Jupiter Bach: Committing to Sustainability

The case documents the efforts by Lone Stubberup, Global Director of Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) to convert her employer, Danish wind-mill nacelle and nose cone producer Jupiter Bach, to the highest sustainability standards through all its activities as a means to differentiate in a highly competitive, cost-driven industry. Deeply committed to the need of address issues such as material recycling and CO2 emissions, she 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 of course the realization that the windmill industry, a much-acclaimed key player in the much-anticipated energy transition, has very much been operating so far as if exonerated from doing its part thanks to the very nature of its activities. Wind turbine producers have been lambasted not only for their extremely poor sustainability footprints but also their total disregard for most social and environmental impacts. Cost has been the single focus of attention, in a mad drive to run down the cost of energy production to levels competitive with other energy sources. Lone Stubberup knew from the beginning 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 perfectly in line with the firm's positioning as a leading Denmark-based nacelle and spinner cover producer for off- and onshore wind turbines, and a most legitimate value addition that would set the company up for further success in the future. She spent months putting together a solid sustainability strategy showing a clear path forward, at a pace the company could handle, that was completely aligned to the firm's core value of "We Care". She received the support she needed but reality intruded in 2020 with the COVID crisis, and a sudden return by most clients to a pure cost-driven agenda. Jupiter Bach initially lost significant business because of its higher

• Value propositions
• Corporate social responsibility
• Environmental sustainability
• Strategy