Research Topic Title

B Behaviours: Qualitative research identifying key B Corp behaviours necessary for a sustainable future.

Research Description & Aims

Businesses are learning that shareholder wealth as a primary measure of success will not deliver a sustainable future. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting has found its place in annual reports, and results are compulsory. Companies who take sustainability seriously are shifting towards a balanced triple bottom line approach, a principle seen as a powerful element of the genetic code of today’s sustainability agenda (Elkington, 2018). While this is commonly understood, most sustainability agendas focus on environmental improvements as proof they are moving towards sustainability. Companies create sustainability strategies and invest in technology to reduce their negative impact on the planet, with much less focus on social and governance improvements necessary for a sustainable future.  

As the triple bottom line approach dictates, a balance between social, environmental, and economic performance is obligatory for a business to be sustainable. This transition will change how work gets done therefore a behavioural shift must follow. Much of the research on sustainability is directed towards the importance of strategic and organizational changes, while the link to social impact gets less attention. There is a need to increase research on behaviours for a sustainable business, which will strengthen the link between social performance and sustainability.

Certified B Corporations are leading the way towards a sustainable future. Obtaining the BCorp certification requires a balanced focus on people, planet, and profit. With over 8600 certified B Corporations around the world, there are many examples linking behaviours to performance. Additionally, within this community of companies who put people, planet, and profit of equal importance, there is little discussion on the behaviours necessary for this transition. I intend to bring all of these experiences together so that a clear understanding of sustainability behaviours can be identified, and used as a way to shift a company’s culture towards sustainability.

Over the past 10 years, I have built my version of a sustainable business. I have witnessed how the “way we’ve always done it” can impede a new way of working. The behaviours that we have accepted until now are holding us back. I want to redefine the behaviours we want to see in our colleagues, customers, suppliers, and shareholders to enable a sustainable way of working.

As a member of B Lab’s Regional Standards Advisory Group, I provide feedback on the evolution of B Corp certification requirements. I am also active in the B For Good Leaders network (https://www.bforgoodleaders.org) created by the co-founders of B Lab Europe, Leen Zevenbergen and Marcello Palazzi. This allows me access to business leaders and other academics interested in the B Corp movement. As an active member of this community, I can use these contacts to obtain the best possible data for my research. I am also a member of B Academics Research committee, which has a vision to advance the state of academic study into business as a force for good. With my sustainable business experience, and large network of certified B Corporations, I have access to the data and people necessary for fruitful B behaviors research.

Relevant Readings

In 2015, United Nations Member States committed to the “ambitious but achievable 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, charting a new path of balance for humanity and the planet.” (UN, 2019) Since this commitment, progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) has not been sufficient to achieve the 2030 deadline. Even with a significant amount of research on the creation of sustainable strategies aligned to the 17 SDG’s, and on the benefits of a sustainable business, progress has fallen short in achieving the necessary results.

Van Tulder states that, “Impact-driven change requires organizational approaches that are firmly grounded on an internalized awareness of broader societal responsibilities beyond good intentions and espoused SDG commitments.” (VanTulder, Van Mil, 2023) The observed behaviours within an organization underpin these good intentions and espoused SDG commitments, anchoring them within the company’s culture. Certain behaviours such as organizational citizenship behaviours for the environment (OCBE’s) (Boiral, Paillé, 2012) or even employee green behaviours (EGB’s) (Ones, et al., 2018) which relate directly to employee behaviours have been studied, and are well documented. These consider behaviours linked to environmental impact, which apply to only 3 of the 17SDG’s. Behaviours related to a company’s social impact have not yet been a subject of research, which could be a missing element in achieving social impact.

Certified B Corporations demonstrate significant maturity in social performance behaviours. Increasing research on the B Corp movement shows that it is an incipient field with great potential (Diez-Busto, et al., 2021). Ones states that “The interface of environmental sustainability with organizations, HR systems, and employee behaviors is in relative infancy.” (Ones, et al., 2018) This points to a gap relating desired sustainability behaviours to a company’s progress towards the SDG’s. Since 2006, the BCorp movement exists to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. (bcorporation.net) One key element to this mission is the concept of interdependence. The interdependence between the very basic aspects of people, profit, and planet is where we must focus in order to improve. (Marquis, 2020). With more than 18 years of experience building business based on interdependence, the BCorp community has a wealth of untapped information on the behaviours necessary to ensure sustainable business.

