Benefit Societies (SBs) represent an evolution of the very concept of a company. While traditional corporations exist with the sole purpose of distributing dividends to shareholders, benefit corporations are an expression of a more evolved paradigm: they integrate into their corporate purpose, in addition to profit goals, the purpose of having a positive impact on society and the biosphere.
A Benefit Corporation is a legal instrument that creates a solid foundation for long-term mission alignment and shared value creation. It thus allows the mission to be protected in the event of capital increases and leadership changes, create greater flexibility in evaluating sales potential, and maintain the mission even in the event of generational transitions or in the stock exchange listing.
These are not Social Enterprises or an evolution of nonprofits, but a positive transformation of the dominant for-profit business models to make them more appropriate to the challenges and opportunities of 21st century markets. Since January 2016, Italy has introduced, first in Europe and first in the world outside the U.S. (where the Benefit Corporation legal form, equivalent to the Italian Benefit Corporation, has been in place since 2010 and now exists in 33 states), the Benefit Corporation to enable entrepreneurs, managers, shareholders and investors to protect the company's mission and stand out in the marketplace from all other corporate forms through a virtuous and innovative legal form.
We report below an in-depth study by the24 ORE Group on Benefit companies.
The Benefit company, a legal status for the companies of the future »
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