Corporate Success - Driven by Purpose or Performance? Burson-Marsteller EMEA Proprietary Corporate Reputation Research What is Purpose & Performance about? In November 2007, Ms. Indra Nyooi, CEO of Pepsico, (www.pepsico.com) authored a bylined article in The Economist 2008 The Year Ahead edition about purpose in relation to performance and success. Pepsico defines it as “Performance with Purpose” and it relates to human, environment and talent sustainability. Human sustainability is about nourishing consumers with fun and healthy products they can afford. Environment is about replenishing the natural resources and minimizing the impact on environment. Talent means cherishing employees and making the company a desirable place for people of all backgrounds to establish personal and professional growth. 2 What is Purpose & Performance about? Infosys (www.infosys.com) is a world class software company whose reputation and success have been created through a single minded scope – building relationships even before considering marketing and products. In fact, its purpose is to be the customers’ delight and to surpass client expectations consistently, but also to serve as a magnet for best talent, and focus on quality. In just over 25 years, Infosys has been driven by this Purpose and achieved an amazing Performance — market capitalization around $30 billion and annual revenues of $4 billion in 2007. 3 What is Purpose & Performance about? Johnson & Johnson (www.jnj.com) has built its success around “your family’s well being is our passion” set forward in the company’s Credo, a set of values which define the company’s behavior and responsibility towards stakeholders. Johnson & Johnson employees live their Credo profoundly and when tackling their daily business decisions they refer to their values to be guided in their management decisions. Over the past decades, the business has grown constantly and many analysts believe that the Credo is the differentiating factor which gives Johnson & Johnson an added value in terms of purpose, which in turn reflects on performance. 4 Balancing Purpose & Performance for corporate success An in-depth analysis of the “Fortune 500” companies shows that companies with a well developed, shared purpose mission and vision are better equipped to tackle and stay in business during tough economic times. Striking a balance between Purpose & Performance is one of the main challenges corporations are facing in the coming years. 5 Purpose & Performance in the media 6 What’s new about Purpose & Performance? Some recent quotes: “Social, environmental, operational and innovation excellence are increasingly just four legs of the same demand-driven leadership platform”. “Once a side hobby of idealists, corporate responsibility has finally grown into a strategic issue with boardroom heft”. “Consumers and businesses are realizing that balance is more than a buzzword. Being in business for the long-term means considering social and environmental impact in the short-term. The more strategic the view of CR, the more benefit to the business”. 7 Striking a balance between Purpose & Performance is one of the main corporate challenges today and in the future 8 What can we expect in the near future? How does the European business community consider Purpose & Performance in the construction of corporate success? Will the role of Purpose grow or will Performance prevail as companies face fiercer scrutiny from stakeholders with different interests and needs? How will this impact corporate responsibility, consumer choices, investments, and the talent market? What are the challenges and the barriers and how can corporations tackle them? …..these questions were on our mind at Burson Marsteller EMEA and led us to field an in-depth survey with sister company Penn, Schoen and Berland. 9 Methodology Almost 200 in-depth one-on-one interviews were conducted across Europe between May and August 2008 to explore the theme of Purpose & Performance. Interviews took place in 11 countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Approximately half the interviews were conducted with company respondents (CEOs, corporate communications heads /managers), and half with non-company respondents (Media, NGOs, financial analysts, academics, government officials) 10 Over 90% believe Corporate Purpose is under increasing scrutiny “There is a much greater level of scrutiny of the purpose, vision and values aspects of a company now than 5 years ago” Strongly Disagree 2% Somewhat disagree 7% Strongly agree 58% Somewhat agree 34% Q: Thinking about businesses generally, do you agree there is greater scrutiny on vision and values? 11 The Purpose & Performance approach is relevant to all businesses “Performance is profit exactly as said in the statement. Purpose is social responsibility in action with internal and external stakeholders” 90% 10% Agree Disagree “It is the intangible part of the brand that makes a difference in the marketplace.” “Purpose brings enormous value to an organisation with a rippling effect on high performance ratings with customers. Engaged employees need a purpose and with this purpose comes customer focus” “It is a new philosophy that combines Purpose & Performance into business strategy.” Q: Do you think the approach of focusing on both Purpose & Performance should apply to all businesses? 12 Business reputation is driven mainly by Performance – but Purpose is gaining ground % reputation by purpose Total Business respondents Non-Business respondents 41% 44% 39% % reputation by performance 59% 56% 61% Q: Thinking about a business’ overall reputation, what proportion is actually driven by Purpose and what proportion is driven by Performance? 