Putting Purpose into Practice : The Economics of Mutuality

In the face of constant change, the nature of business must evolve rapidly if it is to remain relevant to society at large. How then should business change to meet the requirements of the 21st century, in which unbridled globalization and technological advancements are having profound affects on the wellbeing and prosperity of both the people and the planet? The achievement of purpose is the key to successful transformation - not just having a purpose, but making that purpose real at every level of the organization.

This is the first book to provide a precise description of how companies can put purpose into practice. Based on a groundbreaking research project undertaken jointly between the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and Mars Catalyst, the think tank of Mars Inc., it provides a highly accessible account of how companies should determine and implement their corporate purposes. It outlines why corporate purpose is so important and how it can both address the major challenges the world faces today and deliver enhanced performance for business.

Fourteen detailed case studies illustrate how companies of different sizes, sectors, and geographies have put purpose into practice and their experiences of doing so. These cases give deep insights into the way in which companies can build purposeful businesses, map and shape their ecosystems, identify failures and problems, align management, and create partnerships to deliver their purposes against which they can measure their performance.

The achievement of purpose is a very real issue that every responsible leader in business, finance, and business academia must now face. This book will equip executives, managers, investors, and policymakers with the tools that they require to understand how the notion of corporate purpose should become a corporate reality.

Colin Mayer, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford,Bruno Roche, Founder & Executive Director, Economics of Mutuality

Colin Mayer is the Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. He is a Professorial Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College and St Anne's College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the European Corporate Governance Institute. He is a member of the UK Government Natural Capital Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Oxford Playhouse. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to business education and the administration of justice in the economic sphere.


Bruno Roche is the founder and leader of the Economics of Mutuality initiative, a new school of thought and disruptive model for economic performance. He is the former Chief Economist of Mars, Incorporated and Managing Director of the Mars internal think tank 'Catalyst,' which has been the laboratory for developing, testing, and incubating the Economics of Mutuality since late-2006. He co-created the Economics of Mutuality Laboratory at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford in 2014 and at the China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in 2019. In 2020, with the support of Mars, Incorporated, he co-founded the Economics of Mutuality Foundation, a public interest not-for-profit with the purpose to share and further develop the Economics of Mutuality with like-purposed organizations (in business, finance, and management schools).