3. The B Corp standard

B Corp is a quality label for entrepreneurs who take people, the environment and society as their starting point, in addition to profit and shareholders. B Corp companies demonstrate that it is possible to gradually transform an existing business model into one in which an organisation assumes its responsibility and achieves a positive impact for all its stakeholders - for the management, employees and customers, but also for the environment and society.

Five key questions

The B Corp standard focuses on five key questions: 1. To what extent is the organisation able to realise its mission? 2. What is the social impact of the organisation on its employees? 3. What impact does the organisation have on the communities it is part of? 4. What is the ecological impact of the organisation, its (production) facilities, products and services? 5. What impact can an organisation realise in the chain from suppliers to customers?

Using the impact assessment, the organisation give itself a score, which it can compare with other companies from the same or similar sector. This creates a benchmark for companies that want to be a force for good.

Impact

Mission, vision and governance

Employees Society Environment Customers

To what e tent is the or anisa on ab e to rea ise its ission? What is the socia i pact of the or anisa on on its e p oyees? What i pact does the or anisa on ha e on the co uni es it is part of?

What is the eco o ica i pact of the or anisa on its produc on faci i es products and ser ices? What i pact can an or anisa on rea ise in the chain fro supp iers to custo ers?

Business model

Joey van den Brink, Head of Certification Manager at B Lab Europe, recommends using the impact profile shown below for a first “squint analysis”. This tool allows you to determine where you are already making an impact and where you would like to increase your impact. To do this, place an X on the axes for the current situation and a * for the desired situation. In the centre of the model, the score is a 0 (work remains to be done) and on the edge of the circle, you score a 5, indicating that you have this element perfectly in order. Don't think about it for too long and let it be a first “squint analysis”. While reading this workbook, you can go deeper and define specific improvement actions more concretely.

0

"No matter how quick the intention, reality will catch up". In many organisations, there is no lack of policy intentions, and board members express themselves in terms such as: "We want the best for society and for our employees". However, the question remains to what extent these intentions also become a measurable reality and "old behaviour" is permanently adjusted. The B Corp assessment has evolved into what it is today based on the experiences of thousands of audits carried out worldwide. B Corp has its own way of looking at a company and its business activities. Below, we share our experiences with the B Corp approach and the underlying line of thought in the hope that it will help you determine how best to use the B Corp impact assessment.

Characteristic principles

A number of defining principles emerge from our experience with B Corp and conversations with the organisations working with the B Corp standard.

Use and build on the good elements already present One principle is that B Corp starts from “the good already present”. It is this starting point of “what already exists” that should encourage you to take the first steps. Thus, start by identifying where your organisation already creates multiple value. Next, the challenge is to build on this existing basis. This is reflected in how points are awarded in the (self-)assessment. With every step forward, from small to large, you score points. The maximum score is 200 points and the minimum score required to apply for certification by B Lab is 80 points.

This is not a step to be taken lightly. It requires focus, creativity and intrinsic motivation to achieve those 80 points, we are told by various organisations that have already been certified. During the audit, you must also be able to actually demonstrate the points. The scale runs to 200 points, so there always remains sufficient potential for development of your impact business model. In addition, B Lab continues to develop the standard, effectively making the lower limit of 80 points a dynamic one.

Positive psychology and appreciative enquiry In line with the principle above, the B Corp standard is based on principles of positive psychology and appreciative enquiry. Literally: what are you already doing? And: how can you do it even better? The standard invites you to look in a positive way at what your business (model) can contribute to a better world. All steps, big and small, count. Even the texts in the self-assessment have an appreciative character and motivate you to take steps forward.

Impact business models B Corp distinguishes two ways in which you can make an impact as an organisation. You can create operational impact by gradually increasing your positive impact in your traditional business model. The focus is on daily improvement of the social, societal and ecological impact of the organisation on all stakeholders. This includes reducing energy consumption, waste reduction, sustainable procurement policies, the way employees are treated and the way the organisation is managed.

The other way to make an impact as an organisation is to work from an impact business model explicitly set up to realise a social, societal or ecological goal. A great example is the “Open Hiring system” of the Greyston Bakery in New York: “We don't hire people to bake brownies. We bake brownies to hire people”. An impact business model can be based on a product or service, a unique process, the customer or a special business structure. An example of an impact business model is Sheltersuit (operating in the Netherlands, South Africa and the US).

Sheltersuit: People helping people

Our mission

We developed the Sheltersuit as a short-term solution to a major problem. It won't solve the homeless and refugee problem, but it will prevent people from freezing to death on the streets. We believe that every human life counts and therefore everyone has the right to this small shelter if they need it.

Based on this mission, more than 10,000 homeless people have now been provided with a shelter suit, 21,000 kg of residual materials have been used and 112 jobs have been created.

Source: https://sheltersuit.com

B Corp is therefore a useful tool for existing, traditional businesses that intend to gradually make the transition to an impact business model, as well as for organisations that are conscious right from day one.

