Towards a Methodology to Value the Social Impact of a
B-Corp (Beneficial Corporation) in Canada:

A Multi-Stakeholder Approach

 

A corporation in Canada is understood to be driven by traditional profit motive, and this is used as the basis of many commonly accepted methods of business valuation. There is a growing interest in the establishment of B-Corps, which have a “triple bottom line” including financial, social and environmental benefit.

The intention of this research is to provide a starting point for multi-stakeholder engagement towards developing an acceptable method of valuing the social component of the triple bottom line

By determining a method of valuing all three bottom lines of a B-Corp in an widely accepted, unified way, important stakeholders could become more actively engaged in governing, investing and trading in these companies.  This could have usefulness in many areas including, but not limited to, developing corporate finance strategy, investment criteria, portfolio management and governance.

This research would include uncovering methodologies that are used in analogous situations, identifying and interviewing stakeholders who should be included in developing this valuation process, and developing a plan for next steps towards a methodology.

The results will be published in 2015, with a link posted here.