About the ENGAGE.EU Think Tank

ENGAGE.EU is an alliance of leading European universities in business, economics and social sciences, aiming to provide European citizens with the set of skills and competencies they need to face the current and future societal challenges.

The ENGAGE.EU Think Tanks provide a forum for intensive academic exchange. Researchers will exchange their ideas with colleagues from ENGAGE.EU partners and inform and learn from leading industry and policy experts. Participants can build new research collaborations and launch new projects, papers, or funding applications.

The Think Tank 2025 will bring together researchers from the ENGAGE.EU partner universities who share an interest in research on purpose, and implications for business contribution to the UN Sustainable Develop Goals and Societal Grand Challenges. The role that Business can play is seen as critical in the achievement of the UN SDG goals, and this Think Tank will provide a forum to explore the topic of defining and reconceptualizing purpose in the corporate / business context, and how this reconceptualization of purpose can influence a wide range of stakeholders, including individuals, organizations, and society in the achievement of SDGs.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

Purpose

• What is purpose? Philosophical and ethical foundations of business organizational purpose. What values are associated with purpose? Can we measure purpose? What is the relationship between CSR and purpose?
• What is the relationship between business models and organizational purpose?
• Identity and organizational purpose: How does a business organization’s identity contribute to the formulation of purpose and vice versa? How can organizations align their business logics, identity and purpose? How does the interplay between business organizational purpose and identity influence strategic decisions? What is the interplay between business purpose and mission and vision?
• Objectives and organizational purpose: how does a business organization’s objectives reflect purpose in strategic planning? What mechanisms can ensure that an organization’s objectives are consistently aligned with purpose? How does purpose influence the setting of objectives at different levels within the organization?
• Performance and organizational purpose: How does business organizational purpose influence organizational performance? What is the influence of purpose on employee behaviors and motivation? How does purpose influence job satisfaction and well-being? How does organizational purpose influence ESG performance? How does purpose influence resilience?
• Purpose and organizational change: How does business organizational purpose influence organizational change? How does purpose influence organizational response to a rapid change/crisis? How does purpose influence innovation and entrepreneurship?
• Purpose and system transformation: What role does business purpose have in system transformation? How does purpose influence collaboration with others within systems?

Purpose in management practice

• Developing purpose within organizations: How is purpose developed within business organizations? What factors influence the development of purpose within an organization? What is the role of leadership in developing purpose?
• Purpose, people and relationships: How does business organizational purpose influence relationships with employees, customers and other stakeholders? What role does purpose play in managing and resolving conflicts?
• Purpose and culture: What is the relationship between purpose and organizational culture?
• Consciousness and purpose: How does business organizational consciousness influence the formulation and realization of individual, organizational and societal purpose? Can heightened levels of organizational consciousness lead to profound and impactful purpose?
• Individual and organizational purpose: What is the relationship between individual and business organizational purpose?
• Stakeholders and purpose: Which stakeholders influence the development of business purpose, and the roles of internal and external actors? How does societal expectations influence business purpose?

Organizational Purpose and Societal Outcomes: How does purpose translate into organizational response? What are the directional flows and relationships between organizational purpose and societal goal setting and impact?

Policy and Governance

• Legal frameworks and purpose: How do legal frameworks influence the formulation and realization of a business organization’s purpose? What are the implications of corporate purpose for company law?
• Corporate governance and purpose: what are the implications of purpose for corporate governance models and mechanisms? What are the implications of new legal forms of “for-purpose, for-profit” for governance systems?