Assignment 1 Instructions
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374
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Industrial Engineering
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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MANA 374 - Sustainable Management
Assignment 1 (Individual) Instructions
Overview
This assignment provides an opportunity to develop skills related to stakeholder
engagement based on a real-world business sustainability issue (described below).
Students will:
•
Conduct research to learn about the business sustainability issue,
•
Work individually to develop a vision for a stakeholder engagement, identify, map
and prioritize stakeholders, and recommend a stakeholder engagement
approach.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completing this assignment, students will be able to:
(1) Develop a vision for stakeholder engagement
(2) Identify, analyze, map, and prioritize stakeholders
(3) Develop a stakeholder engagement plan
About the Company and Context
Company Overview
In 1998, Chip Wilson founded Lululemon Athletica in Vancouver, Canada (Lululemon,
n.d.). They initially served the yoga community and expanded their products for both
genders and many athletic categories (Lululemon, n.d.). By 2022, Lululemon had a
global presence of 650 stores
1
. They achieved revenues of $1 billion in 2011, which
grew to $8 billion by 2022
2
.
Sustainability and the Fashion Apparel Industry
The fashion industry contributes approximately 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse
gas emissions, exceeding combined emissions from the shipping and aviation sectors
(UN, 2019). Among the environmental damage posed by clothing production include
1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2023/06/08/lululemon-celebrating-25-years-with-continued-
global-expansion/?sh=3009074d5437
2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2023/06/08/lululemon-celebrating-25-years-with-continued-
global-expansion/?sh=3009074d5437
©
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without the permission of the owner.
natural resources such as water, chemicals from dyes that spill into the natural
environment, and the waste produced by unused or underutilized clothing (UN, 2019).
Lululemon’s Commitment to Sustainability
In the fall of 2020, Lululemon released an impact agenda outlining the brand's
dedication to fostering a sustainable future (Lululemon, 2020). The impact agenda
pinpointed key areas of focus: sustainable product innovation, sustainable materials,
circularity, climate change, and water and waste.
Among their planetary goals, they state "by 2030, we will make 100 percent of our
products with sustainable materials and end-of- use solutions toward a circular
ecosystem."
(p. 25). Their stated goal in sustainable materials innovation: "By 2025, we
will achieve at least 75 percent sustainable materials for our products
—
including fibres
that are recycled, renewable, regenerative, sourced responsibly, or some combination
thereof, and/or are manufactured using low-resource processes." (p. 26)
While the company was showing indication of moving in a positive direction, for
example, their sustainable material usage increased to 38% in 2021 from 30% in 2020
(Holger, 2023), they still had opportunities to improve.
Environmental and Social Controversies
Despite its market success, Lululemon has experienced various controversies.
Notably,
Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon, had placed the company in the spotlight
emerging from his contentious remarks. In 2013, Lululemon attracted media attention
from c
omments Wilson made regarding women’s bodies arising from quality concerns
of its leggings raised by customers (Holpuch, 2013). Shortly following, Wilson resigned
as chairman of the board (Holpuch, 2013).
The company's environmental progress also garnered skepticism over the years. For
example, in 2022, Stand.earth, an environmental not-for-profit organization, raised
attention to Lululemon's use of coal-powered factories in Asia (Stand.earth, n.d.).
Responses to this news included yoga instructors across the globe who penned an
open letter urging Lululemon to transition to renewable energy sources for production
(Readfearn, 2022).The not-for-profit organization also highlighted an increase in
emissions intensity in 2021, raising questions regarding the company's progress in
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without the permission of the owner.
meeting its
sustainability targets
(
https://shop.lululemon.com/en-ca/story/product-
sustainability
)
(texfash, 2022).
Sustainability Ratings and Feedback
External evaluators have critically assessed Lululemon’s sustainability commitments.
Notably, in January 2022, Good on You, a sustainable and ethical fashion brand rating
platform, rated Lululemon as ‘not good enough’, identifying gaps in their environmen
tal,
social, and animal welfare practices.
Lululemon’s Product Sustainability
A key issue regarding Lululemon's environmental sustainability centres on its products.
