Certified Benefit Corporations as a new way to make sustainable business: The Italian example

Abstract

A Benefit Corporation is one possible alternative to traditional business models and a new way of managing business and sustainability. Emphasis on B-Corporations in Italy dates back 2006, and 1 year later, B LAB certified the first Benefit Corporation Industry using the first version of the Benefit Impact Assessment process. Since then, the number of B-Corporations has been growing, showing the success of the initiative of this category of firm that have voluntarily decided to pursue, like the profit, a further purpose: to obtain in the exercise of economic activity a positive impact on society and on the planet. After a presentation of the Benefit Corporation features, the main aim of this paper is to explore the relations that exists between the five different impact areas considered in certification awarded to Certified Benefit Corporation and the net profit value, using ordinary least squares regression model based on the entire sample of the Italian Certified enterprises.

Governance and accountability models in Italian certified benefit corporations

“…Being that the phenomenon is very recent in Italy, there is a risk that early adopting firms may prove to be unrepresentative of the future population of Certified B Corps. The second wave of adopters, especially larger companies, may have to engage in substantial restructuring in order to comply with the standards necessary for certification (Gazzola et al, 2019).…”

“…In 2018, 35 states had passed legislation allowing for the creation of benefit corporations (Baudot et al, 2019). In December 2015, the Italian Parliament introduced the società benefit (Italian Republic, 2015) making Italy the first country in the world to add this legal status throughout its entire territory (Gazzola, Grechi, Ossola, & Pavione, 2019). In 2016, the first companies were incorporated.…”

Trends in the Fashion Industry. The Perception of Sustainability and Circular Economy: A Gender/Generation Quantitative Approach

“…It is only from the 1990s that sensitivity towards environmental and social problems has taken on a new value, not only communicative, but above all anchored to the actual productive and organizational capacity of companies [56]. The attention to sustainability, including all those interventions of attention to the territory and the community in which the company operates, respect and protection of the environment, enhancement of human resources, safety of working conditions and protection of health [53], have thus become fundamental drivers for the development of the fashion industry [15,16,57]. In a broader sense and in a strategic key [58,59], the concept of sustainability embraces the search for well-being, for a better quality of life and a sense of responsibility towards the community [60].…”

“…Sustainability has recently become an important new driver in consumers' purchasing decisions. Phenomena such as the global population growth, climate change, and land and water scarcity have intensified in recent years and sustainability pressures related both to product and production processes became more relevant in this industry [15,16]. The speed of fast fashion, which has emerged in recent years as a new phenomenon with great impacts on the industry, amplifies problems, as it is causing high water consumption, high discharge of hazardous chemicals, an increase in waste, an increase in violations of human rights, together with bigger greenhouse gas emissions.…”

Crypto‐economy and new sustainable business models: Reflections and projections using a case study analysis

“…Initially, scholars concentrated on innovative business models to enhance the economic value creation for shareholders. Lately, a growing number of studies emphasized the necessity to involve other stakeholders such as the local communities, the central State or government, and the natural environment to design SBMs (Birkin, Cashman, Koh, & Liu, 2009; Lozano, 2012, 2018; Wilson & Post, 2013), and even new types of organizations (Gazzola, Grechi, Ossola, & Pavione, 2019; Stubbs, 2019) highlighting the need to reach sustainability outcomes for the society (Birkin, Polesie, & Lewis, 2009; Dal Mas, Massaro, Lombardi, & Garlatti, 2019; Gazzola et al, 2019). The need to merge sustainability into the BM is also fostered by increasing external pressure by stakeholders (Cantele & Zardini, 2020).…”