Benefit Corporations and the B Movement: Mapping the Research Landscape in Sustainable Management

The increasing competitiveness of international markets, fueled by technological advancements and globalization, has prompted businesses to establish new objectives and frameworks to effectively manage change and evolve into corporations suited for the 21st century. A notable response to this paradigm shift is the emergence of the Benefit Corporations (BCs). This study aims to systematically review the existing literature surrounding this new paradigm represented by BCs, to understand the trajectory of research, highlight its challenges, and identify gaps for future exploration. To provide a comprehensive and critical overview of the available literature on BCs from a management perspective, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) followed by a bibliometric analysis. From our search, we identified 151 studies and applied co-citation and bibliographic coupling analytical techniques utilizing VOSviewer. This critical analysis reveals the current state of knowledge and research on BCs, pinpointing their contributions to local development and community wellbeing. Additionally, the conceptual divergence regarding the scope of action for BCs, influenced by civil law and common law systems, introduces ambiguity in both research and professional practice. Future theoretical and empirical investigations are needed to inform directions that could significantly impact practitioners, academics, and standard setters alike.