Article | Harvard Business Review | March–April 2019

The Dual-Purpose Playbook

by Julie Battilana, Anne-Claire Pache, Metin Sengul and Marissa Kimsey

Abstract

Corporations are being pushed to dial down their single-minded pursuit of financial gain and pay closer attention to their impact on employees, customers, communities, and the environment. But changing an organization’s DNA may require upending the existing business model and lowering profitability, at least in the short term. The authors’ research suggests that successful dual-purpose companies build a commitment to creating both economic and social value into their core activities. This approach, which they call hybrid organizing, includes: setting and monitoring social goals alongside financial ones, structuring the organization to support both, hiring and mobilizing employees to embrace them, and practicing dual-minded leadership.

Keywords: hybrid organizing; business and society; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Model; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Structure; Leadership;

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Citation:

Battilana, Julie, Anne-Claire Pache, Metin Sengul, and Marissa Kimsey. "The Dual-Purpose Playbook." Harvard Business Review 97, no. 4 (March–April 2019): 124–133.

About the Author

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Julie Battilana
Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration
Organizational Behavior

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