O movimento B Corp: significados, potencialidades e desafios

Abstract

Businesses and enterprises as key elements in the capitalist development model are actually being questioned about their actions in the resolution of society's problems and regarding their traditional focus on financial performance. New organizational models seek to produce articulations capable of creating a bond between profit and socio-environmental interest. Many authors cite the B Corp Movement as one of the main examples of the concept of hybrid organizations. It then becomes a rich object of study to understand the alternatives for reviewing organizational practices. One of its main mottos is "to redefine the success in business". The Movement operates in three main areas: certification, law and impact investment. This descriptive-exploratory and qualitative study, based on an interpretativeconstructivist paradigm, aims to better understand the identity of the B Corp Movement according to the emerging concept of hybrid organizations, following other trends and definitions that seek to treat the socioenvironmental role of business. To answer the research questions-If and how B Corps are a model of organizational hybridity-, this research involved a multi-method approach of information collection, codification and analysis in a combination of two investigation phases. The first phase-A Portrait of the B Corp Movementlooked to comprehend the meanings from their actors' perspective. The fieldwork consisted of 12 interviews with main stakeholders in Brazil and the United States, such as the movement representatives, leaders of certified B Corps and prospect enterprises. The second phase-A Portrait of Certified Companiesenabled to profile the Brazilian certified business through secondary data analysis. The sources for the analyzed material were the websites, made available on the internet by them, and their profiles on the global and regional website of the B Corp Community. From the results of this research, the certification can be perceived as an evolution of social and environmental accountability mechanisms, by including steps of information evidences, auditing, legal commitment and seal/certification identification. The inclusion of the interests of stakeholders in legal documents is one of the key differentiators and symbolic aspect of the movement. However, it is still not possible to say that they represent a new organizational model or an ideal type of hybrid organization, but rather a path on this intention. The studied group of enterprises comprises a larger scope on organizational hybridity levels, placing more emphasis the way businesses are conducted, but not necessarily their core business, main-activities or social mission as a guide for business model. It can be noticed the heterogeneity of certified companies as one of the main characteristics of the movement and, at the same time, one of their biggest challenges to be distinguished. The ideological positioning and impact investment attraction are the main motivating factors for a company to certify. Earning the seal is perceived as a way to ...

Recent Developments on Supported Hydrogen‐bond Organocatalysts

“…[31] This catalyst was successfully applied to aldol reaction between cyclohexanone (1 a) and 4-nitrobenzaldehyde (4 a). The presence of the thiourea moiety is positive for the catalysis, [32] as higher yield and selectivity was obtained with catalyst regarding the PVC-TEPA-supported proline analogue. Solvent screening showed that the reaction proceeded in both organic and aqueous medium, being achieved the highest diastereo-and enantioselectivity in water.…”