Beyond Certification: Can B Corps Take Capitalism to the Next Stage?

The roots of capitalism still lie in the primacy of shareholders’ value, as can be observed daily through its excesses. Nevertheless, capitalism has gradually been evolving towards the stakeholder model (Reavis, Orr, Am J Manag 21:1–15, 2021). The emergence and rise of the B Corp movement is an example of this evolution. Founded by American entrepreneurs in 2006, this “force for good” business movement (B Lab, B Corporation-make business a force for good. https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us , 2022) relies on capitalism to recast companies as agents of positive change towards a more sustainable world. Indeed, these “purpose driven” companies formally undertake to induce positive impacts on society and the environment by leveraging their own profitable activities. As such, they make themselves accountable to their stakeholders either by choosing a specific legal status of company (i.e., benefit corporation, where the law allows it), or by submitting to a rigorous certification process. The B Corp movement is thus a concrete illustration that capitalism can be put to the service of the “common good” and as such, it must be promoted as an inspiration for future generations of entrepreneurs, managers and investors. However, it would be ambitious, and even probably unrealistic, to hope for a shift of capitalism away from the deep-rooted shareholder value based on a single alternate business model: B Corp companies are indeed part of an ecosystem that must also support their endeavor. The present chapter delves into the link between this ecosystem and the business models which it allows, in order to question whether and how (i.e. under what conditions) the B Corp movement might be endowed with more strength. It therefore critically inquires into the ability of the B Corp movement to renew capitalism. Based on a dozen interviews with CEOs of B Corp certified companies in Quebec (Canada), conclusions are drawn on the lessons learned from current experiences and on the avenues that may lead us towards “next-stage capitalism”.