Business School Case
Voestalpine, the Austria-based global leading steel manufacturing division of High Performance Metals, has made a bold commitment. It would achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with chief sustainability officer Philipp Horner leading the charge. Horner and his strategy team must review its entire manufacturing process to find opportunities for decarbonization, including learning about completely new methods for production and reevaluating its existing blast furnace technology. At a time when competitors are also vying for market share while evaluating their own sustainability efforts, it is critical that Horner and his team consider the downstream effects of any strategic change they make. In this case, students will learn about the steel / industrials sector and examine the critical operational points that affect a company’s carbon output and efficiency. Students will be asked to analyze the challenges incumbents like voestalpine face, including costs, market forces, regulation and government support, among others.
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Citation:
Wagner, Gernot. “Decarbonizing voestalpine High-Performance Metal.” Columbia CaseWorks #230306 (Spring 2023).