COURSE PROJECT

Applying Sustainability Strategy

Instructions
Addressing sustainability in your organization can be daunting, but altering this perspective to view
sustainability as an emerging opportunity in your organization can encourage innovation and growth.
In this project, you will apply six different techniques to a chosen sustainability problem and analyze
the results. This will provide you with different perspectives and help enhance your overall decision-
making abilities.

Except as indicated, use this document to record all your project work and responses to any
questions. At a minimum, you will need to turn in a digital copy of this document to your facilitator
as part of your project completion. You may also have additional supporting documents that you
will need to submit. Your facilitator will provide feedback to help you work through your findings.

Note: Though your work will only be seen by those grading the course and will not be used or shared
outside the course, you should take care to obscure any information you feel might be of a sensitive
or confidential nature.

Complete each project part as you progress through the course. Wait to submit the project until all
parts are complete. Begin your course project by completing Part One below. Submit your completed
project on the final project assignment page online. Information about the grading rubric is available
on any of the course project assignment pages online. Do not hesitate to contact your facilitator if you
have any questions about the project.

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Applying Sustainability Strategy

Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, © 2022 Cornell University

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Part One
Strategizing to Solve Sustainability Issues
In this part of your course project, you will analyze how systems dynamics and design thinking can
be used to identify business opportunities related to your chosen sustainability issue. 

First, you must select an existing sustainability problem from within your own organization to which
you will apply each of the six techniques. If you are not working in an organization or struggle to
identify an existing sustainability problem, you can look for a problem within an outside organization
or you can focus on this example: Lipton, a popular tea brand, has been criticized for plastic pollution
and unsustainable tea sourcing.

Next, work through the systems dynamics and design thinking techniques and reflect on how they
would apply to your chosen problem. You may refer to your Six Techniques tool for assistance.

1. Briefly describe the sustainability problem you will be analyzing throughout this course project
(social, economic, environmental, etc.).

Zara and other possible fast fashion company and its ongoing debate within the fashion
industry whether fast fashion can be truly sustainable. According to research fast fashion
material, includes waste such as microplastics which creates 10% of worlds carbon
emission. Fast fashion companies till this date are still implementing a business strategy
of producing low quality textile to their designed products in order to retain customer to
reinvest and purchase for more.

2. What did you gain from implementing the systems dynamics technique on your problem?

By implementing system dynamic there are factors/ variables that could be used into
consideration. For example, Zara as a fast fashion, by understanding the complexity
system of how Zara as an industry and its supply chain mechanism. This includes
inventory, cost, and risk), factors that impact lead times and delivery delays.
Furthermore, by implementing systems dynamics for a fast fashion industry like Zara, we
gain understanding of many possible factors that could be included. Firstly, its
characteristics of a short lifecycle products, high level of demand, volatility of demand,
high level of price competitions.

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Applying Sustainability Strategy
© 2022 Cornell University
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management,
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
3. Evaluate how the design thinking technique would apply to your problem.

For the discovery phase, primary research is utilized to further research and develop and
understand the concept of consumer buying behavior in terms of fast fashion products,
on revolutionizing on how to reduce waste whilst also retaining customers investment of
purchasing their products. Actors would include brand managers would seek how fast
fashions are being promoted nowadays especially with many complaints of how such
business strategy is not sustainably operated. Lead Textiles would identify issues on
material being used for long term durability and how versatile each product can be.
During the phase, Zara must consider through the perspective of its users’ behaviors.
Factors such as implementing material type and its price would truly affect consumers
perspective of the product on whether it is worth to purchase in regard to the value and
material type. And lastly the delivery phase, where solutions are tested and taken into
practice. In the case of Fast fashion industry, implementing tags that shows indication of
material and its recommended usage would truly affect consumers buying decision.
Similarly to the examples given, a rethinking in product labelling by adding new
information can simply change the perspective of consumers demand, especially when
cost and duration becomes a significant factor.

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Applying Sustainability Strategy

Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, © 2022 Cornell University

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Part Two
Applying Behavioral Economics and
Positive Psychology
In this part of your course project, you will analyze how behavioral economics and positive
psychology contribute to the solution of your chosen sustainability problem. 

Similarly to Part One, work through the behavioral economics and positive psychology techniques
and reflect on how they would apply to your chosen problem. You may refer to your Six Techniques
tool for assistance.

1. What did you gain from applying behavioral economics to your problem?

When taken Zara as a fast fashion into consideration, the company still lies behind many
other fast fashion companies that have taken the leap of sustainable textile materials
such as Uniqlo and Reformation. Just like many fashion consumers, decisions are
heavily influenced over cognitive limitations and time. Nowadays, many fashion industry
understand the tol of developing fast fashion products and how much it really effects
environmental issue for the sake of profit and longevity. Company such as zara are
under production of these short-term products. But companies such as reformation, has
developed an alternative to change the way consumers make decision to focus their
priorities on different factors to become more eco-friendly whilst also retaining the main
purpose of its unique selling point by making stylish and comfortable products whilst still
being a fast fashion However within the areas of sustainability.

2. Did applying positive psychology change your viewpoint on the problem? Why or why not?

Weak signals that can be identified for a fast fashion company such as Zara is the
materials they use for their short term durability of a product, they also have lack of
transparency of how they operate sustainability activities (Zara as a company), as
information’s are all linked to its parents company Inditex, which they don’t provide
details or publicly unavailable. Another approach is the type of consumer they have.
Some have already been loyal for years and some are just there to follow trends.
Through this, there is not much to change especially if the company is a sister brand and

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Applying Sustainability Strategy
© 2022 Cornell University
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management,
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
 owned by a large textile company which discloses detailed information, therefore making
it difficult to apply positive psychology into action as viewpoints are limited to understand
the company now.

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Applying Sustainability Strategy

Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, © 2022 Cornell University

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Part Three
Combining Multiple Problem-Solving Techniques
In this final part of your course project, you will analyze how crowdsourcing and big data contribute to
the solution of your chosen sustainability issue. You will then create a strategy that incorporates
multiple techniques and analyze the interplay among them. 

Section A
Work through the crowdsourcing and big data techniques and reflect on how they would apply to your
chosen problem. You may refer to your Six Techniques tool for assistance. 
1. What did you gain from implementing the crowdsourcing technique?

By implementing crowdsourcing technique towards company such as Zara, especially a

company that already sustained a strong reputation with its loyal customers, it is easy to
identify the key stakeholders and actors, which are the customer themselves. By
retaining direct opinion of their in store buying decisions, would give value on analyzing
data and possible good decision making.

2. How did big data contribute to your decision-making process?

Taking Uniqlo as a sample. A company that is uniquely known for their super comfy plain
colored tshirts with a range of colors. However, experiments have been conducted within
the company to reduce environmental footprints for these t-shirts. A solution was
introduced to create the exact same designs whilst maintaining its comfortability but
made with recycled cotton. Through this, the company has made huge environmental
impacts on reducing carbon waste, because their target demographic and their selling
points are not amended as they still provide plain T-shirts whilst being comfortable and
sustainable.

Section B
Reflect on your responses to implementing the six techniques so far. Consider what techniques you
could combine to maximize results and more accurately evaluate potential problems and solutions.

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Applying Sustainability Strategy
© 2022 Cornell University
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management,
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
 1. What combination of techniques would you implement to solve your sustainability problem?
Choose no less than three techniques to combine.

Answer here.

2. What benefits does each technique yield in relation to your problem?

Answer here.

3. How do these techniques complement one another?

Answer here.

To submit this assignment, please refer to the instructions in the course.

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Applying Sustainability Strategy

Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, © 2022 Cornell University

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business