The transition towards benefit corporations: What are the roles for stakeholders?

A benefit corporation (BC) is the legal status of an enterprise that embraces a dual-purpose business model (BM) of maximising shareholder value while satisfying stake-holders' interests. The literature so far has focussed on the motivations beyond thebirth or transformation of BC, the factors that can favour the emergence of BCs, andthe results companies achieve after the transformation, as well as studies on the newBCs' legislation. Other studies have examined how the duality of purpose (profitvs. social benefits) can be composed, and the risks of a mission drift favouring profitmaximisation in BCs. By drawing on stakeholder theory, this study aims to highlightthe role of stakeholders in the process of transformation from a traditional for-profitBM to a BC model. We adopt a qualitative approach through a longitudinal casestudy to observe the transition of a small-medium enterprise into a BC. The resultsshow how management and engagement practices coexist in the relationships withstakeholders and how an instrumental approach prevails.