From espoused to enacted commitment : drivers for the pursuit of B corp certification by SMEs

Abstract

Drawing from the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR), small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and management system standards, this study explored the motivations of SMEs – an understudied subpopulation in the CSR literature – to expand their espoused commitment to CSR through voluntary pursuit of CSR certification. Using an illustrative case study design with B Corp certification, 28 interviews were conducted with leaders, employees and external consultants associated with 11 SMEs originating from Canada and the United States who adopted B Corp certification between 2013 and 2016. These semi-structured interviews were used to explore firms’ CSR certification evaluation process and motivations for pursuing third-party certification, as well as to gain greater understanding of the influences on their decision. Experiences between the locales were explored to identify meaningful differences. Interview data was analyzed in an iterative inductive and deductive coding process using Atlas.ti, a qualitative software program. From this detailed analysis, three drivers were identified as motivating the SMEs to invest their scarce resources in the pursuit of B Corp certification. These were: (1) pursuit of leader and organization value alignment, (2) pursuit of a value-aligned community, and (3) pursuit of the business case. Follow-up analysis of the leaders’ interview data led to the development of an integrated, theory-grounded multidimensional framework of their motivations. Study data suggests that the SME leaders in this study were motivated to pursue third-party CSR certification, and specifically B Corp certification, for intrinsic and extrinsic reasons that could be grouped into the following themes which will be described in detail: (1) Business Case, (2) Badge (3) Belonging, and (4) Benevolence. Although no notable regional-level cultural influences surfaced between the two geographic locales, some contextual differences will be highlighted. Implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed, as well as limitations and directions for future research.