2024-03-26 16:45:48
Share the post “Andrew Kassoy (B Lab): “The company must have a positive impact on society and the environment””
Less known than B Corp certification, B Lab is the association that oversees the movement, defines the evaluation criteria and guides its strategy. B for “Benefit for all”. Since the community was created in the United States in 2006, the label granted to commercial companies has come a long way. Among the three co-founders, investor Andrew Kassoy came to ChangeNOW to take stock of the development of the movement, giving his thoughts on the development of mission-driven companies, paradigm shifts and capitalism.
“Our business system as it exists today – with markets, financialized capital, social media and even the emergence of artificial intelligence – is a system that has come to play such a dominant role in all our lives. But this trading system was created, not with a duty of care, but with a duty to be reckless. Carefree for people, carefree for communities, carefree for the planet”he recalls.
A questioning of the role of business in society
Our economic system does exactly what it was designed to do: it creates wealth for a few, the shareholders. “ The reason businesses exist is to maximize the wealth of their distant owners. They therefore operate outside the ‘donut’ [selon la théorie de Kate Raworth, NDLR], beyond human and planetary boundaries. » Consequence: people feel excluded, left behind, angry. “And whether their anger manifests itself in activism or whether it manifests itself in populism, they’re actually saying the same thing: ‘The system isn’t meeting my needs and I’m upset. I don’t trust the system.’ » The question therefore arises of the role of the company in society.
Whether it concerns climate change or biodiversity, the degradation of work or the marginalization of workers throughout supply chains… if you pull the thread, at the end you find the company. “In other words, we have a systems failure. Businesses are failing to meet the needs of all of us. They fail to create shared and lasting prosperity for all. The question is therefore how to change this system. »
Recognize the failure of the existing system and believe that there is a viable alternative
“Two elements are necessary to change the systems. The first is the recognition of the failure of the existing system. We can consider that it is done. Second, we must believe that there is a viable alternative. A system in which businesses exist to create value for all stakeholders, not just shareholders”, adds Andrew Kassoy. This system would finally recognize our fundamental interdependence and would be based on a genuine duty of care.
“When we started B Lab, the organization I co-founded 17 years ago, the philanthropists we needed to help us raise funds told us we needed to have a theory of change. As three businessmen coming from the private sector, we had no idea what that meant. So we invented one. And I think it has proven to stand the test of time. Ultimately, what we really need is for business to have a positive impact on society and the environment. »
“At the end of the day, what we really need is for the company to have a positive impact on society and the environment. »
Andrew Kassoy, B Lab.
B Lab: from a utopia to a reality
In hopes of changing business behavior, it is necessary to create the ecosystem and market infrastructure for the system to operate differently. “We need to change business culture so that each of us, whether a consumer, investor or employee of a company, expects a company to behave in the best interests of all stakeholders”,explains the co-founder of B Lab.
But to change the structure of the economy, to change the rules of the game, it is necessary to have a public policy that obliges businesses to create value for all. This is the idea of B Lab and its B Corp label. “We started by creating a certification because we wanted to show that there were thousands and thousands of companies that were successful because they met high standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability . Today, there are more than 8,000 certified B Corp companies. They are present in more than 90 countries around the world. And more than 250,000 companies use our standards to measure, manage and improve their impact. » In France alone, there are around 400 B Corp certified companies.
Collective power to change the rules of the game
With B Lab, Andrew Kassoy and the two other co-founders aimed from the beginning to build a community of leaders. A community meant to work collectively to change the narrative about the purpose of business and exercise their collective power to demand a change in the rules of the game.
“For many years, if you were a B Corp and you talked about it around you, people found it cute, they congratulated you. But as the movement has grown, it has become a threat to existing systems. Many people feel threatened by this new movement which benefits all stakeholders« , assure Andrew Kassoy.
And to add: “So what are we seeing in the United States? We are seeing a pushback on legislation that would prevent investors from investing in companies that take social and environmental factors into account. In Europe too, we are witnessing something of a backlash. But let’s not lose hope: this means we are winning. This is a sign that we are powerful. However, we must act with caution so as not to build a system similar to the one that exists today. » For this, Andrew Kassoy relies on the collective.
Performing an “act of collective beauty”
“It’s a bit like the builders of a cathedral. They knew they would never see the finished work before they died, but they still came to perform an act of collective beauty to build something extraordinary. Economic systems, much like buildings, are simply constituted and constructed by people. They have the power to change the system and build a new one, beneficial for all. But for this to happen, each individual must redouble their attention and courage.“, he concludes.
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