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

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

Despite the availability of many methodologies, management approaches, and literature on strategy execution, research suggests that seven out of ten organizations fail to successfully execute their strategies. However, three out of ten organizations do appear to succeed. To find out what these organizations do differently, ten key management elements for successful strategy execution were identified from the literature as well as seven business benefits that could be realized if these elements were performed effectively. Next, 93 organizations were surveyed, followed by focus group meetings with senior managers. While mastery of formal methodologies and development of business cases are important, successful strategy execution is critically dependent on having a portfolio of change programs that are explicitly aligned with the organization's strategy. Further, this portfolio needs to be supported by the strategic leadership team and managed within a culture conducive to change. There are specific actions that organizations need to take to identify which elements of their strategy execution capability need to improve in order to take their performance to the next level.