Senior Project Advisor

Dr. Craig Dunn

Document Type

Project

Publication Date

Winter 3-1-2021

Keywords

sustainable business; stakeholder capitalism; B Corps; sustainability; triple bottom line

Abstract

For most of capitalism's 400-year history, business has been focused on maximizing shareholder return at the expense of other people and natural environment, a system known as shareholder capitalism. In this article, I examine stakeholder capitalism to answer to the question: What are the critical success factor(s) required to operate an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable business? I conclude that to be an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable business, the business must commit to a stakeholder approach and hold themselves accountable by setting goals, creating metrics, and tracking their performance. I then explore the B Corp certification as a tool for business to be accountable, by analyzing several B Corp businesses in located in Bellingham, Washington.

Department

Economics

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Business ethics--Washington (State)--Bellingham; Capitalism--Washington (State)--Bellingham; Sustainable development reporting--Washington (State)--Bellingham

Geographic Coverage

Bellingham (Wash.)

Genre/Form

essays

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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Included in

Business Commons

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