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Publications
  • September 2023
  • Article
  • Management Science

Corporate Purpose in Public and Private Firms

By: Claudine Gartenberg and George Serafeim
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:25
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Abstract

Analyzing data from approximately 1.5 million employees across 1,108 established public and private US companies, we find that the strength of employee beliefs related to purpose is weaker in public companies. Among public companies, those beliefs are stronger for firms with more committed owners. These patterns are most pronounced within the salaried middle and hourly ranks, rather than senior executives. Differences across firms can be attributed, in part, to differences in leadership and incentive characteristics. Our findings are consistent with higher owner commitment, and the corresponding policies that arise alongside this higher commitment, enabling a stronger sense of purpose inside organizations.

Keywords

Purpose; Corporate Purpose; Culture; Corporate Culture; Public And Private Organizations; Hedge Fund; Executive Pay; Corporate Governance; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Employees; Attitudes; Executive Compensation; Ownership

Citation

Gartenberg, Claudine, and George Serafeim. "Corporate Purpose in Public and Private Firms." Management Science 69, no. 9 (September 2023): 5087–5111.
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About The Author

George Serafeim

Accounting and Management
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More from the Authors
  • Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel and Stacy Straaberg
  • Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change (B) By: George Serafeim, Debora L. Spar, Peter Tufano, Hugo Etchegoyhen and Emilie Billaud
  • Climate Solutions, Transition Risk, and Stock Returns By: Shirley Lu, Edward J. Riedl, Simon Xu and George Serafeim
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