Preparing for Change, Refining the Business Case, and Creating the Vision

Remember, for all the assignments related to the Step by Step Guide for Sustainability Planning, you are to imagine you are a sustainability consultant for your chosen company. They are relying on you to walk them through a process to improve upon their current sustainability-focused activity.

Become an Expert in Your Company

What am I looking for in these assignments? I am looking for you to (1) demonstrate your understanding of the concepts and methods in the book and (2) showcase your knowledge about your company. Your focus now in this class for the next several weeks should be to become an expert in your company: show that you understand its history, its strategy (as we discussed last week), its products, its business model and financial performance, and its sustainability ambitions, successes and failures, etc. Therefore, your main point(s), key arguments and supporting points must be supported by evidence which is properly cited (see Penn State Library citation guideLinks to an external site.)

Assignment Description

For this asssignment, yoou will use the key concepts and methods in the Introduction - Chapter 3 "Creating the Vision for Sustainability". Use the subheadings below as different sections for your report and answer the questions for each section.

The authors say, "In the broadest sense, sustainability planning revolves around two main questions: should we pursue sustainability and if so, how?" (pg XX in the introduction) As the sustainability consultant, that's where you want to start: making sure everyone understands WHY your company is pursuing sustainability and HOW it is doing so. The first part of the book outlines steps for answering those two main questions, especially the WHY (hint: you will need to think about mission and your company's North Star to find the why). Later chapters go into much greater depth on the HOW (strategy).

So....imagine the leadership team of your company flew into State College and you facilitated a planning meeting with them that addressed the issues below. Afterwards, while they go to the women's soccer match, you will be writing a report for the leadership team that summarizes the answers.

Preparing for Change (~300 woords)

External pressures/opportunities: "What is it about sustainability that makes sense for us? What pressures are pushing us to do it? What opportunities does it present? Are there certain issues within sustainability that are a particular focus (e.g. climate change, e-waste and international labour standards)?" (pg XX) Review current news about your company from trusted news sites and social media. What has been happening in the company's industry and market in 2023? What environmental and social issues are impacting the company and/or its industry? What pressures and opportunities around sustainability are present?

• Internal pressures/opportunities: "How does sustainability relate to other organizational initiatives (e.g. lean manufacturing, environmental management systems and product certification)?" (pg. XX) Review current news about your company from trusted news sites and social media. What has been happening inside the company in 2023? What pressures and opportunities around sustainability are present?

Refine the Business Case (~300 woords plus the SWOT tables/graphics)

• Pick one environmental problem that is relevant to your company. Name it, explain why it is important for your company, and find five important facts about it from reputable sources.
• Produce one Sustainability SWOT for your company. Refer to page 34 in the text. What strengths does your company have to address this environmental problem? What weaknesses exist that can keep or restrict the company from addressing the issue? What opportunities exist outside the company that could be captured if the company wanted to do something to address the issue? What threats exist outside the company that present significant risks if the company tried to do something to address the issue?

Creating the Vision (~200 woords)

• Finally, does your company have a sustainability vision? Before answering that, keep in mind the definition given to us by the authors: "the vision of what a sustainable version of your organization will look like" (pg 37). If so, what is your company's sustainability vision? If not, what do you think it should be? Is it rooted in a clearly connected strategy and tactics for getting to that sustainability north star? How so? If not, how would you formulate the sustainability Vision - Strategy - Tactic connection?
• Companies that are truly committed to sustainability and are advanced in their work have gone beyond new operating processes and products to new business models. Does your company appear to be using any of the four new business models described on pgs 51 and 52? If yes, describe which of the new business models is it using and how.