Roles and Responsibilities of Sustainable Strategic Managers: A Case Study Analysis

This report evaluates the roles and responsibilities of sustainable strategic managers, Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, and discusses the economic and ethical dilemmas faced by leaders in balancing long and short term aims. It also highlights the concepts and tools of strategic business management and their impact on sustainability.

PROJECT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Critically evaluating roles & responsibilities of Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher as
sustainable strategic managers.....................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
Discussing the economic and ethical dilemmas that leaders face in the process of balancing
long & short term aims................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Sustainability refers to process of conducting sustainable practices and adopting the
similar approaches (Purvis, Mao and Robinson, 2019). It plays important role for the companies,
in term of making them capable to meet needs of each stakeholder, such as consumers, investors,
governmental bodies, etc. A company with sustainable approaches, can proceed further, toward
aim achievements, in term of generating excellent brand awareness successfully. The current
study will be based on two case studies, and these are, clime works A; A visionary business to
help stop climate change and clime work B: Business modelling-creating new market
opportunities. Furthermore, report will justify the roles and accountabilities of Christoph Gebald
and Jan Wurzbacher as sustainable strategic managers, supported by the case studies. It will also
specify the concepts and tools of strategic business management, and economic & ethical
dilemmas that strategic leaders face in procedure of balancing long and short goals.
TASK 1
Critically evaluating roles & responsibilities of Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher as
sustainable strategic managers.
A person who takes initiatives to analyse, formulate, and appropriately implement
business strategies that can make environment and economic sustainable, is known as sustainable
strategic manager. Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, is the best example of sustainable
manager in the world of business. The main reason behind knowing these two personalities as
sustainable strategic managers is their contribution towards environment sustainability. As they
founded Zurich Bases start up clime works in the 2009, which is based on advanced technology.
The technology, developed by Gebald and Wurzbacher, help to slow down the massive challenge
or barrier of climate change, in term of capturing CO2 directly from the air.
Evaluate impact of business upon environment - It can be critically evaluated that the
role and accountability of sustainable strategic managers such as Christoph and Jan, is playing
significant role in regard to environmental sustainability (Malm and Carton 2021). As they
accountable to analyse, and predict the existing and in the future of venture they represent. Both
entrepreneurs play their duties and fulfil accountability, in appropriate manner, in form of
determining the impact of their venture upon humanity and environment, as well. It drives their
attention toward strategic decision such as Clime works, for which they put a lot of attempts that

outcome in term of robust technology, that aid to eliminate the cost of production, and building a
viable business model, that effectively capture and sell CO2.
Strategy development - strategic sustainable managers can play their role in varied
terms, for example, developing sustainable strategies, with consideration of CSR concept. This
practice also considered as their important responsibility, which Christoph and Jan fulfilled, in
term of introducing and establishing Zurich-based clean tech organization, that help to reverse
the climate change by removing carbon-dioxide out of air and appropriately storing it
underground. The aim of this start-up venture is to remove more than 1 percent of global CO2
emission from the atmosphere successfully by 2025. The strategy formulation, drives the
attention of both entrepreneurs and strategic managers toward formulating vision and that is to
install clime work flagship plant in the Switzerland. The main motive of their strategy
formulation as start-up venture is to reduce uncertainty around the expectation of solution, which
means they tend to identify and leverage market demand. The success of sustainability strategy
development is possible when entrepreneurs, focus to identify the sustainability related issue.
Christoph and Jan, do the same as they both work together to eliminate the carbon-dioxide and
eliminate that out of the air.
Along with fulfilling above responsibilities and playing roles, they can take more steps
toward solving environment related issues. As strategic sustainable managers, Christoph Gebald
and Jan Wurzbacher, monitor environmental impact of their venture at all the time, for purpose
of taking right decision regarding alter needed for sustainability of environment and progress of
business, in competitive and rapid manner.
Measure organizational sustainable performance - sustainable strategic manager is
responsible to appropriately and effectively measure their organizational performance, which
give them an overview of key actions they can take to eliminate the causes of climate change
(Grahn and et.al., 2022). The best way to measure sustainable performance is aim achievement,
as entrepreneurs can conduct practice of determining aims and approaches used to achieve that in
appropriate manner. It can gives the a clear direction, where current and further changes can be
required. Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, as strategic managers, effectively measure
their venture performance, that aid to set further goals and objectives. Zurich based start-up
clime-works claimed that it is one of the biggest metal device that can aid slow the level of
challenge in the context of climate change.

Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher plays essential role to cure the impact of carbon-
dioxide overproduction on health of environment, which is the most important role and
accountability of sustainable managers in the corporate world. Both entrepreneurs can achieve
the sustainable aims, by introducing innovative concept in the market.
Concepts and tools of strategic business management -
Strategic business management considered as process of ongoing planning, measuring,
examining and assessing all the necessities that an organization require meeting aims and
objectives (Straková and et.al., 2018). In order to conduct this procedure, different types of tools
and concepts are taken into the key consideration by the companies, and entrepreneurs such as
Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, and these are;
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) -
The current concept is useful in the context of issues related to sustainability, that impact
negatively upon environment and their health. CSR concept drives the attention of management
towards taking strategic actions and decisions, such as in form of eliminating usage of plastic
packaging, that can impact air, land and water in negative manner (Latapí Agudelo,
Jóhannsdóttir and Davídsdóttir, 2019). In the recent time plastic packaging become the biggest
factors of pollution, as it contaminate land and air and other essential sources of earth. Majority
of organizations utilized, corporate social responsibility concepts as self-regulated business
model that can aid ventures to be socially and environmentally accountable. It can help
companies to determine the issues and then make appropriate solutions in regard to each issue
that affect negatively upon environment and make it more ineffective for the humans and wild
life. It can also aid to increase the sales, better brand image, and enhance customer loyalty
towards a brand, which products and services they prefer to repurchase. Corporate social
responsibility moves firms ahead towards implementing practices and changing the existing
according to environmental issues that consider and solve appropriately.
EU eco-management and audit scheme - another effective tool that used in the context
of issues related to sustainability is current one. EMAS is one of those premium management
tools that has been developed by the European Commission for the organizations and other
ventures (Whitford and Provost, 2019). Its aim is to evaluate, report and then improve
environmental performance of companies that affect positively upon health of environment. The
usage of EMAS can enable companies to appropriately and effectively improve their