There are 5 impact areas in the B Corp Business Impact Assessment; Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. Current research focuses primarily on the behaviours related to environmental performance of these companies. Both OCBE’s and EGB’s define explicit behaviours found in companies where sustainability is linked to the company’s purpose. There is also significant research on strategic initiatives, as well as frameworks on how to make SDG’s Core Business (Pires de Almeida, et al., 2023). Research on behaviours related to a company’s social impact is necessary. Further knowledge on behaviours related to social impact will complement current research on strategic frameworks by linking action to the common beliefs and attitudes of the company. For example, when considering the role of a “change agent for sustainability” (CAS), little is known about how individual characteristics shape their work (Schaltegger, et al., 2023). This points to the behaviours which enable or constrain change efforts. Once we are able to articulate behaviours expected in the new economy, we will better understand why SDGs are important, and how they ensure our sustainable future.

Research Methods

My dissertation work will consist of a bundle of 3 research papers. The first research paper will be an analysis of the social impact of certified B Corps in Switzerland. I will conduct interviews, surveys, and (wherever possible) validate against BIA scores on the Governance, Workers, Community, and Customers Impact areas. The intention will be to identify a typology of social issues addressed by the sample of B Corps and identify specific behaviours that result in high social performance measured by the BIA.

The second paper will look further into these behaviours, how they link to the company’s purpose, and how they complement other behaviours within the organization. I will conduct interviews with specific B Corps who demonstrate exceptional performance in each of the 4 chosen impact areas with the intention to extract specific B behaviours that enable social performance. These specific B behaviours will help define how B corps are successful, how they contribute to interdependence, and how they continue to improve.

The third paper will build on the results of the second paper, with the intent to complement existing research on environmental behaviours (OCBE’s & EGB’s) by including behaviours related to governance, community, customers, and community. This complete list of B behaviours will be aligned with their corresponding actions, beliefs, and attitudes so the behaviours can be easily identified.  This final paper can be used as a roadmap to identify the sustainability behaviours of a company. These behaviours can also be used as a “maturity gage” to quantify progress of a company’s sustainability strategy.

I have access to the B Corp community in Switzerland, as well as data within the BIA as results are public knowledge. Further details on how the scores were achieved can be obtained through interviews. I do not foresee any difficulty in obtaining this information, but time constraints may be an issue. I will need to anticipate this by allowing significant time during the interview phases as many B corps are extremely busy with day-to-day tasks. I can also expand the scope beyond Switzerland B corps should the research need additional data.

While the first two papers have a logical link without assuming a result, the topic of the third paper will be formalized based on results of the first two papers. This will allow the research to identify the direction of the final paper.

Bibliography

Boiral, O., Paillé, P., (2012). Organizational Citizenship Behaviour for the Environment: Measurement and Validation. Journal of Business Ethics. 109. 10.1007/s10551-011-1138-9.

Diez-Busto, E.; Sanchez-Ruiz, L.; Fernandez-Laviada, A. The B Corp Movement: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2508. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052508

García-Arca, J., Trinidad González-Portela Garrido, A., Prado-Prado, J., (2023). Deploying Sustainability Through Employee Participation. An Action Research Proposal. Systemic Practice and Action Research (2024) 37:19–40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-023-09639-x

Ivanaj, S., Ivanaj, V., McIntyre, J., & Guimaraes da Costa, N. (2021). What can multinational enter­prises do to implement sustainable development goals? Journal of Cleaner Production, 296, 126586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126586

Marquis, C. (2020). Better business: How the B corp movement is remaking capitalism. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 18-46

Ones, D., Dilchert, S., Wiernik, B., Klein, R., (2018). The SAGE Handbook of Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology: Environmental sustainability at work. Sage Publications Ltd., 351-373, http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473914964.n17

Pires de Almeida, F., Van Tulder, R., Rodrigues, S., (2023). Walking The Talk: Making The SDGs Core Business – An Integrated Framework. International Business and Sustainable Development Goals, Progress in International Business Research, Volume 17, 49–82

Schaltegger, S., Girschik, V., Trittin-Ulbrich, H., Weissbrod, I., & Daudigeos, T. (2023). Corporate change agents for sustainability—Transforming organizations from the inside out. Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, 00, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12645

United Nations. (2019). Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General, Global Sustainable Development Report 2019: The Future is Now – Science for Achieving Sustainable Development, (United Nations, New York, 2019).

Van Tulder, R., Van Mil, E., (2023) Principles of a Sustainable Business: Frameworks for Corporate Action on the SDG’s, Routledge, 532

Relevant Research Areas

• Strategy, Innovation and Society
• Alternative Forms of Markets and Organizations
• Organizations, Work, Identity, and Careers

Associated Keywords

• B Behaviours
• Sustainability
• Interdependence
• Social impact
• Stakeholder economy