You are the director of product innovation within the research & development (R&D) unit of Spectrum Sunglass Company.

You have recently noticed that sustainable economic development and the link between sustainability and innovation is featured in many of the professional articles you read, such as "Why Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation." While you generally feel very positive about Spectrum, you are frustrated that you don't have any new sunglass products to offer to the vocal customers who increasingly express concerns about Spectrum's environmental impact. Not only does sustainable development make sense to you personally, from both a moral and an economic standpoint, you also see this as an opportunity to differentiate Spectrum's products from your competitors, which focus exclusively on design and price.

During Spectrum Sunglass Company's annual strategy retreat, you decide to pitch the idea of forming a task force to make the company and its products more environmentally sustainable. Your vision for Spectrum consists of three specific goals:

1. Eliminate 25 percent of waste by redesigning the manufacturing process.
2. Reduce the current level of greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent.
3. Creating a new product line based entirely on environmentally benign materials.

You argue that these goals, while aggressive, are achievable within the next two years. Based on your current understanding, the task force will need to pursue the following activities:

1. Conduct energy audits and set aggressive milestones for improvement on the three goals.
2. Redesign processes and products to be more environmentally sustainable (and scale up successful experiments quickly).
3. Analyze environmental life cycles throughout the entire value chain inside the firm and with its suppliers.
4. Replace petroleum-based materials with biodegradable materials.

After politely listening to your proposal, the team present begins to respond.

Andrew Chen (general counsel): In my professional opinion, the sustainability project opens up the company to unnecessary legal risks. If we go ahead with this, I would advise we pursue only one of the three goals, and that we not publicly announce or promise it until after a careful internal due diligence process.

Paul Diaz (CFO): Instead of focusing on a pie-in-the-sky sustainability project, the task force's time and money would be better spent on finding innovative ways for Spectrum to reduce raw material costs and counteract the seasonality of its business.

Aisha Farook (VP of operations): I'm concerned about a product and process change that is likely to increase raw material costs and disrupt existing production flows.

Leslie Harris (VP of sales and marketing): This idea has considerable promise and it would be foolish to reject it prematurely.

After an hour-long discussion, Hasan Ashraf, the CEO, and the rest of the management team agree to support your proposal, with the condition that the measure of success be your team's ability to achieve the proposed three goals within the next two years. The CEO agrees to allow you and your task force to spend 75 percent of your time on this change initiative over the next two years.

Your central challenge is to convince your colleagues that a dramatic change in the organization's strategy and products is necessary and that environmental sustainability is one of the keys to the company's future. This challenge is somewhat complicated by the fact that you must influence the rest of the organization without the formal authority to command employees' attention, and there is no generally perceived need to change at this moment because of the company's return to normal profitability. You do have a reputation for being competent and trustworthy, however, and this reputational capital will be invaluable to you as you take on this new challenge. The Harvard Business Publishing "Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence"

1) What were the key characteristics of your influence scenario?