Benefit Corporations and Corporate Social Intrapreneurship

Abstract

The present Special Issue focuses benefit corporation and social intrapreneurship as two topics which in the last decades have taken on a growing role in studies about both management and economics. This growing interest comes from globalization and digitization phenomena that have determined a change in firms’ stakeholders expectations. In this regard, social pressures about the behavior of companies have determined a new way of conceiving profit seen not only as shareholder remuneration but also as a direct or indirect tool to foster greater interdependence between economic activities and social objectives. For instance, the relationship between profit and sustainability no longer follows dichotomous logic. The firms are moving towards a path of socialization essential for their survival. The issue of sustainability, which previously appeared secondary in business economics studies, today is a pure necessity; the current competitive dimensions are based on intense and continuous engagement actions towards all stakeholders. This perspective is reflected in new theoretical strands such as the Social Emotional Wealth Theory, in which profit in the short run assumes secondary positions with respect to the survival not only of the company, but also of its founder, who tends to link its “immortality” to his/her firm. Thus, issues related to the sustainability are entering more and more the DNA of the firms on the one hand and economic policies are increasingly interested in the global aspects of sustainability (social, economic, environmental and governance) on the other hand. These trends have favored the development of new types of businesses, such as benefit corporation and start-ups related to the social entrepreneurship logic, committed to combining long-term profitability with certain standards and optimizing their positive impact on employees, the community in which they operate and the environment as well. The current economic crisis caused by Covid-19 seems to have accelerated this tendency to combine economic and social benefits.