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  • Christopher Marquis on B Corp Movement

    October 02, 2020
  • Christopher Marquis, Professor in Sustainable Global Enterprise and Management at the Cornell University Johnson College of Business, explains the rapid growth of companies choosing to certify as B Corporation and why the future of B Corp Movement is vital for us all.

    Hosted by Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Head of the Infosys Knowledge Institute.

    “I talk to the students nowadays and they're really focused on finding work that aligns well with their values. And so, there's a lot of studies, surveys and other studies that show that 70 plus percent of millennials want to work in companies that have a social impact.”

    - Christopher Marquis

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Show Notes

  • 00:06

    Jeff introduces B corp movement.

  • 00:27

    Chrisopher described the B Corporation as the most impressive example of business innovation he has seen. He shares particularly pointing example.

  • 01:15

    Jeff introduces Christopher.

  • 02:21

    Christopher has been in academia for a while, but before that, he worked in banking. What inspired him to pursue this path?

  • 03:02

    What sparked Christopher’s interest in the B Corp movement specifically?

  • 04:02

    Christopher explains B Lab, their role and impact they're having.

  • 04:56

    What about the big incumbents, what's been the reception from larger companies that are public and have to answer to shareholders?

  • 06:21

    Is this the end of something with capitalism or the beginning of something else?

  • 08:25

    Jeff and Christopher talk about the role of government in this movement.

  • 10:27

    Christopher shares his experience on how do student perspectives on B Corps vary between geographies.

  • 12:17

    Christopher’s book highlights how millennials already make-up almost half the workforce and will inherit 30 trillion in the coming decades. How will demographics influence this B Corp movement?

  • 13:49

    How appropriate is the B Corp movement to China, the world's second largest economy and have they awoken from Mao's dream?

  • 15:09

    With 50% of the world's B Corps outside of the US, how appropriate is the B Corp movement to America, still the largest economy?

  • 16:49

    Talking about tipping points. What kind of event does Christopher think it will take, join those dots and move the B Corp from the margins to the mainstream?

  • 18:28

    You have a B Corp, how is that different if you had B Corp next to a traditional C Corp? What actually is different? What kind of executives are different? Processes? Christopher walks us through some of the differences.

  • 20:11

    Jeff and Christopher talk about World Economic Forum and stakeholder capitalism.

  • 21:56

    So it leads to these better benefits without hurting the financial bottom line. Is there much research on that yet?

  • 24:23

    Does Christopher think this unprecedented change that he hopes for will be exponential? And what does it take to make it nonlinear?

  • 25:39

    Starting to converge for the executive listening, what are three things they can do in their own company, which probably isn't a B Corp at this point, to take steps towards either formally or informally adopting these guidelines and principles?

  • 26:47

    Christopher mentioned several really interesting names, organizations in the book. One is Pope Francis's Economy of Francesco, which aims to make the economy of today and tomorrow fair, sustainable inclusive with no one left behind. Is Chris doing work with that organization or what caught his eye about that?

  • 27:46

    What are the books or people that stand out as significant influences for Christopher?

  • 28:47

    Christopher recommends online resources of his own sites and others for further learning.

About Christopher Marquis

Christopher Marquis, Professor in Sustainable Global Enterprise and Management at the Cornell University Johnson College of Business. Before Cornell, Chris worked for 10 years at Harvard Business School and has held positions at the Harvard Kennedy School, Hong Kong University, Peking and others.

His current teaching broadly focuses on social innovation and change and doing business in China. He's examined entrepreneurship in China, the triple bottom line and building sustainable businesses globally and competition in emerging markets. Chris received a PhD in sociology and business administration from the University of Michigan. And lastly, published in September 2020, Better Business explorers the rapid growth of companies choosing to certify as B Corporation and explains why the future of B Corp Movement is vital for us all.