B Corporations – Why Thousands of Companies Are Turning Their Backs on a Business Doctrine That’s Been Accepted for Decades

The B’s are B Corporations, companies that have been certified by B Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to the concept that business must be a force for good, rather than profit alone, and allies working toward that goal. That concept had clearly become mainstream when, in August, the Business Roundtable, which represents the nation’s leading corporations, rejected “shareholder primacy” as the sole purpose of business in favor of stakeholder considerations. By doing so, the business titans at the very least acknowledged that business must have a purpose beyond making money–that companies must serve their customers, their employees, and their communities as well as their investors.

In their new book, Keith Mestrich and Mark A. Pinsky explain how the power and promise of benefit corporations, led by B Lab, can change the economy.