“Creative destruction” also has its place in this movement. As is quite normal for Fortune 500 companies, they often don’t move until their markets do. As B Corps continue to find success and growth with consumers, all of this will eventually become a “mainstream” thing. In the meantime…I’ve got to get back to growing our company while we still have the advantage of being on the bleeding edge of the movement!
As a consumer I have found the certification extremely useful for identifying superior alternatives to products I regularly consume. While the variety of options isn’t yet comprehensive (there’s plenty of things I would love purchase from a B Corp!), I’ve found that exposure to the social and environmental performance metrics published through the B Impact Reports has led to a more informed understanding of where non-certified businesses might be superior to their competitors on social or environmental performance, despite lacking the certification. And as you point out Ryan, the impact assessment is used by many more businesses to measure performance in these areas, even if certification isn’t the ultimate goal. Easy to use software to measure impact is a truly valuable asset to businesses around the world.
In regards to the relatively small number of B Corps and their global impact: capitalism has benefited from a couple hundred years to organize and scale to its present state. I am not an expert in system change, but it seems intuitive that redefining success in business might take longer than 7 years. It will probably be many decades before the deepest change begins to materialize. If the rate of growth and enthusiasm continues, maybe sooner. Regardless, those of us invested in building the number of B Corporations should maintain a clear vision of the long term for context in the present.
Just came back to this article after receiving Ello’s notice in my inbox. Thank you for the run down. Found the Impact Assessment especially interesting.
B-corps is an interesting format for start-ups with a purpose. Most of the social transformation is happening under the radar, from within a number of multinationals who take the lead by integrating social value in their mission.
COMMENTS
BY Jeff Batton (@JeffBatton)
ON October 13, 2014 10:50 AM
“Creative destruction” also has its place in this movement. As is quite normal for Fortune 500 companies, they often don’t move until their markets do. As B Corps continue to find success and growth with consumers, all of this will eventually become a “mainstream” thing. In the meantime…I’ve got to get back to growing our company while we still have the advantage of being on the bleeding edge of the movement!
BY Mark Phillips
ON October 13, 2014 12:25 PM
As a consumer I have found the certification extremely useful for identifying superior alternatives to products I regularly consume. While the variety of options isn’t yet comprehensive (there’s plenty of things I would love purchase from a B Corp!), I’ve found that exposure to the social and environmental performance metrics published through the B Impact Reports has led to a more informed understanding of where non-certified businesses might be superior to their competitors on social or environmental performance, despite lacking the certification. And as you point out Ryan, the impact assessment is used by many more businesses to measure performance in these areas, even if certification isn’t the ultimate goal. Easy to use software to measure impact is a truly valuable asset to businesses around the world.
In regards to the relatively small number of B Corps and their global impact: capitalism has benefited from a couple hundred years to organize and scale to its present state. I am not an expert in system change, but it seems intuitive that redefining success in business might take longer than 7 years. It will probably be many decades before the deepest change begins to materialize. If the rate of growth and enthusiasm continues, maybe sooner. Regardless, those of us invested in building the number of B Corporations should maintain a clear vision of the long term for context in the present.
Thanks for the article!
BY Rodney Moya
ON October 15, 2014 05:57 AM
the social enteprise and taking the triple bottom line a bit further with such concepts as social entreprenuership.
BY Adam Cimino
ON October 24, 2014 06:34 AM
Just came back to this article after receiving Ello’s notice in my inbox. Thank you for the run down. Found the Impact Assessment especially interesting.
BY Armand Govers
ON July 29, 2016 07:33 AM
B-corps is an interesting format for start-ups with a purpose. Most of the social transformation is happening under the radar, from within a number of multinationals who take the lead by integrating social value in their mission.