This case concerns the challenges that a sustainability officer can face when, in a difficult economic environment, he has to push a proposal to the board of the company for a first attempt at a sustainability report.
Opportunities for Consumers - Negative Electricity Prices
Summary
Subsidies of renewables has led to electricity prices frequently falling to less than zero leading to opportunities for consumers
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6 ways the CSO role is evolving - Innovation
Summary
Once corporate activists, today’s CSOs are business integrators. 6 ways the CSO role is evolving: strategist, risk mitigator, innovator, regulator, storyteller, and leader.
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AI for sustainability - Industrial Use Case - Cedrik Neike
Summary
AI is revolutionising industry by improving efficiency and driving sustainability. Discover how data-driven insights shape a greener future
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CFO’s role - Driving Sustainability
Summary
Chanel Global CFO and IMD Executive in Residence Philippe Blondiaux explains how finance leaders can sustain a long-term focus on sustainability while addressing short-term challenges.
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Responsible Leadership - Integrity & Authenticity
Summary
Discover a framework for Responsible Leadership, guiding you to lead with care and ethics in an increasingly turbulent and complex world.
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DSS+: Carving out a sustainability consulting leader
Summary
The case examines the entrepreneur-led carve out and buyout of dss+, DuPont’s safety and sustainability consulting division, by Gyrus Capital and dss+ management team. dss+ (formerly “DuPont Sustainable Solutions”) played a pivotal role in high-risk industries such as oil, gas, and chemicals, providing critical consulting services at a time when global regulatory pressure on operational safety and sustainability was intensifying. Gyrus Capital, a mid-market private equity specialist, came together with the management team to engineer the buyout, based on the firm’s strong and predictable revenue streams, long-term client relationships and specialized expertise in safety and sustainability consulting. What emerged out of the 2019 transaction was an independent sustainability consulting powerhouse with over 1,500 consultants around the world. By 2024, dss+ was still expanding rapidly in terms of staff and domains of expertise, not to mention geography, and had to respond to quickly evolving external and internal demands, with clients increasingly expected to be served globally on a full range of sustainability-related services. With a strong sense of purpose (saving lives and creating a sustainable future), a potent pitch line (Protect. Transform. Sustain), over 750 clients on 1,800 projects across 41 countries, a global team of 1,500 people and plenty of organic growth across 7 core industries, the company was clearly heading for the stars. Yet, new questions loomed: Was it time to start managing that wild growth, deepening competitive advantages and building functional moats? How would dss+ remain competitive? Was it time to put a few new initiatives on high octane fuel: Leadership? Digital transformation? Global growth? Some totally new ideas?
Reference
IMD-7-2639
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
dss+, Gyrus Capital, Inflexion
Industry
Services, Environmental Services;Healthcare, Health and Medical Services;Services, Public Safety;Business Management Services, Consultancy
Available Languages
English
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Are you building a biodiversity strategy? A five-step guide
Summary
The need to protect nature is a challenge for all companies. But do you know the potential business benefits of a successful biodiversity strategy? Take this short quiz to test your knowledge of the issue, and read on for a five-step guide to gett...
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Do you know the 5 steps to make money on sustainability?
Summary
Leaders, strategists, and decision-makers can play a pivotal role in integrating sustainability into business strategies – and make money in the process. Knut Haanaes, Bryony Jansen van Tuyll, and Øystein D. Fjeldstad outline five steps to make it...
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How can I leverage AI for smarter sustainability?
Summary
AI can enhance sustainability reporting and help you deepen green efforts – but it also has an environmental impact of its own. Julia Binder and José Parra Moyano identify the four ‘hows’ of harnessing AI for enhanced sustainability reporting and ...
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Net zero: 6 ways CHROs can support strategic transformation
Summary
No single leader or business function can drive progress toward net zero. Knut Haanaes identifies six ways in which CHROs can help drive organizational change.
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