[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v30y2023i3p1104-1120.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impactful B Corps: A configurational approach of organizational factors leading to high sustainability performance

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Cantele
  • Chiara Leardini
  • Luca Piubello Orsini
Abstract
Certified B Corps (B Corps) are firms characterized by a hybrid purpose and a sustainable business model that combines profit with social impact. Prior quantitative studies on B Corps have mainly analyzed the impact of certification on firm performance, while only a few have tried to analyze the antecedents of certification or high sustainability performance. Regression models have been used in most cases, often with inconsistent results and some research limitations. The aim of this study is to test the presence of different possible combinations of firm‐level antecedents leading to a high sustainability performance in B Corps. It applies a configurational approach and a qualitative comparative analysis methodology to search for different combinations of organizational factors (size, age, profitability, certification experience, women on board and the “Born B” factor) that lead to a high sustainability outcome, measured by a B Impact Assessment (BIA). Results indicate the existence of four configurations leading to a high BIA, representing as many kinds of impactful B Corps: Born B, small young ventures, small and medium enterprises, and large firms. These results contribute to the literature by showing that a high sustainability performance in B Corps can be reached through different paths (equifinality) entailing both high and low values of each factor (asymmetry) and depends on how factors are combined (conjunction) rather than on their single effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Cantele & Chiara Leardini & Luca Piubello Orsini, 2023. "Impactful B Corps: A configurational approach of organizational factors leading to high sustainability performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1104-1120, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:30:y:2023:i:3:p:1104-1120
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.2407
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2407
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.2407?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Hockerts, Kai & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2010. "Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids -- Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 481-492, September.
    3. Malu Villela & Sergio Bulgacov & Glenn Morgan, 2021. "B Corp Certification and Its Impact on Organizations Over Time," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 343-357, May.
    4. Justyna Dyduch & Joanna Krasodomska, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: An Empirical Study of Polish Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-24, October.
    5. Moroz, Peter W. & Gamble, Edward N., 2021. "Business model innovation as a window into adaptive tensions: Five paths on the B Corp journey," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 672-683.
    6. Patrizia Gazzola & Daniele Grechi & Paola Ossola & Enrica Pavione, 2019. "Certified Benefit Corporations as a new way to make sustainable business: The Italian example," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1435-1445, November.
    7. Silvia Blasi & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2022. "Mapping the emergence of a new organisational form: An exploration of the intellectual structure of the B Corp research," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 107-123, January.
    8. Ronald Weber Kirst & Miriam Borchardt & Maurício Nunes Macedo de Carvalho & Giancarlo Medeiros Pereira, 2021. "Best of the world or better for the world? A systematic literature review on benefit corporations and certified B corporations contribution to sustainable development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1822-1839, November.
    9. Nurlan Orazalin & Mady Baydauletov, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility strategy and corporate environmental and social performance: The moderating role of board gender diversity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1664-1676, July.
    10. Graça Miranda Silva & Paulo J. Gomes & Helena Carvalho & Vera Geraldes, 2021. "Sustainable development in small and medium enterprises: The role of entrepreneurial orientation in supply chain management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3804-3820, December.
    11. Lou, Zhukun & Ye, Ailin & Mao, Jinye & Zhang, Chuan, 2022. "Supplier selection, control mechanisms, and firm innovation: Configuration analysis based on fsQCA," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 81-89.
    12. Riccardo Santamaria & Francesco Paolone & Nicola Cucari & Luca Dezi, 2021. "Non‐financial strategy disclosure and environmental, social and governance score: Insight from a configurational approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1993-2007, May.
    13. William Q Judge & Stav Fainshmidt & J Lee Brown III, 2014. "Which model of capitalism best delivers both wealth and equality?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(4), pages 363-386, May.
    14. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    15. Nerantzidis, Michail & Tzeremes, Panayiotis & Koutoupis, Andreas & Pourgias, Apostolos, 2022. "Exploring the black box: Board gender diversity and corporate social performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    16. Moroz, Peter W. & Branzei, Oana & Parker, Simon C. & Gamble, Edward N., 2018. "Imprinting with purpose: Prosocial opportunities and B Corp certification," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 117-129.
    17. Janine Hiller, 2013. "The Benefit Corporation and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 287-301, December.
    18. Nadia Preghenella & Cinzia Battistella, 2021. "Exploring business models for sustainability: A bibliographic investigation of the literature and future research directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2505-2522, July.
    19. Sarah Roberts & Rob Lawson & Jeremy Nicholls, 2006. "Generating Regional-Scale Improvements in SME Corporate Responsibility Performance: Lessons from Responsibility Northwest," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 275-286, September.
    20. Marc Orlitzky & Diane L. Swanson, 2008. "Corporate Social and Financial Performance: An Integrative Review," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Toward Integrative Corporate Citizenship, chapter 4, pages 83-120, Palgrave Macmillan.