13 Less time is actually spent on Purpose though the number is expected to increase Time spent on Purpose 31% Time spent on Performance Past 12 months 69% Total 62% 38% Business respondents Non-Company respondents 33% 67% 61% 39% 29% 37% 71% Next 2-3 years Past 12 months Next 2-3 years Past 12 months 63% Next 2-3 years Q: Having heard this definition, and thinking about the past 12 months, what percentage of your business time / businesses time was spent on Performance issues? And thinking about the next two to three years, what percentage of your business / businesses time do you think will be spent on Purpose issues? 14 Apart from delivering growth, managing corporate reputation is most important to a CEO’s own standing Very important 67% Not at all important 62% 56% 36% 38% 7% 25% 32% 8% 6% 8% Grow th Re putation Mission Responden ts answering 1-3 15 55% 52% 37% 11% 41% 39% 48% 47% 46% 41% 45% 42% 50% 11% 9% 11% 9% 11% Pre ss Cove rage Ne w m arkets Le adership Dividends Re sponsi ble Manage me nt Q Re sults Responden ts answering 4-7 50% Responden ts answering 8-10 Q: Please rate the importance of the factors that you think determine a CEO’s good reputation on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is not at all important and 10 is very important? CEOs are key to setting Purpose & Performance objectives It is share d a cross de pa rtme nts Public a ffairs/ Corporate a ffairs Corpora te com m uni ca tions or gl oba l com municati ons Ex ecuti ve ma nagem ent The Chai rm an / Board 24% 14% 21% 31% 45% Offi ce of the CEO Q: What function do you think generally oversees a business’ mission of purpose and performance? 16 62% Companies that deliver on Purpose & Performance are seen as role models and even deflect criticism Trust in the company e ve n i f its sha repri ce fall s 34% Be lieve in the com pa ny even if it come s under publ ic pressure 43% Follow the company in the m edi a 49% Re comm end the com pa ny as a good em ploye r 58% Be lieve it is a company to pa rtne r w ith 61% Be lieve it is a role m ode l in busine ss for other compani es to fol low 69% Stron gly agree Q: Presuming a company is effective at balancing Purpose & Performance, what extent would you... 17 Nearly three in five see a tension in focusing on both Purpose & Performance No – 43% 18 Yes – 57% Q: Some people have said that there is a tension between Purpose and Performance and that managing this is one of the key challenges facing CEOs. In your view do you think there is a tension between Purpose and Performance? Nearly three in five see a tension in focusing on both Purpose & Performance How do companies manage this tension? Some quotes: “You work on finding the areas where they go hand-in-hand, and there are actually quite a few areas where they do. For instance, the environment. There are many laws that cost money, and by reducing the strain on the environment, you also reduce costs.” “Open communication (especially through the CEO to make matters transparent), highlight performance problems, inclusion of employees.” “Performance keeps a company in business. Investors are fickle and will go somewhere else to find performance. But for longer-term customer engagement, companies need a strong purpose.” “By searching for objective ways to measure the impact of purpose on performance.” “Transparency; Active internal and external communications strategy.” Q: How is your business / organisation looking at ways to manage this tension? 19 Surprisingly, Shareholders and CEO’s are perceived to be the principal barriers to focusing on Purpose NGOs The gene ral public Governm ents Cus tom e rs Regulators The m e dia Staff The board CEO / Snr m anagem e nt Share holders 7% 9% 10% 11% 12% 13% 15% 25% 27% 52% Q: Which, if any, of the following do you think are the biggest barriers to focusing on Purpose within your company / a company? 20 Balanced Purpose & Performance is important, yet nearly 40% think performance is how CEOs are ultimately judged Ultimately judged on Performance – 39% Q: Which of these statements is closest to how you feel? 21 Purpose & Performance both important – 61% 1 Company out of 3 does not verify if employees understand the company’s purpose No – 33% Yes – 67% Q: Do you measure how well your employees understand your business / organisation’s mission, vision and values? 22 Everyone agrees that CEO’s need to drive a broader sense of Purpose with employees 0% 50% Strongly agree 100% Somewhat agree Q: Thinking about businesses, do you believe it is important for a CEO to develop a sense of Purpose not just Performance amongst employees? 23 The vast majority see business is no longer defined by the short-term 81% “No business survives beyond the short-term without considering its impact on the wider world.” 19% Agree Disagree Q: Thinking about businesses generally, please listen to the following statements and indicate whether or not you agree with them… 24 Conclusions The vast majority feel that Purpose is more important today than it was 5 years ago Business reputation is build thru 40% Purpose and 60% Performance Yet... time spent on Purpose is only 30%...but is expected to increase upto 37% in the next 2/3 years CEOs are the gate-keepers of Purpose but along with shareholders, they are also viewed as a barrier to its development There is a recognized tension between Purpose & Performance 25 Conclusions One company out of three does not verify employee understanding of its Purpose The vast majority agrees that CEOs need to drive a broader sense of Purpose with employees There is a high level of consensus that no business survives without considering its impact on the wider world More than half think that both Purpose & Performance are important, yet there is still a very significant number who feel Performance is the ultimate measure Companies that deliver on Purpose & Performance are viewed as role models and are more trusted 26 Purpose & Performance
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