Transcendent and transactional purpose

Paul J Zak, founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont University, makes the distinction between an organization's transcendent and transactional purposes. 

Our trasncendent purposes are about how we make life better for people. Our transactional purposes are about what we sell and buy. In narrative rich cultures, people share stories of impact that energize them with more passion than their transactional purposes. This suggests that in transcendent purpose cultures, job descriptions are framed more in the language of impacts rather than tasks.