The Observatory of Sociétés à Mission, co-founded by the Communauté des Entreprises à Mission and the Chair Theory of the Enterprise, published its first barometer in January 2021. The OSMosis research project, launched in late 2021, accompanied the development of this observatory, seeking to characterise the société à mission movement and the variety of phenomena it brings about.
How does the adoption of this status, by more than 2,000 companies today, change the entrepreneurial fabric and relationships within ecosystems? How does it transform shareholding? How do mission committees manage to oversee commitments? What does formulating a mission change for employees?
On 8 July 2025, the closing seminar presented the project’s results at Mines Paris – PSL. They were discussed with academic guests (Anne-Claire Pache, ESSEC; Marek Hudon, ULB; Bertrand Valiorgue, EM Lyon) and practitioners (Olivier de Guerre, Phitrust; Natalie Rastoin, Polytane, chair of the mission committee of Groupe La Poste).
Main findings
- Mission statements and commitment: most missions go beyond conventional CSR by placing tensions to be resolved and design efforts at the heart of the commitment. When formulated too broadly, however, they may create confusion or a feeling of exclusion among employees.
- Reshaping shareholding: the status has unexpected effects on capital (concentration in favour of founders, growth of employee shareholding, greater presence of public shareholders) and sees the emergence of “mission” investors with broader accountability practices.
- “Generative” oversight: some mission committees go beyond compliance checks to question whether management choices remain faithful to the company’s statutory commitments. More than 50% of them include scientific expertise.