...and expands into the UK and beyond
Although company law in the UK is slightly different in that it permits companies to consider the interests of other stakeholders, it is pretty clear that, on a day-to-day basis, most companies are operating to the American model of ‘shareholder primacy’. This means that, when B Lab launched its UK branch in October 2016, it resonated with businesses here, and now it names more than 100 UK businesses on its certified list.
These include the following companies likely to be familiar to EC readers:
- Charity Bank
- The One Brand (best known for One Water)
- ClimateCare
- Lily’s Kitchen
- WHEB Asset Management
- JoJo Maman Bébé
- Pukka Herbs
- Divine Chocolate
The B Corporation movement has also won over adherents across the world, from Mongolia to Lebanon, and over 4,000 certified companies from 70 countries are listed on the B Lab website.
Who is certified?
When we analysed certified B Corps they appeared to be primarily companies, like Patagonia, with an already strong reputation for ethical behaviour. Seven of the eight UK brands listed above have also been Ethical Consumer Best Buys. Quite a few of the others were firms of sustainability consultants and many more were microbusinesses employing a few people and serving a local market. One writer has suggested that companies seeking B corporation certification are mission-led businesses looking to stand out “in the midst of a ‘greenwash’ revolution.”
If this were all that the B Corporation movement were doing it would be good, but of marginal significance. The story gets interesting, and more complex, when the larger companies get involved. In 2012, Ben & Jerry’s received B Corporation certification. Ben & Jerry’s is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever NV, and Unilever itself is on record as considering B Corporation certification for its whole operation.
In 2011, one Danone subsidiary, Happy Family Brands, an organic food company for babies and toddlers, was certified as a B Corporation. Danone is apparently now using the B Corps Assessment method to track the social performance of ten of its other subsidiaries.
In 2016, B Lab set up an ‘Advisory Council’ to consider new rules and processes for certifying multinational corporations. On the council, as well as Unilever and Danone, were representatives from companies including Campbell’s Soup, Prudential, Morgan Stanley, Bancolombia, C&A, Deloitte, and Ernst and Young.
The challenges ahead
The lessons from the rise of the Fairtrade and organic movements are:
- that if you want to bring about change quickly and at scale, you need to involve large multinationals,
- if you involve large multinationals they will create pressure to make the standards easier to achieve.
The B Corporation movement has come at a time of a great lack of trust in business generally. It offers a solution that is both systemic (it addresses the core problems of profit-seeking behaviours), and holistic (it is looking at all ‘stakeholders’ from workers to the environment). It has also moved beyond an idea to become established as a movement, with a series of practical tools for businesses to employ.
Having said that, it is clear that some fundamental challenges still lie ahead. Could an oil company or a tobacco company achieve B Corp certification, for example? Or could a subsidiary of an oil company be certified? And what might this do for the reputation of the movement?
Kate Sandle from B Lab says “our assessment and disclosure questionnaire processes are rigorous and would highlight any potential conflicts with our intention to protect the planet and people. If necessary these are then reviewed by our independent standards advisory council”.
B Lab has predictably received some criticism for certification (or not) of some other types of companies, for example, private education providers, cannabis sellers, bottled water companies and tax avoiders. It has a section on its website explaining its rationale and framework for evaluating such companies. It is encouraging that B Lab is taking a mature and transparent approach to these issues, but like any political movement it will succeed or fail by the decisions it takes in such critical future situations.
...and the benefits
The UK, like many other countries, already has its own social enterprise or solidarity economy movements with different legal models on offer for social entrepreneurs like charities, community interest companies, co-operatives and others. On one level, B Corps are a welcome addition to the new ecosystem of alternative business models that humanity clearly needs at this moment in history. And ecosystems, as we now know, need diversity to thrive.
It is possible that the subtlety of the B Corp approach is not a radical enough change, but then again it may contain the single key innovation required to turn all businesses around. It is instructive to note that, in 2016, a government advisory panel in the UK recommended that the Government “should explore the introduction of ‘benefit company’ status in English law”.
B Lab certification also appears to raise the bar to a new level for practical measurement and assessment tools in the social enterprise space. It is possible that B Corp’s certification across a wide range of areas could also represent a new stage of consolidation in social labelling, which might then lead to a welcome simplification for consumers.
For those of us who argue that all for-profit corporations need to be phased out if humanity is to have a future, the suggestion that major businesses can convert, without too much disruption, into Benefit Corporations helps provide at least one practical answer as to how all this might be achieved.
The focus on conversion is perhaps missing from other social enterprise or not-for-profit business models. The B Corp movement is also very good at articulating the pressing need for business-model innovation given the global problems that face us all.
In the words of B Lab’s founders:
“We are in the early stages of a global culture shift that is transforming our vision of the purpose of business from a late 20th century view that it is to maximize value for shareholders to a 21st century view that the purpose of business is to maximize value for society.
Significantly, this transition is being driven by market-based activism, not by government intervention. Rather than simply debating the role of government in the economy, people are taking action to harness the power of business to solve society’s greatest challenges. Business – what we create, where we work, where we shop, what we buy, who we invest in – has become a source of identity and purpose.”