HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeSustainabilityback to Research & KnowledgeValues-based entrepreneurship: Opaline’s bubblesback to Sustainability

Case Study

Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline's bubbles

By Benoit F. Leleux and Marc Chauvet

19 pages

November 2022

Order this case study

Reference: IMD-7-2257

Orsières (Valais, Switzerland) April 2020. Opaline, an original juice production company with high social and environmental standards had begun in 2010. It took founder Sofia de Meyer over 10 years to build a responsible and impactful company aligned with her own aspirations, not just a lifestyle venture but one that would capitalize on her deeply rooted values, shared with many in the valley. Opaline was her experiment to prove to the world that a different type of capitalism was possible, one that put human and environmental aspects where they belonged – at the epicenter of a business revolution. De Meyer had regularly been asked in interviews why Opaline was not trying to grow faster, rather than ensuring that its existing suppliers and distributors developed alongside the company. She always replied by drawing an analogy with a growing forest, in which no tree stood much higher than the others or else it would fall, alone, with the next storm. The analogy proved robust but now a more violent storm – a global pandemic – was brewing that was hurting everyone at once. What would it mean for all the projects the team had set out for 2020? And more fundamentally, could Opaline weather this storm as it had already done several times thanks to its strong ecosystem of partners? Would it pay the price for not having extended its roots deep enough when it could?

Learning Objective

To understand the principles of values-based entrepreneurship

To understand what motivates purpose-driven companies

To recognize the importance of having a strong ecosystem of partners

Keywords

Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, Purpose, Growth Management, Scale-up, Supply Chain Management, Work-Life Balance, Community Development, Impact, Go to Market Strategy, Responsible Consumption, Responsible Production

Settings

Europe, Switzerland
Opaline, Consumer Goods, Food and Beverage
2020-2021

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

This case study is part of a series

Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline's bubbles
Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline's bubbles (Abridged)

This case study is part of a series

Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline's bubbles
Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline's bubbles (Abridged)

Keep reading

Article

AI for sustainability - Industrial Use Case - Cedrik Neike

AI is revolutionising industry by improving efficiency and driving sustainability. Discover how data-driven insights shape a greener future

Artificial Intelligence Sustainability

By Cedrik Neike

in I by IMD

Article

Coordination, sensemaking, and idea work: How founding teams pivot their venture ideas

This study offers novel insights into how team structure and flexibility affect pivoting. It details how founding team coordination practices shape individual and collective sensemaking of feedback and efforts to improve a venture idea. Following ...

Team Dynamics Purpose

By Eva Weissenböck, Nicola Breugst and Anna Brattström

in Journal of Business Venturing

March 2025, vol. 40, no. 2, 106472, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2024.106472

Case Study

DSS+: Carving out a sustainability consulting leader

Finance Entrepreneurship Sustainability

By Benoit F. Leleux, Giorgio Pignalosa, Larissa Margot Bieler, Mojisola Onabanjo Akinkunmi and Nicolas Campodonico

Article

Are you building a biodiversity strategy? A five-step guide

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...

Sustainability

By Julia Katharina Binder, Adrian Dellecker and Aurélie V. Stamm

in I by IMD Brain Circuits

24 February 2025

Article

CFO’s role - Driving Sustainability

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.

Sustainability Finance

By Stéphane J. G. Girod

in I by IMD

24 February 2025

Article

CSRD - CFO - Compliance cost or stabilizing economic force

While some firms may look to exploit regulatory arbitrage in response to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), long-term trends point to regulatory alignment and technology advances making EU sustainability reporting rules a for...

Sustainability

By Salvatore Cantale and Christos Cabolis

in I by IMD

24 February 2025

Article

Do you know the 5 steps to make money on sustainability?

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...

Sustainability

By Knut Bjarne Haanaes, Bryony Jansen van Tuyll and Øystein D. Fjeldstad

in I by IMD Brain Circuits

17 February 2025

Article

Female entrepreneurs’ thirst for knowledge and the dark side of customer learning actions

This study investigates whether male and female entrepreneurs exhibit systematic differences in the customer learning actions they pursue, and how those actions convert to venture performance. Drawing from a dyadic sample of founders and startup a...

Entrepreneurship Customer Centricity

By Matthew R. Marvel, Marcus T. Wolfe, Emily Neubert, Donald F. Kuratko and Sophie Bacq

in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

14 February 2025, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587241311119

Article

How can I leverage AI for smarter sustainability?

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 ...

Sustainability Artificial Intelligence

By Julia Katharina Binder and Michael R. Wade

in I by IMD Brain Circuits

10 February 2025

Article

AI Driven Sustainability - Innovation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely recognized as a driver of productivity, while sustainability, despite its benefits to the environment, is often seen as a cost burden. When combined, however, we believe they form a powerful synergy that can ...

Artificial Intelligence Innovation Sustainability

By Julia Katharina Binder and Michael R. Wade

in I by IMD

4 February 2025

Coordination, sensemaking, and idea work: How founding teams pivot their venture ideas

By Eva Weissenböck Nicola Breugst and Anna Brattström
in Journal of Business Venturing March 2025, vol. 40, no. 2, 106472, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2024.106472

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Team Dynamics

Purpose

Browse all topics

DSS+: Carving out a sustainability consulting leader

By Benoit F. Leleux Giorgio Pignalosa Larissa Margot Bieler Mojisola Onabanjo Akinkunmi and Nicolas Campodonico
Case reference: IMD-7-2639 ©2025

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

Organization dss+, Gyrus Capital, Inflexion

Industry Services, Environmental Services;Healthcare, Health and Medical Services;Services, Public Safety;Business Management Services, Consultancy

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance

Entrepreneurship

Sustainability

Browse all topics

Female entrepreneurs’ thirst for knowledge and the dark side of customer learning actions

By Matthew R. Marvel Marcus T. Wolfe Emily Neubert Donald F. Kuratko and Sophie Bacq
in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 14 February 2025, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587241311119

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Entrepreneurship

Customer Centricity

Browse all topics

How can I leverage AI for smarter sustainability?

By Julia Katharina Binder and Michael R. Wade
in I by IMD Brain Circuits 10 February 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications