization aware of the
Page 31 and 32: 1) Seeking feedback from stakeholde
Page 33 and 34: knowledge for the broader good. Tha
Page 35 and 36: - Does the organization openly shar
Page 37 and 38: • Strategy has to illustrate purp
Page 39 and 40: making process. If managers are not
Page 41 and 42: De Hoogh, A. H., Den Hartog, D. N.,
Page 43 and 44: Leading 13. Appendices Appendix I:
Page 45 and 46: Appendix II: Qualitative Interview
Page 47 and 48: Appendix III: Qualitative Interview
Page 49 and 50: Appendix V: Characteristics of Surv
Page 51 and 52: Appendix VII: Industry Demographics
Page 53 and 54: Appendix IX: Companies Identified a
Page 55 and 56: Appendix XI: Ranking of Full List o
Page 57 and 58: Appendix XIII: Status of Authentic
Page 59 and 60: Appendix XV: Standardized item fact
Page 61: Appendix XVII: Confirmatory Factor

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