Skip to main content
About HEC About HEC Faculty & Research Faculty & Research Master’s programs Master’s programs MBA Programs MBA Programs PhD Program PhD Program Executive Education Executive Education Summer School Summer School HEC Online HEC Online About HEC Overview Overview Who
We Are Who
We Are
Egalité des chances Egalité des chances HEC Talents HEC Talents International International Campus
Life Campus
Life
Sustainability Sustainability Diversity
& Inclusion Diversity
& Inclusion
Stories Stories The HEC
Foundation The HEC
Foundation
Coronavirus Coronavirus
Faculty & Research Overview Overview Faculty Directory Faculty Directory Departments Departments Centers Centers Chairs Chairs Knowledge@HEC Knowledge@HEC Master’s programs Master in
Management Master in
Management
Master's
Programs Master's
Programs
Double Degree
Programs Double Degree
Programs
Summer
Programs Summer
Programs
Exchange
students Exchange
students
Student
Life Student
Life
Our
Difference Our
Difference
MBA Programs MBA MBA Executive MBA Executive MBA TRIUM EMBA TRIUM EMBA PhD Program Overview Overview HEC Difference HEC Difference Program details Program details Research areas Research areas HEC Community HEC Community Placement Placement Job Market Job Market Admissions Admissions Financing Financing Executive Education Executive Masters Executive Masters Executive Certificates Executive Certificates Executive short programs Executive short programs Online Online Companies Companies Executive MBA Executive MBA Infinity Pass Infinity Pass Summer School Youth Programs Youth Programs Summer programs Summer programs HEC Online Overview Overview Degree Program Degree Program Executive certificates Executive certificates MOOCs MOOCs Summer Programs Summer Programs Youth programs Youth programs

Instant

Veolia’s Eau du Grand Lyon: Orchestrating a Social Ecosystem in a Community Around Water Distribution

Case Study
Published on:
3 minutes

Veolia’s Eau du Grand Lyon case, written by HEC Paris Professor Bertrand V. Quélin, Bouygues Chair Professor in Smart City and the Common Good, and Anicet Fangwa, HEC Paris Ph.D. candidate, has just been released on the Case Centre platform. This case study explores how a company might reconcile profit motives with the greater needs of a community’s inhabitants.

lyon - adobe

© Frédéric Prochasson on Adobe Stock

Veolia is a leading water, waste, and energy management company, employing nearly 179,000 employees worldwide. Currently, the company is working towards an ecological transformation in the communities that they operate in.

The case study set in Lyon, France, 470 Kilometers south East of Paris where the wholly Veolia owned subsidiary Eau du Grand Lyon (EGL) had won a contract in 2015 to manage water distribution, the entire lifecycle of water to waste treatment in the greater Lyon area.

 

Hypervisor for a centralized monitoring of water network in Greater Lyon.

 

 

The company had won the bid to serve the Lyon community by orchestrating an ecosystem of partnerships consisting of businesses and not-for profit organizations. 

EGL created the ecosystem by collaborating with the local community, city governance authorities, and economic players throughout the Lyon area. It succeeded in balancing a company’s need to make a profit while contributing to the greater good of an entire community; in other words, a hybrid organization.

why this case?

While many large companies aim for greater common good without tangible output, EGL has succeeded in creating a governance structure that delivered on its promises to help the local communities with numerous initiatives such as job creation, vocational training, digital initiatives, and smart metering to promote water conservation. 

The case analyzes the notion of hybrid organization which has a dual performance objective of financial performance as well as social and economic benefits to the community it serves. In particular, the case analyzes:

  • The articulation of a business model which aims to create a win-win collaboration between not-for-profit associations and the company.
  • The complexity of a hybrid organization; governance and policy processes are different from traditional supplier relationships. 

Although the contract between Lyon and EGL will end in 2023, the experience reinvigorated Veolia’s principles of collaboration in the communities that it serves around the world. The experience in Lyon serves as a model for the company to find ways to work towards greater common good.

 

cas veolia
Source: Eau du Grand Lyon

 

Related content on Case Study

Subscribe button for Knowledhe@HEC newsletter

Newsletter knowledge

A monthly brief in your email box and 3 issues of the book per year.

follow us

Insights @HECParis School of #Management

Follow Us

Support Research

Our articles are produced thanks to our reader's support