The global socio-ecological system is under stress with increasing consumer demands and society’s inability to meet those demands. Businesses are both enablers and inhibitors of this socio-ecological dilemma, enabling a shift towards sustainability, in various ways including through Certification. This study aims to understand the B Corp Certification (BCC) – a certification that certifies business according to their social and environmental performance.  The purpose of this study is to gage how much this Certification granted by B Lab moves the dial on sustainability.  To accomplish this, a case study was performed on B Lab with a focus on Developed Markets. This study was largely dependent on semi-structured interviews, desk research and an analysis of the B Impact Assessment (BIA) - a cornerstone of the BCC - which was assessed according to the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). The FSSD which takes a scientific systems view on strategic sustainable development (SSD) was instrumental in analyzing how much the BCC aligns with a SSD approach. The result of this research lends itself to recommendations for the B Corp Certification of which B Lab may choose to consider in future iterations of the BIA and Certification in general.

近十年來，企業社會責任(Corporate Social Responsibility，CSR)和社會企業(Social Enterprise)在全球蔚為風潮，前者促使公司思考其在員工、社會、環境等層面的角色定位和所能發揮的影響力；後者則改變了非營利組織的經營思維與營運效率，使其採取具市場競爭力和財務獲利性的商業模式；兩者可謂搭建了營利事業與非營利組織之間溝通互動的橋樑，並使兩類型的組織在目標設定和策略執行上更具永續性。一個營利組織在通過B 型實驗室(B Lab)線上綜合性的企業社會責任評量—「效益影響評估」(B Impact Assessment)—後，可被認證成為B 型企業，該評量從員工照顧、社區經營、顧客關懷、環境保護、公司治理等面向進行細部項目檢核，在總分200 分中滿足80 分以上的條件要求，方可取得B 型企業的資格。 本研究探討台灣B 型企業在落實企業社會責任時，對於內、外部之利害關係人所採取的實務作法和制度設計，從中萃取出營利事業在CSR 五大面向下可供借鏡之處，進而建構出具正面社會影響力的商業模式。本研究總共訪談三家B 型企業，每家企業訪談對象包含一位高階主管(董事長、總經理或所長特助)和兩位負責推動B 型企業和企業社會責任相關業務的員工，累積共九位受訪者。 根據訪談結果，B 型企業透過落實企業社會責任，提升了員工對於工作的滿意度和投入度，進而降低員工流動率；提高顧客對企業的信任度和評價；減少對外在環境的衝擊，卻仍保有穩健獲利；降低舞弊和人謀不臧，完善公司治理。本研究亦針對研究所受限制和未來研究方向提出建議，供未來研究者做為參考。 / In recent years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social enterprises have become a growing trend on an international scale, the former has prompted companies to rethink its role and potential impact on employees, society, and the environment; the latter has changed the managerial mentality and operational efficiency of non-profit organizations, causing them to adopt business models that possess market competitiveness and financial profitability; the two have bridged the for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations, channeling communication and interaction, motivating the two types of organizations to become more sustainable in goalsetting and strategy implementation. A for-profit organization that passes a comprehensive CSR evaluation— the “B Impact Assessment”—designed by the non-profit organization B Lab, is certified as a B-Corp. The assessment conducts detailed evaluations of CSR practices under five main categories(employee welfare, community engagement, customer outreach, environmental protection, corporate governance), if a company is to pass the requirements and score more than 80 points out of a total of 200, it attains B-Corp qualification. This study researched the CSR practices and measures of Taiwanese B-Corps dealing with the various internal and external stakeholders, extracting their practical experiences under the five main categories. In this study, interviews were conducted at three Taiwanese B-Corps, interviewees at each company included a high-level executive ( the chairman, CEO or executive assistant) and two employees responsible for promoting B-Corp. and CSR practices, with a cumulative total of nine interviewees. According to the results of this study, Taiwanese B-Corps have resulted in an increase in employee job-satisfaction and work-involvement, leading to lower employee turnover; improved customer trust and review of the company; mitigated external environment impact, and still retain a robust profit; reduced fraud and ineffective management, thus improving corporate governance. This study also points out research limitations and provides recommendations regarding future research directions, serving as a reference for future researchers.

In the emerging countries access to electricity is still an issue for many families and this is the reality for most of the underprivileged households in Honduras. Approximately, 21% of the families living in rural areas are out of the electric grid of the country, and matters added to this, is that these individuals live with USD 1.90 (WorldBank, 2017) per day reducing their possibilities of affording alternative solutions to gain access to electricity. SoLuz provides a fast and affordable substitute to the conventional sources of energy, through the solar panel home systems, which families with low income, whom most of the times are not reliable sources to obtain credit at financial institutions, can purchase a solar panel home kit. Through a daily mobile payment of USD0.50, a household will now have access to electricity to improve not only their lives conditions but also boost the economy, as is the case for people living in the Bay Islands in the northern part of Honduras which depends on tourism for its subsistence. Focused on being a B-Corp since the beginning and a pioneer in the region, SoLuz wishes to cover in a three-year period the 100% of the rural areas in the Bay Islands with the solar energy home systems and through the recycling programs cooperate in the protection and maintenance of the environment in the area.