    21. Anne-Laure P. Winkler & Jill A. Brown & David L. Finegold, 2019. "Employees as Conduits for Effective Stakeholder Engagement: An Example from B Corporations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 913-936, December.
    22. Filipe Santos, 2012. "A Positive Theory of Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 335-351, December.
    23. Scholtens, Bert, 2008. "A note on the interaction between corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 46-55, December.
    24. Silvia Cantele & Silvia Vernizzi & Bettina Campedelli, 2020. "Untangling the Origins of Sustainable Commitment: New Insights on the Small vs. Large Firms’ Debate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-12, January.
    25. Giorgia Nigri & Mara Del Baldo & Armando Agulini, 2020. "Governance and accountability models in Italian certified benefit corporations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2368-2380, September.
    26. Stefan Schaltegger & Jacob Hörisch, 2017. "In Search of the Dominant Rationale in Sustainability Management: Legitimacy- or Profit-Seeking?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 259-276, October.
    27. Marc Orlitzky & Céline Louche & Jean-Pascal Gond & Wendy Chapple, 2017. "Unpacking the Drivers of Corporate Social Performance: A Multilevel, Multistakeholder, and Multimethod Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 21-40, August.
    28. Roberto Garcia-Castro & Claude Francoeur, 2016. "When more is not better: Complementarities, costs and contingencies in stakeholder management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 406-424, February.
    29. Andrea Caputo & Elisa Schiocchet & Ciro Troise, 2022. "Sustainable business models as successful drivers in equity crowdfunding," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3509-3522, November.
    30. Grimes, Matthew G. & Gehman, Joel & Cao, Ke, 2018. "Positively deviant: Identity work through B Corporation certification," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 130-148.
    31. Aladdin Dwekat & Elies Seguí‐Mas & Guillermina Tormo‐Carbó & Pedro Carmona, 2020. "Corporate Governance Configurations and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Audit Committee and Board characteristics," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2879-2892, November.
    32. Stefan Dimitriadis & Matthew Lee & Lakshmi Ramarajan & Julie Battilana, 2017. "Blurring the Boundaries: The Interplay of Gender and Local Communities in the Commercialization of Social Ventures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 819-839, October.
    33. Florence Nande & Marie-Laure Weber & Stéphanie Bouchet, 2021. "Exploring success conditions for innovative performance through Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): does job autonomy matter?," Post-Print hal-03454773, HAL.
    34. Alex Coad & Jacob Rubæk Holm & Jackie Krafft & Francesco Quatraro, 2018. "Firm age and performance," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-11, January.
    35. Oksana Seroka‐Stolka & Kamil Fijorek, 2020. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Proactive environmental strategy, stakeholder pressure and the moderating effect of firm size," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2338-2354, September.
    36. Danilo Brozovic, 2020. "Business model based on strong sustainability: Insights from an empirical study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 763-778, February.
    37. Lorenzo Ardito & Rosa Maria Dangelico & Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli, 2021. "The link between female representation in the boards of directors and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from B corps," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 704-720, March.
    38. Sharma, Garima & Beveridge, 'Alim J. & Haigh, Nardia, 2018. "A configural framework of practice change for B corporations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 207-224.
    39. Jamal El Baz & Issam Laguir & Magalie Marais & Raffaele Staglianò, 2016. "Influence of National Institutions on the Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Food-processing Industry: Differences Between France and Morocco," Post-Print hal-02011847, HAL.
    40. Nese Colakoglu & Mehmet Eryilmaz & Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero, 2020. "Is board diversity an antecedent of corporate social responsibility performance in firms? A research on the 500 biggest Turkish companies," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(2), pages 243-262, February.
    41. Jamal Baz & Issam Laguir & Magalie Marais & Raffaele Staglianò, 2016. "Influence of National Institutions on the Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Food-processing Industry: Differences Between France and Morocco," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 117-133, March.
    42. Stephen Bear & Noushi Rahman & Corinne Post, 2010. "The Impact of Board Diversity and Gender Composition on Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 207-221, December.
    43. Maretno Harjoto & Indrarini Laksmana & Robert Lee, 2015. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 641-660, December.
    44. Francesco Rosati & Roberta Costa & Armando Calabrese & Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen, 2018. "Employee attitudes towards corporate social responsibility: a study on gender, age and educational level differences," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1306-1319, November.
    45. Belen Lopez & Alfonso Torres & Alberto Ruozzi & Jose Antonio Vicente, 2020. "Main Factors for Understanding High Impacts on CSR Dimensions in the Finance Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-17, March.
    46. Woodside, Arch G., 2014. "Embrace•perform•model: Complexity theory, contrarian case analysis, and multiple realities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2495-2503.
    47. Daniel Alonso‐Martínez & Valentina De Marchi & Eleonora Di Maria, 2020. "Which country characteristics support corporate social performance?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 670-684, July.
    48. Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo & Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz‐Blanco, 2014. "Women on Boards: Do They Affect Sustainability Reporting?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(6), pages 351-364, November.