One of their most popular products, their leggings, is a source of the company's success
and ecological unsustainability. This is because Lululemon's leggings rely on nylon over
polyester. Nylon constitutes over half of the synthetic fabric the company uses in their
product (Holger, 2023).
As a petroleum-derived fabric, nylon is non-biodegradable that releases microplastics
into the environment (Truscott, 2020).
Considering these emerging concerns and the company's commitment to integrating
more sustainable materials into its products, it has taken several positive steps. For
example, they invested in the bioengineering firm Genomatica, aiming to develop plant-
based nylon alternatives (Kerencheva, 2021). By 2023, in collaboration with
Genomatica, Lululemon introduced the first plant-based nylon products (Paglinawan,
2023).
They also partnered with Australian tech startup Samsara Eco in 2023, which
"will create wha
t they describe as the world’s first infinitely recycled nylon 6,6 and
polyester from apparel waste." (Shu, 2023).
Asked about the sustainability transition, Esther Speck, vice president and head of
sustainable business and impact, emphasized Lululemon's dedication: "As with any
large-scale material transition, these transformations take a concerted effort across all
of our supply chain vendors and manufacturing partners and require time to build and
scale." (Roshitsh, 2022)
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In conclusion, Lululemon's ambition to lead in sustainable materials by 2030
necessitates robust stakeholder engagement.
As encapsulated by Speck's statement,
the journey ahead is challenging but one the company is committed to undertaking.
References
Holger, D. (2023, April 20). Lululemon’s climate goals hinge on replacing oil with
plastics.
Wall Street Journal
. https://www.wsj.com/articles/lululemons-climate-goals-
hinge-on-replacing-oil-with-plants-
6dda5c6a#:~:text=In%202021%2C%2038%25%20of%20its,Speck%20said
Holpuch, A. (2013, December 10). Lululemon founder steps down from embattled
sporting apparel company.
The Guardian
.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/lululemon-founder-chip-wilson-steps-
down
Kerencheva, E. (2021, August 24). Lululemon aims to replace petrochemicals with
plant-based nylon in partnership with Genomatica.
ESGtoday
.
https://www.esgtoday.com/lululemon-aims-to-replace-petrochemicals-with-plant-based-
nylon-in-partnership-with-genomatica/
Lululemon. (n.d.).
History
. https://info.lululemon.com/about/our-story/history
Lululemon. (2020). 2020 Impact Agenda.
https://corporate.lululemon.com/~/media/Files/L/Lululemon/our-impact/2020-impact-
agenda.pdf
Paglinawan, D. (2023, April 18). Lululemon unveils first shirts featuring plant-based
nylon.
Financial Post
. https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/lululemon-first-
shirts-plant-based-nylon
Readfearn, G. (2022, September 14). Hundreds of yoga teachers call out Lululemon
over coal-powered factories.
The Guardian
.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/14/hundreds-of-yoga-teachers-call-
out-lululemon-over-coal-powered-factories
Roshitsh, K. (2022, September 12). Lululemon’s latest impact report puts pressure on
decarbonization. Yahoo!finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lululemon-latest-
impact-report-puts-200100401.html
Shu, C. (2023, May 18). ‘Infinite recycling’ startup Samsara Eco partners with
Lululemon.
TechCrunch
. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/18/samsara-eco-lululemon/
STAND.earth. (n.d.). Lululemon’s coal pollution. https://stand.earth/lulucoal/
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© May not be copied or duplicated
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texfash.(2022, September 19). Lululemon’s sustainability report fails to hide it increased
climate pollution by 60%: Stand.earth. https://texfash.com/update/lululemons-
sustainability-report-fails-to-hide-it-increased-climate-pollution-by-60
Truscott, L. (2020, January 24). How companies can source nylon more sustainably.
GreenBiz
. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-companies-can-source-nylon-more-
sustainably#:~:text=Like%20polyester%2C%20nylon%20is%20made,of%20its%20prod
uct%20life%20cycle
UN. (2019, August 15). ActNow for Zero-Waste Fashion.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/08/actnow-for-zero-waste-
fashion/
Assignment Details
For this assignment, you will follow the BSR “Five
-Step Approach to Stakeholder
Engagement” to investigate a path for engaging with stakeholders to understand and
respond to the business sustainability issue described above.
1.
