How Your Company’s Social Purpose Can Also Drive Profit

Is it possible to implement corporate purpose in such a way that it achieves multi-stakeholder impact and high financial growth? To answer this question, the authors studied 12 companies that were employing various industry-specific strategies and found that those that successfully achieved the dual goals of purpose and profit did so by adopting what they call an “advocacy-based business model.” That model, they write, is underpinned by four key elements, and in this article they discuss those elements in turn, in each case providing real-world company examples that illustrate how an advocacy-based business model can support both purpose and profits.