Thinking in terms of multiple value The B Corp standard reasons on the basis of creating multiple value: social, economic, ecological and environmental value. This makes it a holistic, integral standard connecting the different value concepts. In doing so, B Corp adopts a broader view than standards such as ISO and the CO2 performance ladder, which focus on individual aspects of sustainability.

I made a lot of money!

Fortunately, few people consider it important to have it pointed out at their funeral that they made a lot of money. One banker - retired but certainly not resting in peace - even stated on a social media site: “everything is about money, always and everywhere”. If that were true, he most certainly must be a poor man!

Fortunately, our behaviour is guided by more than just money. Yet some people think that economics and business are about “making money”. Anyone who has paid attention in economics class knows that the essence of economics is: “creating value”. And value is by definition multidimensional (the financial dimension being one of them); therefore “multiple value creation” is a pleonasm. To me, this is an abomination, but then again, if you talk about multiple value creation, everyone apparently knows that you mean more than just money.

What we at Saxion University of Applied Sciences try to teach students is to think about how they can add value. And yes, of course, also about how to make money in the process. We have them think about what purpose they would like to have in society, what their “moonshot” is, what their purpose is, what their social contribution will be, what they want to be said at their funeral service. And from that position they learn to think about how they organise this added value in a business and how they are paid for these activities.

A few examples: • student, potential successor in a family business in interior decoration, has developed a new business concept on circular building; this will reduce the use of raw materials; • student, formerly struggling with a negative self-image with all its physical and psychological consequences, has developed a business concept that aims to prevent young people from going under, ending up in a downward spiral, opting for the short-term temptations of crime, but instead ending up on a path towards becoming responsible citizens; • student who has developed a business concept to reduce food waste in the catering industry; • student, potential successor in a family business, sees all kinds of residual streams in their textile company; at the moment, processing these residual streams incurs costs, but this student has developed a business concept that will allow them to add value to these streams.

Absolutely, they want to develop a business they can earn money with, but their primary motivation is the opportunity to offer added value. Their business enables them to contribute to reducing social problems. Making money then becomes a means of achieving a higher goal and building a future-proof business.

Dr. Erik Wierstra, Professor of Applied Science in Entrepreneurship

Think and observe like an assessor When you start working with the B Corp standard, think and observe like an assessor. Look at Intention, Existence and Effect, to which we like to add the words “Experience and Motion”:

• To ensure that you don't just say you want something (Intention); • Putting the policy on paper (Existence); • It is also about putting the policy into practice (Effect); • Such that employees and customers actually experience the intended policy (Experience and Motion).

Developing on-the-job Working with the B Impact assessment shares many similarities with the way computer games work. You can see the result of the policy implemented and the resulting actions on the scoreboard in real time and online. This motivates you to develop in a work-based manner and - as we noticed in the various organisations - to regularly review your progress together with colleagues from the B Corp project team and consider the next step. The B Corp standard challenges you to develop in a work-based manner, which is also the aim of this workbook.

By now you have come across various pages for taking notes and answering the various questions that have been presented. It is time to dig deeper into the five themes of the B Corp standard. But before we do, first a few points for reflection.

Is it all praise then?

Reading the above, you may wonder: is there no criticism of the B Corp standard at all? Yes, there is. Below we discuss the practical and fundamental criticisms we have encountered.

An administrative burden To comply with the B Corp standard, written evidence and substantiation with facts and figures is required. For organisations that are not used to recording policies, the B Corp standard feels like an administrative burden.

Achieving 80 points is tough Many organisations energetically embark on the self-analysis and quickly collect the first points. Subsequently, a large number of organisations get stuck between the 60-70 points mark. From that point on, it takes perseverance, creativity and a genuine wish for a conscious business to achieve the 80 points required to apply for the assessment. B Corp certification is a strategic choice and requires perseverance.

Not another certificate “Not another certificate", we sometimes hear. And: "Is it all about having certificates on the wall now?", is one of the reactions we received. Yes, B Corp is distinctive and if you want to you can apply for the certificate. Organisations that want to be certified use B Corp as proof that they are consciously working on realising multiple value. They experience certification as a positive big stick, an aid to keep working on their ambitions as conscious entrepreneurs. And if you are only interested in the certificate or have ambitions to be a green washer, our advice is: don't do it.

B Corp is a form of enlightened business and does not look to consider the underlying system There are certainly fundamental criticisms too, as expressed by Anand Giridharadas in his book “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” (Giridharadas, 2019), in which he states the following: “A new kind of certification has emerged from socially minded B Corporations that reflect the belief that a more enlightened business interest - rather than, say, regulation and legislation - is the surest guarantee of the common good".

Fundamentally, Anand's criticism is that systems such as B Corp emphasise - as he puts it - hopeful solutions rather than actual systemic change.