Abstract
Rethinking the traditional understanding of organizational purpose appears to be necessary. A teleological paradigm shift seems to be on its way, changing the focus of attention from considering business organizations as instruments used to generate profits toward a more comprehensive understanding of their purpose and of the benefit they can create for society. Recently, new organizational entities have emerged, accompanied by the renewal of institutional frameworks, among them are benefit corporations. Italy was the first European country to introduce a legal framework to define the benefit corporation as a particular legal entity. The Italian law on the benefit corporations proposes the promotion of firms that pursue the generation of benefit in a responsible, sustainable, and transparent way and considering diverse stakeholders. This paper explores and describes the multidimensional understanding of benefit and purpose of Italian benefit corporations, utilizing qualitative and quantitative content analysis of 94 Italian benefit corporations’ purpose declarations, and providing a deep insight into the purpose declared by benefit corporations. The research highlights a certain vagueness in public declarations of the purpose of benefit corporations, even though it is clear that they attempt to differentiate themselves from traditional businesses by focusing on social objectives more than on economic ones. Furthermore, normative compliance emerged, but further normative requirements seem to be needed to make more effective the transformative potentiality of benefit corporations and to avoid risks of opportunistic behaviors.
Highlights
Business organizations have seen their power rapidly increase during the twentieth century, about hegemony in economic and financial resources and concerning their social and political role
Drivers of purpose First, the content analysis recognized the drivers of the purpose of Benefit corporation (BC), that is, the motivations that impelled the choice of the firms to become a BC
SB098 defines the choice to become a BCs as “a nonconformist and visionary choice,” while SB047 declares this choice as arising from the desire to create “an innovative startup born from the passion and the dream of ten newly graduated young people.”
Summary
Business organizations have seen their power rapidly increase during the twentieth century, about hegemony in economic and financial resources and concerning their social and political role. This role offers the opportunity for business organizations to contribute to solving global economic and socioenvironmental issues. Dominant research narratives have employed a monocausal approach to examining the organizational purpose (e.g., Jensen, 2002). This singleobjective in the context of businesses has been often. A teleological paradigm shift seems to be on its way, and it is changing the focus of attention from a single-objective approach that considers business organizations as mere instruments used
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
