Henk Volberda presented the first copy of the book to Ingrid Thijssen, President of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW). Volberda is one of the authors of the book and professor of Strategic  Management & Innovation at the University of Amsterdam. The book launch, which took place during a symposium held at KLM headquarters in Amstelveen, was organised by Stichting Management Studies.

‘The majority of businesses mainly focus on their profitability. But this approach fails to take advantage of the important untapped potential that could be achieved by addressing social and environmental issues. Companies need to demonstrate they can be an important part of the solution’, says Volberda. ‘Companies with a purpose make society’s goals the foundation of their business. The profit-driven business model is used for the benefit of these societal goals.’

Both the business and society benefit

In the book, Volberda and his co-authors offer new insights in how companies achieve non-financial objectives (tackling the problems facing our planet and humanity) in addition to pursuing profit. The book also explores what motivates a company to take this approach, how the company benefits, and the potential drawbacks. Their findings are illustrated with examples from the Netherlands and abroad. Volberda: ‘A more purpose-driven approach has quite a lot to offer a business in terms of innovation, attracting and retaining staff and customers, and even profitability. This makes it a powerful source of competitive advantage. This benefits both society and the business itself.

Push or pull for purpose

The book features a ‘purpose map’ with different ‘purpose journeys’ developed by the authors. The companies can achieve societal goals with a profit-driven business model based on intrinsic motivation (push for purpose), or under pressure by the surrounding environment (pull for purpose) by following these purpose journeys. Volberda and his colleagues also offer a step-by-step plan that gives managers tools to design a purpose journey for their company.

The findings and recommendations in the book are the result of a comprehensive survey and approximately 60 interviews with directors, supervisory board members, and internal and external stakeholders from leading Dutch companies such as ABN-AMRO, Rotterdam Port Authority, Heineken, KLM, NXP Semiconductors, Philips, Protix, PwC, Randstad and Shell.

Publication details

Henk Volberda, Jatinder Sidhu, Pushpika Vishwanathan, Kevin Heij and Zahra Kashanizadeh: De winst van purpose: hoe ondernemingen het verschil kunnen maken (September 2022, Mediawerf publishing company). Paperback, 214 pages, € 29.50. ISBN 978 94 904 6394 6.