ABSTRACT

What do Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, The Refill Shoppe, and Homeboy Recycling all have in common? All these businesses are certified B Corporations. Commonly known as the B Corp certification, this designation recognizes businesses with the highest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Awarded by the nonprofit B Lab since 2007, this certification has received growing attention from practitioners, media, and academics. Currently, there are almost 4,000 companies in 150 industries and 74 countries with one unifying goal: using the power of business to create social good. These certified companies range from solo entrepreneurs to publicly traded companies. The B Corp certification also requires public transparency and increased legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. This seminar will provide an overview of the B Corp movement since its inception, and its evolving place in the scholarly literature with an introduction to the seminal papers and theoretical perspectives that are framing the conversation. As a co-founder of B Academics, a network of academics that teach, research, and engage with the B Corp movement, Dr. Maria Ballesteros – Sola has been a witness to and ambassador of the B Corp movement in academia.

• B Academics

• Ballesteros, Grimard, Worsham (2020), B Corp Certification: Using Business as a Force for Good

• Gehman & Kao (2021), Certified B Corporations & Benefit Corporations

• B Corp Case: Laureate Education: Always meant to B?

• B Corp Case: Codign Autism

• BIA data - data.world