Ethic values for sharing communities

Abstract

The essence of sharing platforms and their role in the social context is related not only to technology, but especially to the way it is being used today. Ethics, social responsibility and sustainability have become part of this process of development and they stimulate the entrepreneurial mainspring of new market models, that are in evolution. In crowdfunding the “return investment expectancy” plays a key role also in the selection process of innovative ideas, where credibility becomes an essential asset for the business, as well as the need to demonstrate transparency, integrity and responsible governance as priorities. Recently, these platforms are adopting voluntary certification systems, the B Corp certification, to reconcile the need to conduct business under the ethics aspect and raise awareness of stakeholders to adopt guiding values for business, consumption, or the use of services. Our goal is to investigate the role of “ethics”, conducted by the “B Corp” Standard Certification System, on sharing platforms. In particular we analyze how the Kickstarter Platform manages the ethical values of B Corp certification. The areas we analyze are: the community, governance, workers, the environment and customers. The closing chapter highlights the theoretical implications and limits of the analysis.