台灣B型企業認證歷程之探索性研究

Abstract

企業經營除了獲利外，還應該考慮其他面向的概念在全球已逐漸發展成熟，已有ISO14000系列、全球盟約計畫等國際標準與協定出現，各國也開始推動共益公司法、企業需揭露非財務永續資訊等法規，可見全球社會對商業的期許與要求已經有所改變。面對經營概念轉變的挑戰，如何創造與衡量社會影響力將成為企業經營的重要課題。在此背景下，非營利組織B Lab成立並推動B型企業運動，致力於使商業活動發揮對社會及環境的影響力，目前已有74個國家的將近四千家企業加入這個運動成為B型企業，可見B型企業運動已經有一定規模的影響力，值得進行研究。\nB型企業兼顧多重利害關係人的型態，使它們成為討論共益公司法、CSR、社會企業等議題的研究對象，也有文獻討論B型企業制度問題，及描述B型企業樣貌的學術論文，但鮮少有文獻討論B型企業認證歷程對企業的影響。故本研究以B型企業認證歷程為主題，使用各種理論探討B型企業認證是否回應企業經營的需求。同時，本研究也會描述台灣B型企業的樣貌與運動發展的歷程，因為台灣身為B型企業運動在亞洲區的領頭羊，台灣B型企業的特色與B型企業運動的發展歷程值得探討與紀錄。\n本研究發現台灣的B型企業是以商業模式運作，但不僅關注營利而有使命的企業。它們通常因企業中關鍵人物接觸到B型企業運動，並促使企業基於理念發展與自我定位主動進行認證。在B型企業認證歷程中它們總是會涉及企業制度的完善與建立，而其他收穫則視企業投入程度而定，總體來說認證歷程將有效幫助早期階段的混合組織經營管理。最後，在B型企業運動的推廣上，雖然依然面臨困難，但台灣B型企業協會對輔導企業，及社會大眾溝通都已經有一個逐漸完善的系統，並且串連許多的資源與夥伴，相信推廣成效將越來越好。

The society`s expectations and requirements for business have changed. It is vital that business operations should take every aspect into consideration, not just focusing on earning profit. Therefore, international standards and agreements such as ISO14000 standards and the Global Covenant Program have emerged, and countries worldwide have also begun to promote relevant laws and regulations. In response to changes in business concepts, how to create and measure social influence will become an important issue for business operations. In this context, the non-profit organization “B Lab” was established. To exert its influence on society and the environment, it promoted “the B movement”, as one of its main campaigns, which is meant to highlight the social impact of the business via evaluating the performance of the company and conducting the certification. At present, nearly 4,000 companies from 74 countries have joined this movement and become certified B corporations, as a landmark of the B movement.\n“Certified B corporations” attach importance to multiple stakeholders, which makes them a research object for discussions on benefit corporation law, CSR, social enterprise and other topics. There is also research on the institutional issues of the B movement and the characteristics of certified B corporations. However, there are only few articles discussing the impact of the certification process on enterprises. Therefore, this research takes the certification process as the theme and uses various theories to explore whether the certification responds to the needs of business operations. At the same time, this research will also picture Taiwan’s certified B corporations nowadays and the development process of the B movement in Taiwan. Because Taiwan is the leader of the B movement in Asia, the characteristics of Taiwan’s certified B corporations and the development history of the B movement are worthwhile to explore and record.\nThis study found that Taiwan’s certified B corporations operate in the similar way as ordinary companies, but they also pay attention to their mission in addition to profit. The key figures in the corporation make the corporation aware of the B movement and urge the company to actively conduct certification based on the development of ideas and self-positioning. The certification process will effectively help the operation and management of the hybrid organization in the early stage. The process will always involve the improvement and establishment of the enterprise system, and other gains will depend on the dedication of the corporation separately. Finally, although it is still facing difficulties in the promotion of the B movement, the B Lab Taiwan association has gradually improved the system for coaching companies and communication with the public. Besides the efforts mentioned above, many resources and partners have also been connected, and it is believed that the movement will recruit more like-mind partners to go further hand in hand.