environment performance, by taking sustainable methods into their considerations. There are
varied features encompasses in the EMAS system to tool such as it help to determine the ways
related to the improvement of business efficiency and effectiveness, in term of eliminating
energy consumption, using resources or assets more effectively and producing less water that can
help to reduce venture overheads. It can support firms in finding the appropriate approach or tool
that improve the current practices and activities of business operations, that help to solve
environmental issues, without making any mistake that lead to decrease the sustainability of
environment or health, more than last few years or months. This tool can play important role in
form of solving issue, in term of making companies and their performance, sustainable than the
other brands existing in the similar market or industry.
TASK 2
Discussing the economic and ethical dilemmas that leaders face in the process of balancing long
& short term aims
To focus on the ethical and the economic element by the managers the position were hold
by the strategic leaders. In the process of the short term and the long term aims the ethical and
economic dilemmas faced by the leaders. There will not create the long term impact by making
the strategic direction. Creating of strategic direction is considered as important to avoid the
impact (Guttman and Lev, 2021). Operations performing and the resource availability are the
major economic dilemmas were faced by them as identified through the case study. To the
balancing of the long term the biggest issue handling or using of the resource in the best manner
without exploitation of the natural resource and fulfilling the needs of the consumers. 'What to
produce, 'which quantity to produce' and 'how to produce' are linked with the major economic
dilemma by the leaders of strategic.
To the perspective of the long term it was realized by the leader that there is no effective
creation of the traditional investor which was found in the case study. To the relation of the
quality and the quantity of service context of plan making challenges were faced by the strategic
leaders. To the balancing of the long term and the short term aim and the goals the inappropriate
planning act as the barrier (Chang, 2021). Over the dilemmas of economic it is important for the
managers is to focus on it. In the organization following of the ethical dilemmas is very
important. The major element was considered as the ethical dilemma which should be focused by
the strategic leaders. To the concern of the environment the relation of the impact of managing

ethical dilemmas is witnessed in the case study. Thus, it can be identified that there should be the
managing of the negative impact to the environment within the aligned ethical dilemmas by the
strategic leaders. Performing of the fair practices is also linked with the another attributes
(Guttman and Lev, 2021). To the negative way the organization image can be impacted due to
the ethical concern. Thus, for the strategic leader it is important of maintaining the concerns of
ethical dilemma. Due to the ethical dilemmas the challenges were faced by the leaders such as
the link of the government interference, environment impact in the negative and also the negative
impact to the company.
There is the no major impact of the ethical and the economic dilemmas to the
organization short term aims and the goals. In the organization there will be the impact to the
performance due to the long term ethical dilemmas (Chang, 2021). Thus, to the context of the
issues the strategic leaders of the organization should prepare the context and should focus on the
strategies to reduce or avoid the impact. Not following the concerns of ethical for the long term
is the biggest challenge for the leaders of strategic. The ways in which the ethical consideration
was performed by the organization the reaction of the government and the consumers.
Consumers and the governments were highly conscious to the performing of the ethical
dilemmas by the organization. In the long term the organization will impact due to it.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above report that the needs of the current generation were
fulfilled without affecting the future generation need is referred to as sustainability.
Sustainability is also referred to as the caring of social well being, growth of economic and to the
care of environmental. Thus, the first task of the report evaluated the responsibilities and the
roles of Jan Wurzbacher and the Christoph Gebald which are the strategic managers of
sustainability. Further, the current report discussed the tools and the concepts of strategic
management of business for the applicable to the sustainability problems. Corporate social
responsibility, audit scheme and EU eco management tools were used. Moreover, in the second
task of the current report discussed the ethical and economic dilemmas which were faced by the
leaders of strategic in the process of the short term and the balancing of the long term goals.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chang, V., 2021. An ethical framework for big data and smart cities. Technological Forecasting
and Social Change. 165. p.120559.
Grahn, M and et.al., 2022. Review of electrofuel feasibility—cost and environmental impact.
Progress in Energy. 4(3). p.032010.
Guttman, N. and Lev, E., 2021. Ethical issues in COVID-19 communication to mitigate the
pandemic: dilemmas and practical implications. Health Communication. 36(1). pp.116-
123.
Latapí Agudelo, M. A., Jóhannsdóttir, L. and Davídsdóttir, B., 2019. A literature review of the
history and evolution of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of
Corporate Social Responsibility. 4(1). pp.1-23.
Malm, A. and Carton, W., 2021. Seize the means of carbon removal: the political economy of
direct air capture. Historical Materialism. 29(1). pp.3-48.
Purvis, B., Mao, Y. and Robinson, D., 2019. Three pillars of sustainability: in search of
conceptual origins. Sustainability science. 14(3). pp.681-695.
Straková, J and et.al., 2018. Situational analysis and its role in the process of strategic business
management. Polish Journal of Management Studies. 18.
Whitford, A. B. and Provost, C., 2019. Government Promotion of Corporate Social
Responsibility: Evidence from the EU Eco Management and Audit Scheme.‐ Review of
Policy Research. 36(1). pp.28-49.