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Evaluating CSR accomplishments of founding certified B Corps

Kathleen Wilburn (School of Management and Business, St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, USA)
Ralph Wilburn (School of Management and Business, St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, USA)

Journal of Global Responsibility

ISSN: 2041-2568

Article publication date: 14 September 2015

1205

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Citation

Wilburn, K. and Wilburn, R. (2015), "Evaluating CSR accomplishments of founding certified B Corps", Journal of Global Responsibility, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 262-280. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-07-2015-0010

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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