When Ethics Becomes Strategy – and Strategy Becomes Identity

Novo Nordisk has changed gear. Once a symbol of quiet Nordic integrity, the company now speaks the language of global power – faster, louder, and more strategic. The question isn’t whether this is necessary. The question is what might get lost along the way.

For decades, Novo Nordisk represented a particular Danish ideal: calm professionalism, long-term thinking, and ethics not as branding – but as practice. The so-called Bagsværd model – white buildings, curated art, triple bottom lines, and a commitment to doing the right thing – stood as a moral counterweight in global business. You didn’t have to say much. You were Novo.

But that identity is shifting.

Today’s Novo is a different force. More assertive, more tactical, more politically attuned. It’s a company that reduces its global workforce by 9,000 people – including 5,000 in Denmark – while launching a menopause campaign that would have been unthinkable just five years ago. A campaign that, some argue, turns a natural life phase into a weight problem – and the female body into a marketplace.

When a top executive says that Novo is “more American,” it’s not just a throwaway line. It’s a signal. A shift in tone. A break from tradition. The message? Being global means playing by global rules.

So what does that mean for the rest of us?

There’s no doubt Novo must act globally. You don’t lead a double-digit growth market by whispering Nordic values into a geopolitical hurricane. But as the company scales its reach, it also redefines its voice. And with that voice comes a new identity – one shaped less by legacy and more by power dynamics.

That’s not necessarily wrong. But it’s not neutral either.

It’s easy to label this evolution as a form of professionalisation. But what if it’s more than that? What if the shift from ethics to “ethics-as-strategy” slowly hollows out the moral core that once set Novo apart?

The old Novo didn’t just have a reputation – it had roots. Deep ones, grounded in the Danish belief that strength and restraint could coexist. That growth didn’t have to erode values. That influence could be wielded with care.

And that’s why this moment matters. Because ethics, once internal compass, now appears as a calculated lever. Because the quiet confidence has been replaced with global fluency. And because even if this new posture is necessary, we should still ask: What are we leaving behind?

We won’t find the answer in an annual report. But we can feel it. In campaigns. In tone. In how uncertainty has disappeared from the company’s public voice. The new Novo defines. The old Novo informed.

So yes, Novo must win globally. No doubt about it. But the real test isn’t whether it succeeds. It’s whether, in the process, it loses the very thing that once made success meaningful.