The Purpose-Driven University

Transforming Lives and Creating Impact through Academic Social Responsibility

Debbie Haski-Leventhal

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781838672850
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

What is the purpose of universities, and what is their role in our world? Many would say that it is to educate students and conduct research. This is true, but somehow, the narrow focus on these two goals led universities to be perceived as ivory towers and detached elitist institutions.
In an era when many organisations shift towards purpose, responsibility, and sustainability, universities have a role to play in becoming a force for good. While many higher education institutions are focused on being the best for the world, some are changing to become the best for the world. A movement has begun.
A purpose-driven university utilises its resources, knowledge, talent and people to continuously and intentionally contribute to the communities and the environment in which it operates: through research, education, programmes and service.
This timely book offers the why, how and what of a purpose-driven university, utilising cases, research, concepts and a framework which can be implemented in any university interested in making a difference. This book tells the stories of purpose-driven universities and other organisations, and serves as a call for action by academic leadership to change higher education for good.

Chapter 1

On Purpose, Impact, Vision and Mission

Changing Lives and Changing the World at Stanford University

Founded in 1885 by California senator Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane, Stanford is an American private research university, known for its academic excellence, its ability to raise large funds and its connection to Silicon Valley. Ranked as one of the world's top universities, Stanford University comprises seven schools and 18 interdisciplinary institutes, with more than 16,000 students, 2100 faculty and 1800 postdoctoral scholars. It is one of the most sought-after universities in the USA, leading to very low acceptance rates in student admissions. As of October 2018, 83 Nobel laureates, 27 Turing Award laureates and eight Fields Medallists have been affiliated with Stanford as students, alumni, faculty or staff. Its annual research budget in 2016 was a staggering US$1.6 billion (Stanford, 2019).

However, Stanford was not always this successful. After the death of its founder only a few years after it was founded, the University struggled financially. It also had difficulties following the extensive damage caused to it by the 1906 and the 1989 San Francisco earthquakes. Stanford University became the success story that it is today by leading academic, research and teaching excellence; by holding a close relationship with Silicon Valley; and by becoming a purpose-driven university. Stanford leads with this mission statement:

To promote the public welfare by exercising an influence on behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As such, Stanford aims to create a large-scale impact on humanity and global society. Its core values are: Ethics – to anchor education and research in ethics and human welfare; Boldness – to advance its mission boldly but with an eagerness to collaborate and learn from others; and Foundations – to stay true to its values, including integrity, diversity, respect, freedom of inquiry and expression, tenacity and optimism. Stanford's current president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, introduced the IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in a Learning community) Initiative to achieve a purpose, mission and values for the ‘betterment of humanity’.

Stanford University is known for its experiential and impactful learning. One of its outstanding examples is ‘The Alternative Breaks @ Stanford Program’, which exposes students to complex social and cultural issues through community visits, experiential learning, direct service, group discussion and reflection. The purpose of this programme is to transform students into advocates of social change on issues affecting local communities. In 2019, the programme offered courses such as ‘Saving the World? Exploring the Ethics of International Service and Aid’, ‘Design Thinking for Social Innovation’ and ‘Capital or Community: Housing Inequality in the Bay Area’. In addition, students can participate in ‘Impact Abroad’, an international volunteering programme in which students are involved in a ‘meaningful and enriching’ project in developing nations.

The University leads research centres and schools aimed at creating a social impact. For example, Stanford's Center for Social Innovation educates future leaders about social and environmental change in order to strengthen the capacity of individuals and organisations to develop innovative solutions to complex problems. Stanford Graduate School of Business aims to ‘Change lives. Change organizations. Change the world’. Its Corporations and Society Initiative explores the interactions between private and public sector institutions and the rest of society. Moreover, the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality is committed to providing research, policy analysis and training on issues of poverty and inequality.

With its strong purpose, mission statement, values, impactful curriculum, experiential learning, research centres and collaboration with all sectors of the economy, Stanford University shows that a university can leverage its resources, knowledge, talent and power to make a positive impact on society and the world.

