[HN Gopher] Ask HN: What do you think of B-Corp (balance profit ...
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Ask HN: What do you think of B-Corp (balance profit with people and
planet)
> Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances
purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the
impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers,
community, and the environment. This is a community of leaders,
driving a global movement of people using business as a force for
good. This movement seems to be gaining popularity lately, but it
could be the echo chamber effect as HN mentions are very limited.
Author : bpollblah
Score : 17 points
Date : 2021-08-24 19:20 UTC (3 hours ago)
| mtmail wrote:
| A nearby startup went through the evaluation and aim to complete
| it eventually, some requirements take years to fulfill. They say
| it's a VC and possibly acquisition poison-pill. All the investors
| they talked to didn't like the added complexity of B Corp.
| vannevar wrote:
| "Balancing profit with people and planet" is just another way of
| saying "acting in the public interest." Which, in theory, all
| corporations are legally bound to do. The problem is that, until
| recently, there hasn't been the political will to enforce the
| public interest obligation. This is changing, particularly in
| terms of environmental responsibility, as the public is becoming
| increasingly aware of the massive environmental and health costs
| that many corporation offload onto the public. I think the only
| real problem with the B-corp idea is that it's optional.
| sevilo wrote:
| It's nothing but a feel-good virtue signal boost. Worked for one
| that fully enabled casual sexual harassments and practiced frat-
| culture of pressuring workers into drinking alcohol, wouldn't
| think twice between aggressive cash-burning and laying off
| workers, severely underpays people who have been with the company
| for years. CEO blatantly told a journalist to call 1800-EAT-D**.
| The fact that such company can get certified makes this program a
| joke.
| thoughtstheseus wrote:
| We should eliminate the corporate income tax to create a greater
| diversity you companies with goals more complex and nuanced then:
| for profit or non-profit.
| teorema wrote:
| In general it makes sense to me to have a legal contract
| framework for defining stakeholders more broadly than
| shareholders. What those stakeholders are seems specific to the
| needs of those involved. Seems like a useful mechanism; not sure
| what the downsides are at an abstract level.
| readonthegoapp wrote:
| i think it started out as a good-ish idea, but i was skeptical it
| would actually lead to anything useful.
|
| then, after a few years, it seemed to be still around and
| maaaaybe even, I started to think, i was being proven wrong. It
| seemed like it/they (B Corps) might be somehow useful and/or
| still relevant.
|
| then, it finally seemed to me to be just about on par with
| corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives -- i.e. good
| public relations, not much else.
|
| i don't think it is/was a _total_ waste, maybe, if it has allowed
| at least some people to see that wishful thinking is just not
| going to get it done -- we need real corporate/financial reform,
| whether that comes thru legislation or more judicial decisions,
| etc.
|
| if i saw a B Corp today and they were trying to be taken
| seriously as a B Corp - that is, _because_ they were a B Corp -
| that would be pathetic.
|
| other types of orgs might be doing some interesting things -
| worker co-ops, union shops, etc.
|
| Ecosia, the tree-planting people -- are they any different from,
| say, Current Affairs, the socialist-in-name-only magazine that
| fired all its workers that were trying to organize?
|
| would Ecosia employees dare try to organize after they saw how
| unceremoniously the Current Affairs folks were dismissed?
|
| does going good/hippie stuff require employee control and/or
| ownership? prob not.
|
| but if you don't have any kind of democracy in the workplace, how
| can you realistically expect actually-good things to happen on a
| sustained basis?
|
| just keep hoping that the 'benevolent' CEO/owner doesn't decide
| to show his/her true colors?
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(page generated 2021-08-24 23:03 UTC)