مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد مسئولیت اجتماعی شرکتی تصویب شده و نشده؟ – وایلی 2021

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

METHOD

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

ENDNOTE

REFERENCES

Abstract

     In the age of accountability, companies are asked to communicate the social impact of their operations. Assessed by a nonprofit organization, B Lab, the B Impact Assessment (BIA) score is a rapidly growing third-party evaluation for for-profit companies. Using the publicly available 4061 company data provided by B Lab that spans across from 2007 to early 2020, this study provides the current state of the certified and decertified B Corps. The results show that the majority of the companies revisited the BIA every 2 years to recertify. Companies were likely to recertify especially after the third recertification, suggesting that earning the B Corp status can become routinized. The current study shows that the average attrition rate over the entire history of B Corps is 23.7% and the majority of the decertified operate with less than 10 employees. The currently certified companies had a higher overall BIA score than the decertified companies. However, other differences were not apparent.

Introduction

     Companies often make investments to meet various stakeholders’ expectations regarding social and ethical responsibilities that go beyond fulfilling their economic and legal responsibilities (Carroll, 1979). The literature points to two different types of company motives when it comes to engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. From a public-serving view, firms act as good corporate citizens for philanthropic reasons (Forehand & Grier, 2003). From a self-serving perspective, engaging in CSR activities and communicating it to the public can be used as a competitive advantage that differentiates one company from another (Du et al., 2010). Firms engage in CSR activities because if the two motives are balanced well, a win–win situation is established: the companies can fulfill their social and ethical responsibilities and the public can form favorable perceptions about companies that support social value and solidify loyalty (Lacey & Kennett-Hensel, 2010; Lichtenstein et al., 2004). Furthermore, the resultant financial return for the companies increases confidence in investing in environmentally friendly companies, resulting in so-called “impact investing” (Höchstädter & Scheck, 2015). Therefore, paying close attention to the social and environmental ramifications of a firm’s operations is an important business strategic move made by current companies.

Results

The state of the certified B Corps

     Over the years, companies recertify or be decertified. Among the companies that have gone through the BIA at least once, 3100 companies are currently certified and 961 have been decertified (see Table 1). The number of companies has rapidly grown between 2009 and 2016, but at the same time, the number of companies that chose to decertify have increased as well, especially up until around 2013. Interestingly, 69.6% of the companies that were in the first cohort of certified B Corps in 2007 still maintain their certified status, which is quite high compared to later cohorts. Those companies have been recertified 4 to 5 times over the past decade or so.

Demonstrating the global expansion of the certified B Corps, the names of 136 countries were listed in the data. Among them, companies from 72 countries maintain the current status of certified B Corp. To make the analysis manageable, the countries were recoded into continents (Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, South America) and the United States and Canada were kept separate as both countries had a sizable number of certified B Corps—close to 50% of the companies are from the United States and Canada.

The data was further examined to see whether certain regions of the world were more likely to opt to decertify. The vertical percentage is calculated by dividing n by the total number of companies certified or decertified to examine the composition of the regions among the certified and decertified companies. The horizontal percentage is calculated by dividing n by the total number of companies from the region to examine what percentage of the companies in a particular region are certified and decertified.