Italian Benefit Corporations: An Investigation on the Purposes

Benefit Corporations (BCs) and B-Corps have introduced a new business model, in which organizations can balance altruistic and lucrative purposes and this denotes their characteristic of being hybrid organizations. The Benefit Corporation model in Italy is an evolving phenomenon concerning companies of every size, age, sector, and geographic location. This corporation model is spreading fast in Italy and the world. Italian Benefit Corporations are principally micro and small firms that operate in the service sectors, less in the wholesale and retail, and manufacturing ones, located in the North and Centre of Italy, and they are very young. From the analysis of 236 purposes displayed in the bylaws by Italian Benefit Corporations, some topics emerge as more relevant: attention to the environmental impacts, employees, territory, community, civil society, promoting innovation, and sustainable practices, processes, and technologies, and collaboration and partnership. The common benefit has mostly between two and five declinations for every business.