B Corps combine business, social values
Launched in January 2008, with an initial group of 82 companies that have combined annual sales of $650 million, B (representing “for benefits") corporations are a new type of socially responsible corporation designation, developed by social entrepreneurs Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan, and Andrew Kassoy, in which participating companies commit to:
* Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards, certified by a biannual independent rating system developed by a nonprofit known as B-Lab.
* Institutionalize multi-stakeholder company control by amending corporate bylaws to incorporate stakeholder interests.
* Build collective voice though the power of a unifying brand.
The rationale for the B-Corporation is laid out in detail on B-Lab’s website.
For the last 35 years, social entrepreneurs have created thousands of profitable businesses across diverse industries demonstrating that companies can “do well” while “doing good"… The current marketplace, however, is confusing and fragmented. Increasingly, everyone claims to be green, responsible, or sustainable, making it difficult to distinguish between “good” companies and “good” marketing.”
The B-Corp aims to solve this problem by, first, making “it easier for consumers and investors to support ‘good’ companies; and 2) create a legal framework for a new type of corporation which creates benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
A list of the founding 82 B-Corp. companies can be found here. For more on the B-Corp. idea, see also this interview with B-Corp. cofounder Jay Coen Gilbert.
Posted by Steve Dubb on 03/24/2008 at 10:04 AM
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