Introduction: The Journey towards Purpose

Three people were crushing rocks side by side on a construction site. Another person walked by and asked each of them what their job is. The first person answered, ‘My job is to do what I am told for eight hours a day so I can get paid’. The second person replied, ‘My job is to crush rocks’. The third person said, ‘My job is to build a cathedral’. The cathedral is not only the third person's job, but a motivator, a sense of being part of something greater than ourselves, and a purpose.

Purpose is the new black. Books and media on purpose, such as Start with Why (Sinek, 2011), The Purpose Driven Life (Warren, 2002) and Conscious Capitalism (Mackey & Sisodia, 2014), are gaining popularity. People, particularly millennials, are looking to live a meaningful life and have a meaningful job. Purpose-driven organisations can offer this to help create motivation, engagement and impact. After decades of being told that happiness will be brought by consumerism, people have begun to discover that consumption provides only a short-term pleasure – not happiness – and that it can also have devastating negative impacts on this planet and its inhabitants. Some people try to find meaning through other channels, such as religion or volunteering, but these do not work for everyone.

Subsequently, many are searching for their life purpose or for a purpose-driven organisation to work for or engage with, in order to find meaning and happiness. Research (e.g. Schwartz & Porath, 2014) has found that when people work for a purpose-driven organisation, there is a spill-over effect, and they start to share a sense of purpose. Consequently, numerous companies have started to define their purpose, communicate it to employees and consumers and recognise leaders who act from a higher purpose. Purpose-driven marketing and storytelling are now used to enhance the reputation of organisations and to create an emotional connection to a brand and its product line.

This journey towards purpose, social responsibility and sustainability did not entirely skip the higher education sector. However, it does not seem to be in the advanced stages seen in the corporate sector. A global movement is emerging, with an increasing number of universities focusing on their social impact and environmental footprint. Some universities are changing their vision and mission statement to capture this shift. There are remarkable efforts in using innovative solutions and education to create a positive impact in the world, and these will be featured in the book.

There are negative public perceptions about universities – that they are elitist, tax-exempt institutions, obsessed with making profits; that they are detached ivory towers that are not contributing enough to society. In the USA, higher education in leading universities can be so expensive that universities play a role in social immobility. Of course, there are also positive perceptions of the role universities play in, for example, conducting life-changing medical research and the advancement of knowledge.

The key to overcoming negative perceptions and to enhancing positive views is having a strong purpose, a profound commitment to this purpose and the embeddedness of this purpose in every decision and action. Positive public perceptions are important as they may translate into government funding, corporate support, alumni pride and giving, young people's desire to gain an education and their family's encouragement to do so.

The aim of this chapter is to illustrate how universities can better communicate their purpose to become the destination of choice for purpose-driven students and staff. It begins with differentiating between personal, organisational and societal purpose and categorising impact, relational and integrated purposes. The concept of the purpose-driven university is then presented and defined. This is followed by a discussion of the differences and connections between purpose, vision, mission and values.

Personal, Role, Organisational and Societal Purpose

According to the dictionary definition (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019), a purpose is a reason for which something exists or is done, made or used. A personal purpose is usually defined by an individual based on values, life goals and the meaning attached to life. The meaning of life has occupied people since the dawn of humanity, given our individual, short existence on this planet. One way of addressing this search for meaning is by having a well-defined personal purpose. This purpose can range from taking care of our family to combatting cancer. A purposeful life can provide meaningfulness and even happiness (Robak & Griffin, 2000). Some people use their religion to define their life purpose, while others find other sources for it, such as family, work, skills and passion. Pink (2009) defines purpose as the sense that what we do produces something transcendent or serves something meaningful beyond ourselves. It refers to the desire to do something important that has meaning, usually with the focus on a ‘bigger picture’, something more important than just one's own interests.

According to Mackey and Sisodia (2014), a purpose is a definitive statement about the difference that a person is trying to make. It is not what a person does (a job), but what he or she stands for. A purpose is most powerful when it taps into a universal truth, aligning with the higher aspects of what it means to be human. As explained by Christensen (2017), a purpose is about what a person wants to achieve in the far future for themselves or for others.

