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B-Corp Pros And Cons Research Paper

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One of the prevalent belief is that corporations were set up solely to maximize profit to shareholders. Unlike other business models, corporations have the sole status of being viewed as a ‘legal person’, with the rights similar to natural citizens including “engage in business and contracts, initiate lawsuits, and itself be sued” (Business Dictionary). This unique classification provides corporations with the rare opportunity to take advantage of the power corporations have to benefit society and the economy. One such example is the potential for companies to incorporate under a B-Corp (Benefit Corp) structure rather than as a C-Corp. The way that a companies structures itself can have significant implications on its corporate governance. …show more content…

First all, B-Corps allow a company to continue the values even after the owner of the company changes or passes away. For example, Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s founder, added that “B. corp will allow the values of my company to continue, even after it’s sold and it’s way down the line and we’re dead.” This is due to the reason that in order to become a B-Corp, an organization must meet the legal requirement for B-Lab certification, essentially baking in sustainability into the DNA of the company and ensuring the mission survives. Companies are rated on a scale from 0 to 200 and companies that achieve a score of 80 or more “pass”, receiving the certification based not just on products but also on the overall production process and sourcing. New management is legally required, to maintain the standards of being incorporated as a B-Corp, to continue the social impact an organization has. B corporations are assessed annually by an independent benefit director to make sure that the organization acts in-line with their obligation to create general benefit …show more content…

For example, PA-based footwear company Dansko become a B-Corp as a cost-effective way to measure its environmental footprint. Dansko was able to take advantage of the B-Corp certification process to review their social impact on the community and product usage, creating benchmark models and templates for evaluation. As a result, the company were able to root out any excess waste and operations inefficiencies they faced. Cabot similarly used their certification as a B-Corp to create the Real Farm Power project, an effort to use partnerships to deliever renewable energy more efficiently. After three years, the plant utilized priority motion sensors to generate enough electricity to churn butter. The project not only saved significant electricity costs for Cabot but also gave the firm recognition for the efforts through the 2016 U.S Dairy Sustinability Award for Outstanding Dairy Processing & Manufacturing Sustainability, a strong testament to Cabot’s commitment to social

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