This research explores B Corps and employee ownership for the purpose of contributing
to possible solutions to pressing socioeconomic problems in Mexico and filling significant
gaps in the scientific literature about this type of business. An analysis is made of the
imaginaries, experiences, tensions, limits, and potentialities associated with being a B
Corp and its effects on stakeholders; in addition, the phenomenon of employee ownership
in these organizations is explored. Four case studies were made of B Lab-certified businesses
located in Guadalajara, Mexico. One of the main findings was that the organizations
in question consider it relevant to be a B Corp, and they fulfill the purpose, although
to different degrees and in very diverse ways. Given their hybrid nature, and their pursuit
of multiple objectives (Battilana, 2018), the companies have faced challenges and tensions
in conveying to their internal stakeholders the significance and implications of being
a B Corp. This certification continues to be part of a top-down management strategy
that many participants, both inside and outside the organization, do not really appropriate.
Finally, with respect to employee ownership, interconnected factors were found
that allowed purpose-driven companies to open up ownership; this happens in a fragile,
limited, heterogeneous, and even selective manner, without including wide-ranging
exercises in democracy or social economy.