TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value of the Certified B Corporation (B Corp) structure for a long-term commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) achievements. Organizations of all sizes are now focusing on commitment to achieving social purposes beyond philanthropy and on reporting their CSR performance as a means of accountability. Design/methodology/approach– The authors studied 45 Founding Certified B Corps to check how many had maintained their certification by filing B Impact Reports with B Lab, how many Impact Reports they had filed and if the reports showed progress toward CSR goals. Findings– The results showed that all Founding B Corps submitted multi-year B Impact Reports, made progress toward CSR goals, maintained their commitment to a social contribution and made profit from 2010 to 2015. The B Impact Reports identified their goals and progress in the five Impact areas that were then assessed by B Lab. Practical implications– The Certified B Corp structure can be confidently used by small companies that desire to do good and want an outside assessor to help establish CSR goals and provide a method for accountability. The reports are published on the B Lab Web site, providing an additional means of publishing CSR accomplishments. Originality/value– This research provides information for those businesses, particularly small ones, that wish to establish their commitment to CSR in a public way and are certified by a third-party assessor.
VL  - 6
IS  - 2
SN  - 2041-2568
DO  - 10.1108/JGR-07-2015-0010
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-07-2015-0010
AU  - Wilburn Kathleen
AU  - Wilburn Ralph
PY  - 2015
Y1  - 2015/01/01
TI  - Evaluating CSR accomplishments of founding certified B Corps
T2  - Journal of Global Responsibility
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 262
EP  - 280
Y2  - 2024/04/24
ER  -