The Implementation of Pro-Social Purpose in Organisational Business Models in Non-Western Contexts

Corporations are being increasingly challenged to reflect on their purpose as the relentless pursuit of profit has had detrimental implications for our planet, society, and even shareholders. Whilst the topic of corporate purpose has been extensively examined in Western countries, and the academic community and practitioners are aware of many mechanisms, antecedents and consequences related to corporate purpose, academic literature with the same focus on non-Western countries is extremely scarce. Therefore, this article engages in an exploratory examination of corporate purpose, and more specifically pro-social purpose, from the perspective of 55 non-Western organisations. The study identifies distinct approaches to integrating pro-social purpose in the non-Western organisational context and outlines relevant antecedents and consequences. The study advances the literature on pro-social purpose by providing empirical evidence for the presence of approaches for integrating and institutionalising organisational pro-social purpose in a non-Western context, as well as relevant antecedents. The result is four distinct context-specific models for pro-social purpose that undermine organisational potential for shared value (SV) and social value creation (SVC). The study also advances the critical corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature by offering evidence of substantial divergences in the practice of CSR, compared with the business case of CSR; such divergences can erode CSR’s potential to address systemic and instrumental organisational issues. In addition, the study contributes to the scarce literature on SVC in non-Western countries, both by outlining the functional and conceptual parameters around SVC, and also by enhancing understanding of the reasons behind limited SV in the same context. Based on the findings, implications for business practitioners are also highlighted.