How to change business culture
The path to becoming a Benefit Corporation is analysed in terms of the obstacles and opportunities faced
Changing your production culture is a significant process affecting many companies. It is not an easy path and must be undertaken with awareness. This is what is happening increasingly more often to companies that become Benefit Corporations. The research conducted by Laura Rocca, Monica Veneziani, Andrea Caccialanza and Claudio Teodori, titled ‘Benefit Corporations: The Moral Legitimacy That Requires More Rules’, tries to address and explain this.
This recently published study examines and explains why Italian for-profit companies convert to Benefit Corporation status, and how they deal with the consequent hybridisation that leads to a new business approach.
The survey is based on data from 118 companies and uses a pragmatic and moral legitimacy lens to measure the value of companies from several points of view, not just the practical productive aspect. The results show that the main trigger is pragmatic legitimacy: managers seek to build trust with internal and external stakeholders who can influence business activity. It is this need for ‘collective legitimacy’ that drives companies to change their identity and their practices. This is because, as the research explains, companies identify as members of a business community that promotes the ‘common good’.
While this is the ultimate goal, the survey’s authors identify the main obstacles that must be overcome. Firstly, amending the company’s articles of association represents the greatest cost. The research therefore addresses other concerns and uncertainties that arise within companies embarking on the journey towards becoming a Benefit Corporation, and highlights the need for stricter control parameters and penalties to reach the end goal.
Laura Rocca’s research certainly addresses a complex and delicate issue, contributing to a better understanding of it.
Benefit Corporations: The Moral Legitimacy That Requires More Rules
Laura Rocca, Monica Veneziani, Andrea Caccialanza, Claudio Teodori
Business Strategy and the Environment, 2025; 0:1–17
The path to becoming a Benefit Corporation is analysed in terms of the obstacles and opportunities faced
Changing your production culture is a significant process affecting many companies. It is not an easy path and must be undertaken with awareness. This is what is happening increasingly more often to companies that become Benefit Corporations. The research conducted by Laura Rocca, Monica Veneziani, Andrea Caccialanza and Claudio Teodori, titled ‘Benefit Corporations: The Moral Legitimacy That Requires More Rules’, tries to address and explain this.
This recently published study examines and explains why Italian for-profit companies convert to Benefit Corporation status, and how they deal with the consequent hybridisation that leads to a new business approach.
The survey is based on data from 118 companies and uses a pragmatic and moral legitimacy lens to measure the value of companies from several points of view, not just the practical productive aspect. The results show that the main trigger is pragmatic legitimacy: managers seek to build trust with internal and external stakeholders who can influence business activity. It is this need for ‘collective legitimacy’ that drives companies to change their identity and their practices. This is because, as the research explains, companies identify as members of a business community that promotes the ‘common good’.
While this is the ultimate goal, the survey’s authors identify the main obstacles that must be overcome. Firstly, amending the company’s articles of association represents the greatest cost. The research therefore addresses other concerns and uncertainties that arise within companies embarking on the journey towards becoming a Benefit Corporation, and highlights the need for stricter control parameters and penalties to reach the end goal.
Laura Rocca’s research certainly addresses a complex and delicate issue, contributing to a better understanding of it.
Benefit Corporations: The Moral Legitimacy That Requires More Rules
Laura Rocca, Monica Veneziani, Andrea Caccialanza, Claudio Teodori
Business Strategy and the Environment, 2025; 0:1–17