The internalisation of the circular economy and ESG in Brazilian B Corps from the perspective of the Stakeholder Theory

Abstract The Circular Economy (CE) has been gaining attention as a means to reduce dependency on raw materials and achieve social, economic, and environmental outcomes. B Corporations aim to generate a positive impact, and by seeking certification that validates this premise, they are evaluated in aspects of governance, environment, customers, community, and workers. Such assessment demonstrates attention to various stakeholders and can promote good practices. This research aims to analyse how the circular economy is being internalised in Brazilian B Corps from the perspective of Stakeholder Theory. A total of 264 Brazilian B Corporations were identified, which constitute the units of analysis for the case study. Seventy‐six of these responded to questionnaires, and 12 B Corps participated in semi‐structured interviews. The results suggest that: (i) circular economy actions through the ReSOLVE framework are partially implemented by B Corps; (ii) circular economy practices require engagement with stakeholders, especially for the share and cycle actions of the ReSOLVE framework that mainly involve customers and the community; (iii) government and consumers were identified as key stakeholders for accelerating the circular economy. The contributions of this study include: (i) presentation of a typology that brings together exploratory theoretical propositions about strategic stakeholders, circular economy assumptions, and business models of B Corps; (ii) correlation between the ReSOLVE framework, B Impact Assessment, and stakeholder theory; (iii) identification of key stakeholders for accelerating the transition to the circular economy. For future studies, it is suggested to further investigate organisations with a high percentage of adoption of ReSOLVE framework actions to identify how stakeholders engage in environmental best practices.