22486: Purpose-Driven Strategy and Innovation: Applied to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Water Management

The focus of this symposium is to build upon new empirical data and a model supporting how organizational purpose is transformed into the culture, strategic directives, practices and functional areas of organizations leading to value creation for employees, the organization, and society while advancing environments of change and innovation. We will build upon last year’s symposium, by utilizing new empirical data, the accompanying model from recent research, supportive research and two key cases studies from industry: Siemens AI journey and Aarhus Vand’s (Denmark) water management journey. Because case studies are particularly useful for understanding the content and emergence of a situation, we have used them to consistently iterate between data collection and sensemaking, leveraging the model for reference to the links between purpose and innovation and change. Building on empirical research, this symposium will explore the key themes which activate and accelerate the human impact of the implementation of organizational purpose on environments of change and innovation. By selection of these two prominent case studies on democratizing AI within Siemens and utilizing a purpose-driven strategic approach to new groundbreaking efforts in water management with Aarhus Vand with application to the UN Global SDG goals – we will present empirical evidence showing how devotion to organizational purpose enhances business performance and drives higher levels of innovation. The members of the panel have academic, as well as practitioner backgrounds, and represent supporting research initiatives.