I was recently asked to give a keynote to the International Academy for Quality, a global quality leadership body, on the relationship between quality and purpose. It was not a question I had previously considered directly.
Very quickly one question became two: What is the “purpose of quality”? And what is “quality purpose”?
What I landed on is this: purpose defines quality and quality delivers purpose.
How quality delivers purpose
In my 30 years advising companies on sustainability and purpose, I have seen quality management steadily shape how organizations approach new responsibilities. Quality disciplines (ISO 9001, first published in 1987) provided the foundation for integrating environmental responsibility (ISO 14001, published in 1996) into business systems. The same quality-based approach was later applied to health and safety through ISO 45001 (published in 2018), embedding expectations into policies, procedures, controls and audits.
Purpose now presents a similar moment — but it also poses a deeper challenge for quality.
Quality management systems are designed to optimize performance against defined expectations. Historically, those expectations were framed around product quality, environmental impact and safety. Purpose introduces a more fundamental test:* what is quality being asked to optimize for?*
If purpose defines why an organization exists, then quality can no longer focus only on efficiency, consistency or compliance. It must also ensure that systems, processes and outcomes are optimized to deliver on that purpose. In this way, quality becomes the mechanism through which purpose moves from aspiration into execution.
How purpose defines quality
If quality systems are designed to optimize for what matters, then purpose becomes a defining reference point for quality itself. Purpose clarifies what “good” looks like — not only in products and services, but in decisions, trade-offs and outcomes. It sets the standard against which performance should be judged.
In this context, quality is no longer only about meeting specifications or reducing defects. It is also about whether the organization’s systems and outputs are designed to deliver on its reason for being. Purpose reshapes the criteria of quality by expanding what organizations are accountable for delivering.
What quality management enables in a purpose-led company
Quality management helps organizations:
- embed purpose into leadership commitments, quality policies, and objectives, shaping strategy and operational planning
- drive continual improvement, closing the gap between stated purpose and real-world outcomes
- create structure and rigor around purpose, moving beyond rhetoric to action
- enable boards and management to genuinely “own” purpose
- take a foundational step in mainstreaming social purpose in business
Seen this way, advancing purpose becomes the reference point for quality management, underpinning and shaping how quality is delivered and defining what it optimizes.
This work sits alongside parallel thinking on how purpose reshapes organizational risk, governance, and accountability — reinforcing the need for purpose to be embedded into core management systems, not treated as an overlay.
What next-generation quality looks like in practice
This shift toward purpose as quality is already visible in practice.
At BC Lottery Corporation (an entertainment company), governance of its purpose is treated as foundational. The organization has developed a three-year social purpose integration roadmap, adopted by the board, that is informed by a structured Social Purpose Assessment. Purpose is not simply aspirational; it is planned, sequenced, and governed — built into the organization’s operating system.
At Armour Valve (an industrial equipment company), purpose and quality are inseparable. The company’s products are used in dangerous working environments, where failure can cause serious harm. As a result, Armour Valve describes itself as “quality-obsessed,” grounded in the belief that no one should be harmed because of something the business recommends. Purpose is embedded across all functions of the company, supported by rigor, standards, testing, and accountability. Quality is how purpose is delivered and protected.
Armour Valve’s Approach to Operationalizing Purpose (Selected Functions)**
| Functional Area |
Implemented (2023-2025) |
Planned (2026-2030) |
| HR |
Purpose embedded in job descriptions, interviews, employee survey, & performance reviews; Sustainability & Purpose 101 training modules created |
Net-zero homes training; EV stipend for employees by 2030 |
| Sales & Marketing |
Sustainable promotional items; Trained on Selling with Purpose; Digital product catalog generator; Sustainable procurement adopted as standard |
Purpose engagement measured in customer & supplier satisfaction surveys |
| General Administration |
Hybrid work; Sugar Sheet paper; Purpose integrated into business forms & collateral; Purpose added to management meeting agendas |
Purpose added to all meeting agendas |
| Senior Management |
Purpose strategy & governance model; Signatories to Net-Zero Challenge, A Call to Purpose, & Family Business Sustainability Pledge; Purpose KPIs drafted for management review; expanded reporting to include non-purpose sustainability goals |
Introduce purpose KPIs for management |
At Coast Capital (a financial services company), a purpose decision lens is used to guide choices and trade-offs. Decisions, activities and initiatives are assessed as purpose-driving, purpose-neutral or purpose-contra, making purpose a practical and routine consideration in decision-making. Where an activity is purpose-neutral or purpose-contra, the organization asks how it might be redesigned to advance its purpose. This systematic approach has driven innovation, including the recent decision to integrate purpose into a new product launch.
And at Patagonia (an apparel and equipment company), purpose is expressed through quality of design, quality of manufacture, and quality in use — all of which directly support the company’s purpose: “We’re in business to save the planet.” Quality is the mechanism through which purpose is made durable over time.
In its 2025 Work in Progress impact report, Patagonia articulates how its purpose shapes quality by setting explicit purpose criteria for product quality across design, manufacture and use.
Patagonia’s Purpose Quality Criteria
| Quality Dimension |
Purpose Quality Criteria |
| Quality of Design |
Are a product’s materials, construction and design the best available for a clearly defined function and use? Do the materials help lower the overall environmental cost of the product? Does the design ensure the product can be easily repaired? Will it be widely adopted globally? |
| Quality of Manufacture |
Can we achieve the product’s intent and artistry at scale? Does the quality of work done by the manufacturers help minimize potential defects and maximize the product’s lifespan? |
| Quality in Use |
Does the product fit well and perform as intended in the field? Is it durable enough to have a long life without needing repair or return? Is it easily maintained or cared for over time? |
These criteria show how quality becomes the mechanism through which Patagonia’s purpose is delivered — and held accountable — over time.
Across these four examples, purpose is not managed as an overlay. It is embedded into how quality itself is understood and delivered.
Purpose Needs an Operating System
For leaders of companies, this has direct operational implications. If an organization’s systems are not delivering on why it exists, then quality has not actually been achieved. A well-run organization knows why it exists, and its management systems are designed and optimized to deliver on its purpose.
Purpose cannot stand on its own. It requires an operating system. Quality management provides that system — translating purpose into decisions, trade-offs, performance expectations and continual improvement.
Organizations that treat purpose this way are not adding complexity. They are clarifying what quality means at the enterprise level – and what their systems are ultimately designed to deliver.
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Coro Strandberg is President of Strandberg Consulting, which provides strategy advice to companies and industry associations that seek to integrate social and environmental considerations into their purpose, governance, operations and supply chains to create business value and societal benefit.
Published Apr 6, 2026 5am EDT / 2am PDT / 10am BST / 11am CEST