| Course | SUS-7000 Designing a Business Case for Sustainability |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Module 3 written assignment: engaging stakeholders and inspiring innovation |
| Length | About 566 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for SUS 7000 Module 3
Who Has to Say Yes: Engaging Stakeholders and Building Innovation Into a Printer's Program
Student Name
Master of Business Administration, Thomas Edison State University
SUS-7000: Designing a Business Case for Sustainability
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Who Has to Say Yes: Engaging Stakeholders and Building Innovation Into a Printer's Program
Stakeholders in the Program
Freeman (1984) treated as stakeholders every group with a hand in, or a stake in, what an organization sets out to achieve. A sustainability program touches many of them, and each can help or block it.
| Stakeholder | Interest | Influence on the program | Engagement approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press operators and the union | Job security, safety, workload | High: spoilage depends on their practices | Involve in design; share savings |
| Supervisors | Meeting schedules | High | Train; include in measures |
| Retail clients | Supplier emissions, recyclable packaging | Very high | Joint goals; quarterly reporting |
| Paper mill and ink suppliers | Volume, product development | Medium | Collaborate on recyclable materials |
| Elizabeth residents near the plant | Air quality, truck traffic | Medium | Open house; report solvent reductions |
| Owners and lenders | Return on investment | Very high | Business case with payback figures |
Engagement Choices
Different stakeholders need different kinds of engagement. For owners and lenders, timely information and a sound financial case are enough to keep their support. For press operators, involvement is essential: they control make-ready, ink density and waste on every job. The union contract requires consultation on new work practices, and the program will be stronger for it, partly because operators know where waste hides better than any manager does. Clients need partnership: joint goals and honest reporting, including where we fall short.
Collaboration Across Boundaries
Senge et al. (2010) argue that sustainability problems are too large for any one organization and require collaboration across boundaries, among companies, suppliers, customers and communities, built on shared understanding of the system. Our largest opportunity, recyclable paper trays for the grocery chain, cannot be solved by us alone: the mill must supply suitable board, a coating supplier must provide a water-based barrier, and the grocery chain must define what its recycling partners can accept.
I propose a joint innovation team with members from the grocery chain's packaging group, the mill's product development team, our coating supplier and our prepress and production staff, meeting monthly for six months to develop and test a tray. Each organization contributes people and test materials; the grocery chain commits to a trial order if the tray passes.
Inspiring Innovation From Within
Innovation also comes from the floor. Hart (1995) argued that firms can build competitive advantage from capabilities in pollution prevention and product stewardship that are hard for rivals to imitate. Spoilage reduction depends on operators' knowledge. I propose a press crew challenge: each of six crews sets its own spoilage target, receives weekly data from press monitoring and shares in savings through a quarterly bonus pool equal to 20 percent of savings above target. Supervisors will receive the same weekly data and short training in coaching rather than policing. Crews will present their methods at a monthly meeting, so good ideas spread from one crew to the next instead of staying with the crew that found them.
Risks
Operators may fear that monitoring will be used to discipline them; the program will state in writing, with the union, that press data will be used for improvement, not discipline. Clients may expect faster progress than we can deliver; quarterly reports will set honest expectations.
Conclusion
The program depends on many stakeholders saying yes. Engagement matched to each group's interests, a joint team that crosses company boundaries and a challenge that draws on operators' knowledge turn stakeholders from bystanders into partners.
References
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman.
Hart, S. L. (1995). A natural-resource-based view of the firm. Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 986-1014. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9512280033
Senge, P., Smith, B., Kruschwitz, N., Laur, J., & Schley, S. (2010). The necessary revolution: Working together to create a sustainable world. Broadway Books.
What the SUS 7000 Module 3 instructions ask for
This written assignment covers engaging stakeholders and inspiring innovation. Expect to identify the stakeholders in a sustainability effort, choose an engagement approach for each, explain how collaboration across organizational boundaries could solve problems no single organization can, and propose ways to encourage innovation. Keep each answer within 500 to 1,000 words, use your own words and draw on your own organization or experience wherever possible. Include employees and neighbors as well as customers and owners, and propose at least one collaboration that crosses company lines. Keep each answer within 500 to 1,000 words.
How this SUS 7000 Module 3 example is built
The paper maps six stakeholder groups in a table with interests, influence and engagement approaches, drawing on stakeholder theory. A section explains why engagement differs by group. A section applies the course text's idea of collaboration across boundaries to a joint innovation team of three companies. A section on innovation from within proposes a press crew challenge, with research on capabilities for advantage. Risks and a conclusion follow. A risks section addresses operators' fear of monitoring with a written commitment and clients' expectations with honest quarterly reports. A joint innovation team brings the grocery client, the paper mill and the coating supplier together on one product, with each contributing people and materials. The conclusion describes stakeholders becoming partners rather than bystanders. Union consultation is treated as a strength, not a hurdle.
SUS 7000 Module 3 rubric: what earns full marks
Mentors grade this assignment on thoughtful application of stakeholder and innovation concepts, specific examples from the student's own context and clear writing in the student's own words. Papers that match engagement to each group's interests and influence show understanding. Proposing collaboration that crosses company boundaries applies the course's central idea. Innovation practices with specific mechanisms, such as shared savings, show practical thinking. Addressing the fears of the people the program depends on, with specific commitments, shows practical stakeholder management. A collaboration in which each partner contributes and benefits shows the course's idea of working across boundaries in practice, and a shared-savings bonus gives crews a reason to innovate. Matching engagement to influence shows judgment.
Common SUS 7000 Module 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Marks are lost for naming stakeholders without their interests or influence, by treating all stakeholders the same or by calling for innovation without saying how it will happen. Others ignore employees. Map each group's interest and influence. Choose an engagement approach for each. Propose a specific collaboration and a specific way to draw out ideas. Address what each stakeholder fears, not only what they want, and put key commitments in writing. Give each partner in a collaboration a clear contribution and a clear benefit. Treat employees' knowledge as a source of ideas. A free first sample on your own SUS-7000 stakeholder assignment is available on request.
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SUS 7000 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free SUS 7000 Module 3 sample paper?
A printer's stakeholder map, joint innovation team and press crew challenge are in the assignment above.
Why does sustainability require collaboration across boundaries?
Many sustainability problems involve whole systems that no single organization controls.
How should stakeholder engagement differ by group?
It should match each group's interest and influence, from information for some to partnership for others.
What is the natural-resource-based view of the firm?
Hart's argument that capabilities in pollution prevention and product stewardship can create lasting competitive advantage.
How can companies inspire innovation from employees?
By giving them data, goals they help set, a share of savings and ways to spread good ideas.