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Case Study
dss+: Carving out a sustainability consulting leader

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…

Finance Entrepreneurship Sustainability
2025 EFMD Case Writing Competition – Winner: Finance and Banking, Entrepreneurship
By Benoit F. Leleux, Giorgio Pignalosa, Larissa Margot Bieler, Mojisola Onabanjo Akinkunmi and Nicolas Campodonico
Case reference: IMD-7-2639, © 2025
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?
2025 EFMD Case Writing Competition – Winner: Finance and Banking, Entrepreneurship
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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Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Article
Stop running so many AI pilots

In late 2023, when the management team at the consumer packaged goods company Reckitt considered adopting gen AI, potential use cases spanned the business—from drafting presentations to delivering customer support to optimizing procurement contracts. Many of the use cases guaranteed time savings and an immediate return on investment, but they ap…

Artificial Intelligence Strategy
Selected for HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Artificial Intelligence, updated and expanded
By Goutam Challagalla, Mahwesh Khan and Fabrice Beaulieu
in Harvard Business Review
November-December 2025, vol. 103, issue 6, pp. 90-99
Stop running so many AI pilots
By Goutam Challagalla Mahwesh Khan and Fabrice Beaulieu
in Harvard Business Review November-December 2025, vol. 103, issue 6, pp. 90-99
Summary
In late 2023, when the management team at the consumer packaged goods company Reckitt considered adopting gen AI, potential use cases spanned the business—from drafting presentations to delivering customer support to optimizing procurement contracts. Many of the use cases guaranteed time savings and an immediate return on investment, but they ap…
Selected for HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Artificial Intelligence, updated and expanded
Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Case Study
SKF Bearings series: Market orientation through services (A): Restructuring the before and after market

In the spring of 1987 Mauritz Sahlin, CEO of SKF, the world’s largest bearing company, decided to transform the company to improve profitability and return on assets. Production had already been rationalized and was fully automated, leaving little room for savings. Neither could R&D expenditures be cut, given the company’s reputation for technol…

Marketing
1997 ECCH AWARD WINNER (Marketing); 1995 ECCH AWARD RUNNER-UP (Marketing)
Best-selling Case Study
By Sandra Vandermerwe and Marika Natasha Taishoff
Case reference: IMD-5-0383, © 1990
SKF Bearings series: Market orientation through services (A): Restructuring the before and after market
By Sandra Vandermerwe and Marika Natasha Taishoff
Case reference: IMD-5-0383 ©1990
Summary
In the spring of 1987 Mauritz Sahlin, CEO of SKF, the world’s largest bearing company, decided to transform the company to improve profitability and return on assets. Production had already been rationalized and was fully automated, leaving little room for savings. Neither could R&D expenditures be cut, given the company’s reputation for technological prowess and quality standards. The only viable long term solution was to change the strategic orientation of SKF from the production line to the market, which would now be segmented into the before and after markets. The plan required a complex reorganization of the company with far-reaching consequences throughout the organization, but there was no other option. Intended to be the springboard to a new SKF market culture, SKF Bearing Services was created, and Goran Malm was asked to be its CEO.
1997 ECCH AWARD WINNER (Marketing); 1995 ECCH AWARD RUNNER-UP (Marketing)
Best-selling Case Study
Reference IMD-5-0383
Copyright ©1990
Copyright owner IMD Copyright
Available Languages English
Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications