Integrated performance: a new common language under construction

Companies today face a complex equation if they are to remain viable over the long term: reconciling economic competitiveness with the imperatives of social and environmental responsibility. In this context, and given that the ability of companies to ensure their long-term viability depends in particular on their ability to anticipate risks, particularly extra-financial risks, the objectification of companies' impact performance and its integration within their overall strategy becomes an essential strategic element in guaranteeing the robustness and prosperity of our economy. 

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1. Monetizing positive impact: redefining company valuation with Impact Unicorns

Against this backdrop, the Mouvement Impact France, alongside its expert and academic partners, has been working for the past 4 years to rethink the criteria that define the success of companies, going beyond traditional financial criteria alone. The aim: to contribute to the definition and democratization of concrete, accessible methodologies for monetizing the avoided costs to society associated with the positive impact performance of impact companies, in order to identify the economic spin-offs of their commitments and facilitate their full integration into management strategies. 

Initially working alongside BCG and IPSOS, an initial study carried out in 2022 aimed to understand the remaining obstacles to the scaling-up of impact start-ups. This led to the emergence of the concept of the "impact Unicorn", a company less than 10 years old, proposing a disruptive innovation and enabling 50 million euros in avoided costs for society per year (replacing the billion euro financial valuation, one of the criteria for defining "Unicorns" in fintech, big data or blockchain). 

The second part of this study the following year, in partnership with ESSEC Business School, endorsed a specific definition of the impact unicorn, and proposed replacing the criterion of financial valuation with that of the social and environmental value created. By measuring the direct costs avoided for society thanks to the activity of these startups, these two studies proved the value of financially valuing social and environmental impacts. 

A third study in 2024 extended the measurement to indirect costs and overall societal value, using an approach inspired by Social Return on Investment (SROI), offering a better understanding of the total impact of companies on society and the environment. For impact-assessed companies, the costs avoided and the total value created correspond on average to 130% of their sales. 

2. Exploring a new field of impact measurement: thinking about the avoided costs of strategies to limit negative impacts

For the fifth year running, and against a backdrop of ecological backlash, we have chosen to break new ground in impact measurement. Our aim is to reaffirm that companies' social and environmental commitments are not running out of steam; on the contrary, they are becoming increasingly consolidated. Far from being a constraint, the integration of societal impact, via avoided costs, into their business model should be a factor that multiplies their overall performance.

The aim of this new study is therefore to broaden the prism of analysis beyond impact companies alone, and to explore the financial valuation of the impact of strategies deployed by companies to limit negative externalities, based on the calculation of avoided costs. 

Co-piloted by Mouvement Impact France and consulting firm Wavestone, a panel of six companies (Harmonie Mutuelle, Veolia, Sogaris, BEL, L'Occitane, La Poste) are the focus of concrete case studies covering different angles of impact: carbon footprint, environmental footprint and inclusive HR policies.

"This partnership with Impact France illustrates Wavestone's commitment to taking an active part in collective strategic thinking, in addition to providing concrete support to companies in their sustainable transformations. We are convinced that social responsibility is an essential lever for creating sustainable value, both for companies and for society as a whole. Through this exploratory study on avoided costs, we hope to fuel and enrich exchanges between peers on impact, and equip companies to better understand and value the tangible benefits of their commitments," emphasizes Cédric Baecher, Partner at Wavestone. 

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The Universités d'Été de l'Économie de Demain, held on August 29, was the first opportunity to present our approach, with a masterclass on the objectification of global corporate performance. 

Combining the words of experts and feedback from the field from the companies on the panel, the need to build a common language for impact measurement became clear, so that these methods can eventually be truly democratized. Publication of this study is scheduled for the end of 2025. 

"The economic fabric as a whole is already led, partly by regulations, to take into account the environmental and social costs generated by its activity. Supporting them in promoting and disseminating this integrated performance will only make our model, which combines competitiveness and sustainability, more robust," concludes Caroline Neyron, Managing Director of Impact France.