PhD Dissertation Defense, Chang-Wa Huynh, Strategy and Business Policy

Congratulations to Dr Chang-Wa Huynh, Strategy and Business Policy, who successfully defended his Doctoral Dissertation at HEC Paris on July 05, 2023. Chang-Wa has accepted a position as Assistant Professor at ESCP Business School. 

Specialization: Strategy and Business Policy

Topic: A Moralized View of Corporate Purpose: the Mediating Role of Legitimacy Judgments

Supervisor: Rodolphe DURAND, Professor, holder of the Joly Family Purposeful Leadership Chair and the Founder and Academic Director of the Society and Organizations Institute, HEC Paris

Jury Members:

• Flore BRIDOUX, Professor of Stakeholder Management, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
• Donal CRILLY, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School
• Vanessa BURBANO, Professor of Management, Columbia Business School
• Rodolphe DURAND, Professor of Strategy and Business Policy, HEC Paris, Supervisor

Abstract:

Purpose-driven companies propose to reintroduce morality at the most foundational level of organizations and suggest 
new articulation between businesses, societies and the environment. This dissertation examines the consequences of the 
moral dimension that a corporate purpose induces. I highlight that the moral dimension of a corporate purpose shapes 
firm members’ legitimacy judgments on the purpose-driven company. In turn, firm members’ legitimacy judgments 
impact firm performance.

Keywords: 

Corporate Purpose, Legitimacy judgments, Morality, Corporate Social Responsibility

Follow Chang-Wa on his personal website