Ritual or Reform? Untangling the B Corp Certification Process From a Routines Perspective

Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen, Kirsti Reitan Andersen, Frederik Hovmark Pedersen and Thordis Katla Bjartmarz

Business Strategy and the Environment, 2025, vol. 34, issue 2, 1864-1879

Abstract: Several studies have focussed on the impacts of B Corp certification, whereas little attention has been rendered to the experiences of organisations undergoing the certification process. This study provides deeper insights into how managers perceive the B Corp certification process by focussing on the relationship between certification requirements and existing sustainability routines. Based on interviews with 26 B Corp certifying organisations, this study demonstrates how the certification process can inspire actions ranging from validation of existing practices to more deep‐rooted changes in sustainability routines. Moreover, the study highlights the internal organisational conditions, which shape the routine performances in relation to B Corp certification. It is concluded that regular revisits of the organisation's sustainability performance and the mobilisation of local actors in sustainability work promote routine changes. This study expands on sustainability certification discussions by demonstrating how these tools shape, and in turn are shaped by, dominant patterns of sustainability work within the organisation.

Date: 2025
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