Spectrum Sunglass Simulation Assignment 1?
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You are a middle manager in Spectrum Sunglass Company, a 10-year-old, privately-held enterprise that designs, manufactures, and sells sunglasses. Your company just returned to a normal level of profitability after an economic recession when softening demand caught the attention of the company’s executives and bankers.?
At the annual strategy retreat, you inform your colleagues that BigMart, a major customer, is about to launch an in-house “Green Stamp” labeling program for environmental friendliness. Suppliers with this manufacturing certification will receive special promotions. A BigMart VP has gone further, threatening to cancel the Spectrum contract if the company does not submit a detailed plan—in just three months—demonstrating how it will reduce its dependence on petroleum-based raw materials. ?
You propose that Spectrum Sunglass implement a sustainability initiative with three ambitious goals:
Eliminate 25% of waste by redesigning the manufacturing process.?
Reduce the current level of greenhouse gas emissions by 15%.
Create a new product line based entirely on environmentally benign materials.
Though not all employees are convinced that the sustainability initiative is desirable or even feasible, you are named as the head of a task force that is charged with implementing the change initiative in two years (96 weeks). ?As the director of product innovation, you have no hierarchical power so you must influence the key change targets, including superiors, peers, and lower-level staff in other departments. ?
To be successful, you have to move the organization through three fundamental, organization-level change phases:?
Mobilization
Movement
Sustain
You have to influence 18 internal stakeholders (change targets) through four individual-level change stages:?
Awareness
Interest
Trial
Adoption
To change the organization successfully in 96 weeks, you must do three things successfully:?
Diagnose the situation
Build and maintain credibility
Select appropriate change levers at appropriate times
What to Do:
Purchase the Spectrum Sunglass simulation from Harvard Business School Publishing, using this link:?.
Read the Foreground reading material.?
Run the?Low Authority, High Urgency?(S3) scenario?. This run will be the baseline for your performance grade.
You will have immediate access through the web interface to your performance against the criteria below. Reflect on what you did, and develop a hypothesis and plan for how you can improve your performance.?
Re-run the?Low Authority, High Urgency?(S3) scenario?. This run will be graded as your improvement.? You have the opportunity to earn full assignment points based on your improvement.
Assessment
Please see the attached rubric for assessment criteria.
Submission
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Include a title for your submission
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Rubric
Spectrum Sunglass Simulation Assignment 1
Spectrum Sunglass Simulation Assignment 2?
Start Assignment
Due?Dec 5?by?11:59pm
?
Points?100
?
Submitting?a file upload
You are a middle manager in Spectrum Sunglass Company, a 10-year-old, privately-held enterprise that designs, manufactures, and sells sunglasses. Your company just returned to a normal level of profitability after an economic recession when softening demand caught the attention of the company’s executives and bankers.?
At the annual strategy retreat, you propose that Spectrum Sunglass implement a sustainability initiative with three ambitious goals:
Eliminate 25% of waste by redesigning the manufacturing process.?
Reduce the current level of greenhouse gas emissions by 15%.
Create a new product line based entirely on environmentally benign materials.
Though not all employees are convinced that the sustainability initiative is desirable or even feasible, you are named as the head of a task force that is charged with implementing the change initiative in two years (96 weeks). ?As the director of product innovation, you have no hierarchical power so you must influence the key change targets, including superiors, peers, and lower-level staff in other departments. ?
To be successful, you have to move the organization through three fundamental, organization-level change phases:?
Mobilization
Movement
Sustain
You have to influence 18 internal stakeholders (change targets) through four individual-level change stages:?
Awareness
Interest
Trial
Adoption
To change the organization successfully in 96 weeks, you must do three things successfully:?
Diagnose the situation
Build and maintain credibility
Select appropriate change levers at appropriate times
Details
Read the Foreground reading material again.?
Run the?Low Authority, Low Urgency?scenario (S1).?
You will have immediate access through the web interface to your performance against the criteria below. ?Reflect on what you did, and develop a hypothesis and plan for how you can improve your performance. ?
Re-run the?Low Authority, Low Urgency?scenario (S1). This run will be graded as your improvement. ?You have the opportunity to earn full assignment points based on your improvement.
Assessment
Please see the attached rubric for assessment criteria.
Spectrum Sunglass Simulation Final Reflection
Due?Dec 9?by?11:59pm
?
Points?100
?
Submitting?an external tool
You have led change for Spectrum Sunglass as the Director of Product Innovation under two different scenarios.
You successfully diagnosed the situation, built and maintained your credibility, and used the appropriate change levers at appropriate times to lead lasting, transformational change within 96 weeks.?
Details
Diagnosis
Diagnosing the situation is the first step in any change scenario. ?Diagnosis includes understanding the context of the change, the change agent’s power and influence, and the stakeholders. ?Answer the following:
Is the change in S1 reactive or proactive?
Is the change in S1 addressing an opportunity gap or a productivity gap?
Is the change in S3 reactive or proactive?
Is the change in S3 addressing an opportunity gap or a productivity gap?
Was it harder to lead proactive change or reactive change? ?At what phase did you observe the biggest differences in leading reactive change and proactive change?? Explain your rationale and relate it to the situation at Spectrum Sunglass, i.e. the context for the change scenario.
As the director of product innovation, you have no formal power. ?How did you build and maintain your credibility?
What factors determined the receptivity of the change targets? ?How would you learn about these factors?
Change adoption
Raising awareness is a key element of the mobilization phase.? Beyond raising awareness, what were your major goals during the mobilization phase?? How did you achieve them?
Trial and adoption are key activities in the movement phase.? Beyond these, what were your major goals during the movement phase? How did you achieve them?
Gaining a critical mass of adopters is necessary to achieve successful change. ? Beyond this, what were your major goals during the sustain phase?? How did you achieve them?
Summary
Write a summary (no more than 2 pages) of how you approached the simulations and the lessons that you learned.? Do not provide a step-by-step description of levers.? Describe what you learned about effectively leading people and the organization through the mobilization, movement and sustainment phases of change.Compare your performance based on:
CER
Building and maintaining your credibility?
Timing and impact of change levers
Explain why there were any differences in performance in the two scenarios (S1 and S3).
What are the top 3 lessons that you will apply in your role as an analyst?
What are the top 3 lessons that you will avoid in your role as an analyst?
Assessment
Your grade will be based on the thoroughness and thoughtfulness on your reflection on the S1 and S3 simulations.
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