Many people define their life purpose in terms of the work that they do, which is their role purpose. A medical doctor can define her purpose as saving people's lives. A teacher may feel that his life purpose is to raise a new generation of curious children. A gardener can define her life purpose in cultivating the environment and improving people's joy and quality of life. Often, life purpose and work purpose meet in professions in which one helps others to improve their lives. However, anyone can find meaning in their work by discovering how they can help others or connect to a collective purpose, such as an organisational or societal purpose.

Like people, organisations can also have a purpose, an organisational purpose. The very definition of an organisation is a group of people working interdependently to achieve a common goal. As such, every organisation should have a purpose. However, for it to impart meaning, this purpose needs to move beyond the products or services an organisation creates or provides to the impact and value it helps to create.

In a study conducted by EY (2015, p. 1), organisational purpose was defined as ‘an aspirational reason for being which inspires and provides a call to action for an organisation and its partners and stakeholders and provides benefit to local and global society’. It is the organisational reason for being, which rarely changes over time, although it may inspire and enable change. According to Hemerling, White, Swan, Castellana Kreisman, and Reed (2018), purpose is the organisation's ‘why’, as it articulates why its work matters to the world. Purpose is the foundation on which the organisation's mission, vision, values and culture are built. It lies at the intersection of two fundamental questions: who we are (what our authentic and distinctive strengths are) and what human need we fulfil in society. As explained by Quinn and Thakor (2018), a higher purpose is not about economic exchange; rather, it reflects something more aspirational. It explains how the people involved with an organisation are making a difference, and, as such, purpose gives them a sense of meaning and draws their support. While corporate and other leaders can be sceptical about purpose at first, many grow to understand its importance over time. As Sinek was quoted in an HBR article (Hedges, 2017): ‘Profit isn't a purpose. It's a result. To have purpose means the things we do are of real value to others’.

A compelling purpose reduces friction within the organisation and its ecosystem because it connects everyone and moves them in the same direction (Mackey & Sisodia, 2014). In an interview, Sisodia said that ‘every decision should be looked at in terms of purpose. Some decisions may be purpose-neutral. But purpose is certainly not just a marketing issue or positioning of your brand image. Purpose should impact every aspect of the firm’ (Phelps, 2017).

As such, many organisations aim to define their purpose, but some are truly purpose-led. A purpose-driven organisation is one that has a clear goal that surpasses meeting market demand in which it acknowledges the interdependence of business and society (Hollensbe, Wookey, Loughlin, George, & Nichols, 2014).

The leading purpose-driven companies emphasise their purpose, sometimes over their products. Purpose-driven companies, such as Ben & Jerry's and others, are not defined by the products or services they sell, their financial success or the power of their brand. Such companies are defined by the impact they create and the difference they make in people's lives.

Companies like Ben & Jerry's or The Body Shop were founded on a social mission and a purpose. Similarly, social enterprises are organisations that are explicitly built to serve a well-defined purpose. Such is the case of Tony Chocolonely, a Dutch Chocolate company that was founded to raise awareness of slavery and child labour in the industry. Thankyou started as a bottled water company in Australia to address inaccessibility to clean water and moved to selling other products to addre...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• About the Author
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: The Time for Purpose Is Now
• Chapter 1 On Purpose, Impact, Vision and Mission
• Chapter 2 The Multi-level Benefits of a Strong Purpose
• Chapter 3 Responsibility, Ethics and Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions: A Holistic Approach
• Chapter 4 Leading Universities towards Purpose: The Role of University Leadership
• Chapter 5 Purpose-related Stakeholders
• Chapter 6 Measuring Impact and Storytelling
• Chapter 7 Leading the Change
• Chapter 8 The Purpose-Driven University Model: Six Steps for Holistic Implementation
• Chapter 9 The Way Forward in Higher Education
• Epilogue
• Index