354: Institutional Leadership and Policy Innovations for Purpose-driven Business: The Case of “B Corps” (13814)

The evolution of business paradigms has witnessed a significant shift towards ethical, social, and environmental responsibility. From a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approach, organizations started shifting their attention to the importance of “purpose” (George et al 2023). The unprecedented rise of the B Corp movement stands as a testament to this transformation, emphasizing a commitment to higher standards of corporate purpose, accountability, and transparency. Unique to the B movement is a multilayered approach for purpose-driven businesses: (1) the B Corp certification, (2) benefit corporation legislation, and (3) collective action in the form of social movement activity. This PDW focuses on the first two dimensions: the certification assessment and policy innovation of the new legal benefit corporation framework, which are mutually reinforcing. This PDW will deepen discussions about the role of institutional leadership and policy innovations for purpose-driven assessment schemes by highlighting the field of B Corps and the role of B Lab. B Lab oversees the B Corp certification assessment and led innovative policy work that resulted in a legal benefit corporation framework, which has been adopted by most states in the U.S. and several countries at their national level. B Lab’s leadership has allowed formation and support for over 8000 purpose-driven certified B Corp organizations and even more legal benefit corporations. We see B Lab’s institution-building efforts as a fruitful field for new discussions about how to ensure integrity of sustainability measurements. The workshop is divided into two parts. Part 1 is an open discussion. Part 2 is a paper development session requiring registration.

The first session of this PDW is open to everyone. The second session is a paper development session which is by invitation only. For details about submitting a paper for consideration in the second session, please see www.BAcademics.org under Events. The organizing committee will provide further details on the engagement for the second session through newsletters, social networks, and personal contacts in the following weeks.