General corporate purposes are the highest-level objectives in a business. Companies normally lay out general purposes for their operations in incorporation articles and in mission statements. These are separate from the purposes of functional departments, divisions and project teams that have more narrow objectives that may or may not align with corporate purposes. General corporate purposes provide the framework for the establishment and ongoing management of hierarchical organization, decisions and activities of the business. If a company has a core purpose of earning profit for shareholders, for instance, its operations would largely center on meeting this objective. Corporate purposes help guide decisions on how to invest income and new capital to grow or further develop the business.