    49. Johanna Mair & Julie Battilana & Julian Cardenas, 2012. "Organizing for Society: A Typology of Social Entrepreneuring Models," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 353-373, December.
    50. Jamal El Baz & Issam Laguir & Magalie Marais & Raffaele Staglianò, 2016. "Influence of National Institutions on the Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Food-processing Industry: Differences Between France and Morocco," Post-Print hal-03542437, HAL.
    51. Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Raimund Bleischwitz, 2020. "Business models for environmental sustainability: Contemporary shortcomings and some perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3352-3369, December.
    52. Mehrnaz Ashrafi & Gregory M. Magnan & Michelle Adams & Tony R. Walker, 2020. "Understanding the Conceptual Evolutionary Path and Theoretical Underpinnings of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Silvia Blasi & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2022. "Mapping the emergence of a new organisational form: An exploration of the intellectual structure of the B Corp research," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 107-123, January.
    2. Ronald Weber Kirst & Miriam Borchardt & Maurício Nunes Macedo de Carvalho & Giancarlo Medeiros Pereira, 2021. "Best of the world or better for the world? A systematic literature review on benefit corporations and certified B corporations contribution to sustainable development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1822-1839, November.
    3. Patrizia Gazzola & Stefano Amelio & Daniele Grechi & Chiara Alleruzzo, 2022. "Culture and sustainable development: The role of merger and acquisition in Italian B Corps," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1546-1559, September.
    4. Adriana Liute & Maria Rosa De Giacomo, 2022. "The environmental performance of UK‐based B Corp companies: An analysis based on the triple bottom line approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 810-827, March.
    5. Silvia Blasi & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2019. "Mapping the emergence of a new research field: an exploration of the intellectual structure of the B Corp research," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0236, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    6. Valerie Paelman & Philippe Van Cauwenberge & Heidi Vander Bauwhede, 2023. "Mission alignment with employees and financiers: Probing into the workings of B Corp certification," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1632-1644, July.
    7. Ine Paeleman & Nadja Guenster & Tom Vanacker & Ana Cristina O. Siqueira, 2024. "The Consequences of Financial Leverage: Certified B Corporations’ Advantages Compared to Common Commercial Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 507-523, January.
    8. Yeuseung Kim, 2021. "Certified corporate social responsibility? The current state of certified and decertified B Corps," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1760-1768, November.
    9. Rosaria Ferlito & Rosario Faraci, 2022. "Sustainable Hybrid Business Model of Benefit Corporation: The Case of an Italian Film Production Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Laura Broccardo & Elisa Truant & Lèo‐Paul Dana, 2023. "The sustainability orientation in the wine industry: An analysis based on age as a driver," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1300-1313, May.
    11. Alberto Ruozzi & Jose Antonio Vicente, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions and Impact Scores of Small-Size Certified Benefit Corporations (CBCs). A Configurational Analysis of 17 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, June.
    12. Elsa Diez-Busto & Lidia Sanchez-Ruiz & Ana Fernandez-Laviada, 2021. "The B Corp Movement: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, February.
    13. Francesco Campanella & Luana Serino & Anna Crisci & Antonello D'Ambra, 2021. "The role of corporate governance in environmental policy disclosure and sustainable development. Generalized estimating equations in longitudinal count data analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 474-484, January.
    14. Shubham Singhania & Jagvinder Singh & Deepti Aggrawal, 2023. "Gender diversity on board and corporate sustainability: a quantitative review based on bibliometric mapping," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 14(1), pages 267-286, February.
    15. Ranjita Islam & Erica French & Muhammad Ali, 2022. "Evaluating board diversity and its importance in the environmental and social performance of organizations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1134-1145, September.
    16. Escudero, Stephanie B. & Jestratijevic, Iva & Short, Jeremy C. & Wolfe, Marcus T., 2023. "B Corp certification in the age of fast fashion: Using hierarchical clustering and correspondence factor analysis to highlight social entrepreneurial advancement in the fashion industry," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    17. Ali Uyar & Cemil Kuzey & Merve Kilic & Abdullah S. Karaman, 2021. "Board structure, financial performance, corporate social responsibility performance, CSR committee, and CEO duality: Disentangling the connection in healthcare," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1730-1748, November.
    18. María Consuelo Pucheta‐Martínez & Inmaculada Bel‐Oms & Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility reporting and capital structure: Does board gender diversity mind in such association?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1588-1600, July.
    19. Giorgio Mion & Cristian R. Loza Adaui, 2020. "Understanding the purpose of benefit corporations: an empirical study on the Italian case," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15, December.
    20. Giorgio Mion & Cristian Rolando Loza Adaui & Angelo Bonfanti, 2021. "Characterizing the mission statements of benefit corporations: Empirical evidence from Italy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 2160-2172, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:30:y:2023:i:3:p:1104-1120. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.