Abstract
A circular economy has been gaining momentum as the most innovative approach in business. Its proposed model, based on sustainability and new product-driven differentiated strategies of production and organizational exchange, has brought to light the need to better understand the relevance of stakeholders as a critical factor in the creation of new added value in business management. The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate how the B-Corp Certification System could contribute to a process of awareness raising in business organizations. It also focuses on the stakeholders’ commitment, within the framework of circular economy principles, and demonstrates that those companies who are adopting the certification concerning “recycling service and waste management” strongly contribute to the development in the direction of the circular economy. The analysis of the case studies shows two possible scenarios describing the circular approach in business and the different roles of stakeholders in the activation of such a virtuous path. “Social recycling” considers the key role of social participation and contribution in circular-economy related activities of primary and secondary stakeholders, and “highly regenerative recycling” aims to involve qualified stakeholders to start inter-organizational symbioses within the circular process of waste recycling. Key factors, such as industrial symbiosis, tax benefits, financial incentives, legislative harmonization, and the consumers’ behavior, represent the tenets of the circular economy model An awareness-raising perspective and the capacity on the part of companies to understand the relevance of stakeholders and the way to transform their role into the most effective lever to reinforce competitiveness is therefore necessary. Accordingly, the whole system of Benefit Corporation certification could boost business towards new business models involving stakeholders in several directions.
Highlights
The traditional levers of competitiveness that have led company strategies to focus only on economic priorities are moving towards a more comprehensive approach, including a wider sustainability field
The compared multiple analysis was conducted on four companies who were certified according to the standard B-Corp, which have an international profile and are traceable to the sector “Recycling services & Waste Management”
The data were provided by the study of the units of analysis and were based on the observation of secondary data, documents issued by the certifying body on the documentation available to companies
Summary
The traditional levers of competitiveness that have led company strategies to focus only on economic priorities are moving towards a more comprehensive approach, including a wider sustainability field. Environmental and social goals have to be integrated into the decision-making processes [1] Along this line, the new business model, which is more socially inclusive and has the capability to interpret the stakeholders’ relevance, is essential to generate enterprise added-value. The study of how the specific economic activities contribute or influence the environment [2] includes the analysis of specific elements to increase the capacity of the organizations to better understand the mechanism of the new model based on the involvement and commitment of the Stakeholders [3]. New management schemes are formulated to maintain the programmed day to day operations in top performances resource management. These schemes show the attention devoted to increasing the multi-dimensional-environment management in the light of an “overall” resource efficiency perspective
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