Jupiter Bach: Committing to sustainability (Abridged)

The case documents the efforts by Lone Stubberup, Global Director of Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE), to convert her employer to the highest sustainability standards through all its activities. In this way, Jupiter Bach, a Denmark-based producer of nacelles and spinner covers for wind turbines could differentiate itself in a highly competitive, cost-driven industry. Deeply committed to the need of address issues such as material recycling and CO2 emissions, Lone set out to convince the executive board and the firm’s VC investors to push sustainability to top of the agenda. A surprising feature of the case is the realization that the wind turbine industry, a much-acclaimed key player in the anticipated energy transition, has been operating as if exonerated from doing its part thanks to the very nature of its activities. Wind turbine producers have been lambasted for their poor sustainability footprint and their disregard for most social and environmental impacts. Cost has been the single focus, in a mad drive to reduce the cost of energy production to levels that competed with other energy sources. Lone knew from the outset she was in for a rough ride, but she was committed to making the case for sustainability at Jupiter Bach. In her mind, this was in line with the firm’s leading status in its field and a legitimate value addition that would set the company up for further success. She spent months working on a solid sustainability strategy showing a clear path forward, at a pace the company could handle, that was aligned with the firm’s core value of “We Care.” She received the necessary support, but reality intruded in 2020 with the COVID-19 crisis, when most clients reverted to a purely cost-driven agenda. Jupiter Bach initially lost significant business because of its higher costs, testing its resolve to put societal benefits near the top of its agenda. Keeping sustainability to the fore was going to be a challenge, but one Lone felt she could handle.

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