Implementing Sustainable Goals with the Catalysis Team
Lucas dS.
Report Summary
This research has been commissioned by the Environmental Department of the City of
Edmonton as part of the Sustainability Scholar Program 2016. It answers the question: How to
ensure that strategic goals are reflected in operational decision-making. The answer, composed
of specific and actionable suggestions, was obtained by a combination of literature review and
consulting work. The recommendation aims at aiding the City to increase the likeliness of
succeeding at implementing its sustainable strategy goals, so addressing the group of initiatives
known as “a foundation for success” of The Way We Green program.
The proposed question is within the scope of the subject area called strategy implementation.
The literature reviewed encompassed strategy management and organizational change. It
revealed, first, that the challenges to implementing strategy are entrenched in the very features
that make organizations effective: interdependence, technology, resource allocation, politics,
cognition and values. Fortunately, it also revealed that some levers could be used to induce
strategic change. The levers encompass mobilizing change through small steps that provide
opportunities for learning from self and foreign expertise. Importantly, the suggested locus of
change is organizational routines, which give access to the organization-wide structure, but are
sufficiently small to conduct controlled change initiatives.
The recommendation is to set up a team to facilitate change toward sustainable strategy goals.
The team members should possess four sets of skills: project management, knowledge on
sustainable operations, re-design of organizational routines and integration of organization
areas. Each of these competences “pulls” one or more levers uncovered in the literature.
Previous experience with assembling and leading a team as the recommended suggest that its
operation decreases resistance to change and makes existing resources more effective.
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