Develop a vision for a stakeholder engagement related to the business
sustainability issue presented above (≤ 150 words).
The vision should identify
the company’s motivation for engaging with stakeholders, the specific business
and sustainability objectives the company is trying to achieve through the
stakeholder engagement, and the scope of the stakeholder engagement. For this
course, your vision should go beyond the perspective of balancing stakeholder
values and mitigating business risks to one focused on long-term relationships
and shared value.
2.
Identify stakeholders (≤750 words).
Develop a list of at least 10 stakeholders
who have an interest in (or may develop an interest in) the business sustainability
issues described above. Remember, it is often better to identify specific
individuals or groups rather than broad categories of stakeholders. For each
stakeholder, describe their specific interest (e.g., ways impacted, needs,
expectations, concerns, agenda). Be sure to include a rich diversity of
stakeholders, including stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and with diverse
perspectives and interests.
3.
Select 3-5 criteria and analyze stakeholders (
≤ 200 words, 1 table).
Select
and describe 3-5 criteria for analyzing stakeholders based on your stakeholder
vision. For each criterion, the description should define the criterion and explain
why it is important for your analysis. Use your selected criteria to analyze the
identified stakeholders. The results of your analysis should be presented in a
table.
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4.
Map and prioritize stakeholders (1 table, ≤3 visualizations, ≤200 words).
Based on your analysis, map stakeholders to determine which stakeholders will
be most useful to engage with.
The results your mapping should be presented in
up to 3 visualizations. The results of your mapping should be summarized in text.
Note that you should not simply duplicate the maps presented in the BSR guide.
Rather, your mapping approach should clearly align with your stakeholder vision.
5. R
ecommend a stakeholder engagement approach (≤200 words).
Based on
your findings, recommend a stakeholder engagement approach. As explained by
BSR, “it is not practical or smart to engage all stakeholder groups with the same
level of intensity, using the same approach.” Instead, it is important to be
strategic and clear about whom to engage with and why. Your recommendation
should clearly specify which stakeholders the company should engage with, why
the company should engage with them, and how the engagement should be
conducted. Keep in mind, it is important to be strategic and selective. Engaging
with stakeholders takes time and money. In addition, stakeholder engagement
followed by inaction can negatively impact a company’s reputation.
You will likely identify some of your stakeholders through your research about the
business sustainability issue noted above and the company. A list of references cited in
the assignment should be provided at the end of your assignment. The list of references
does not count towards your total word count.
Assignment Submission
Your completed assignment should be no more than 1,500 words long. Submit your
completed assignment as a pdf through the submission link provided on eConcordia by
11:59pm on the due date. Refer to the Course Outline for the due date.
Grading Rubrics
This assignment will be graded according to the following grading guide.
Criterion
Weight
Developed a specific and clear vision and identified specific objectives
for the stakeholder engagement. The vision and objectives make sense
given the business context, have a clear business motivation, and will
facilitate long-term relationships and shared value.
20%
Identified 10 specific stakeholders (e.g., individual, group of individuals,
organization) and clearly described each stakeholder’s specific
20%
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interests or future interests (e.g., ways impacted, needs, expectations,
concerns, agenda) related to the business sustainability issues.
Included a rich diversity of stakeholders from different stakeholder
categories that go beyond the “usual suspects” to
include stakeholders
from diverse backgrounds and with diverse perspectives and interests.
Described the stakeholders and their interests objectively, without
forming judgements about their interests or their relative importance.
Selected, described, and used three to five relevant and distinct criteria
to effectively analyze stakeholders; included a robust justification of the
selected criteria based on the specific vision.
20%
Developed, described and used visualizations to effectively determine
which stakeholders will be most useful to engage with; included robust
justification of the approach based on the specific vision.
10%
Recommended a stakeholder engagement approach and format that
makes sense based on vision, objectives, stakeholder mapping, and
resource constraints; clearly specified with whom the company should
engage, why the company should engage with these stakeholders, and
how the engagement should be conducted.
10%
Demonstrated a solid understanding of the business sustainability issue
and developed an overall compelling report (well-structured and
integrated throughout, compelling to the company and their
stakeholders, high probability of leading to long-term relationships and
shared value).
20%