Nicole Steller of the European Academy of Management, Albena Björck of ZHAW School of Management and Law, and Guido Möllering of Witten/Herdecke University discuss the emerging chief purpose officer title.
Chief purpose officers: Do firms really need them? For decades, the shareholder primacy model dominated corporate strategy, often displacing explicit discussions of broader organisational purpose. Today, in a world shaped by AI, economic uncertainty and constant organisational change, many stakeholders want companies to stand for something more than short-term results. As a result, the term ‘purpose’, defined as the reason a firm exists in society, has become a powerful business buzzword, especially following the Business Roundtable’s 2019 statement on corporate purpose. However, the more companies talk about purpose, the fewer employees seem to believe them.
Research suggests corporate purpose may be “too good to be true”. Employees increasingly experience purpose rhetoric as vague, superficial and disconnected from everyday work realities. Companies make ambitious promises about values and responsibility to connect with society, yet the day-to-day remains dominated by growth targets, efficiency pressures and quarterly results.
Employees notice the gap between what organisations say and what they actually do.
This growing complexity has fostered a new executive role that has quietly emerged: the chief purpose officer, or CPO.
Ubisoft, Virgin Atlantic, Cisco, Sephora and KPMG, to name a few, have introduced purpose-focused leadership roles in recent years.
Their task is simple in theory but difficult in practice: making sure a company’s stated purpose influences real decisions. Rather than competing with financial goals, CPOs help clarify how purpose and performance can be aligned, especially when leaders face difficult trade-offs about growth, stakeholders and long-term responsibility.
Our recent study of 44 chief purpose officers across industries such as gaming, travel and beauty found that these executives work at the intersection of strategy, culture and ethics to transform their organisations into more purpose-driven entities.
They help by connecting lofty purpose statements to the reality of organisational life.
In practice, this means asking difficult questions during leadership meetings:
Some CPOs redesign hiring and reward systems so employees are evaluated partly on their contributions to strengthening the organisation’s purpose. Others develop ‘purpose metrics’ that executives discuss alongside financial performance.
Some examples are surprisingly concrete. One executive told us their company had ended relationships with clients whose practices conflicted with its values. Another described leadership meetings where executives openly discussed their emotional reactions to climate-related events. Some make purpose visible in simple, tangible ways. One CPO, for example, created a ‘lightbulb wall’; each time an employee acts in a way that brings the organisation’s purpose to life, a new bulb is switched on. Over time, the wall becomes a visible reminder that purpose is enacted through everyday decisions and small, repeated actions.
At first glance, CPOs’ practices may appear unusual. In reality, they reflect a deeper transformation in management itself, trying to integrate moral and emotional considerations into strategic decision-making.
CPOs set out to reshape how organisations think about their societal role. They foster emotional engagement around shared values. They build relationships across stakeholders and departments. And they embed purpose into tangible structures such as incentives, metrics and governance systems. In short, they attempt to transform abstract ideals into operational reality.
The big question is whether companies need a dedicated executive for this work. While the role may overlap with functions such as HR, CPOs add value by linking purpose to long-term strategy and governance. As purpose is not static, CPOs support purpose evolution. They ensure that decisions reflect the organisation’s responsibilities toward employees, customers and communities, turning purpose into a practical guide for business.
Critics argue that chief purpose officers risk becoming symbolic figures with little real influence. If one executive champions purpose while finance and operations teams control the actual decisions, nothing changes.
As a result, in some organisations, the role can become a form of corporate theatre: a visible commitment to values without meaningful structural reform. And lastly, purpose is also difficult to measure. Unlike sales or profits, its impact is harder to quantify. That makes it easy for sceptics to dismiss the role as another management fad.
Our research suggests that CPOs only make a difference under certain conditions.
The organisation must genuinely use purpose as a decision-making filter and link purpose with strategy.
The CPO must have both legitimacy and authority. They must report directly to the CEO and participate in strategic meetings.
Leadership must visibly model purpose, especially when it conflicts with short-term profit. If the CEO abandons purpose when it becomes inconvenient, the entire effort collapses into theatre.
When these conditions are present, organisations can change in tangible ways. Hiring practices evolve. Supplier relationships shift. Incentive systems are redesigned. Purpose begins to shape everyday decisions and becomes strategically relevant.
So, do firms need chief purpose officers? Increasingly, yes.
In a business world marked by technological disruption, social pressure and growing distrust of corporate rhetoric, firms face pressure from all directions at once. They must remain profitable, innovate quickly, attract talent, respond to social expectations and adapt to technological change. Purpose does not replace these goals. It helps connect them.
This is where chief purpose officers can make a difference.
Their role is about helping organisations clarify what they stand for when facing difficult trade-offs and competing priorities.
CPOs cannot solve these tensions alone. But they can help organisations turn purpose from a marketing message into a tangible, organisational reality that can be experienced in the workplace.
Society is raising the bar for responsible business. The European Union’s Corporate and Sustainability Reporting Directive and Green Deal now require large firms to align finance and operations with stated sustainability commitments and report on their impact. Yet compliance alone does not create purpose.
A company may report strong environmental performance while still lacking a clear reason for existing beyond shareholder returns. A chief purpose officer is one emerging and fragile answer that helps close this gap by ensuring that a company’s purpose genuinely shapes financial and operational decisions, driving the transformation of European businesses toward more responsible and sustainable models.
Here are some top executive appointments dedicated to upholding best practices:
Paradoxically, several CPOs in our study suggested that their ultimate success would be to make the position less necessary over time by embedding purpose into the organisation’s systems, routines and decision-making processes.
Yet the very emergence of the chief purpose officer points to a broader shift in modern capitalism – companies are increasingly expected to demonstrate how their purpose shapes how they create value, govern themselves and respond to society’s demands.
Nicole Steller is an assistant professor at ESCP Business School.
Albena Björck
Albena Björck is an associate professor for the Head Global Business Lab at ZHAW School of Management and Law.
Guido Möllering is the chair professor for Witten/Herdecke University.
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