“I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our being.” (Core) Purpose, which should last at least 100 years, should not be confused with specific goals or business strategies, which should change many times in 100 years. Whereas you might achieve a goal or complete a strategy, you cannot fulfill a purpose; it is like a guiding star on the horizon — forever pursued, but never reached. Yet while purpose itself does not change, it does inspire change. The very fact that purpose can never be fully realized means that an organization can never stop stimulating change and progress in order to live more fully to its purpose.
— Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras