Living an Impact-Focused Life Worksheet:

IFs LifeofImpact_Workshop worksheet

1. What are the top three things you learned during your Impact Fellowship? Please elaborate.

• Working in a team is very difficult. Each of us has very busy schedules and different opinions on different subjects.
• To simplify very complex topics into simple terms. Our project is very technical and the judges for our presentation often do not know what the technical terms mean.
• To form an efficient plan to achieve executable goals. With no “hard” deadline, we need to make sure that we are efficiently working on our project and setting goals for ourselves that are achievable.

2. How did the Impact Fellowship facilitate your professional development? Please provide three examples.

• Better understand my role as a team (what I can provide for a team).
• Improved my leadership skills.
• Better understand what I want in my team members and the overall workspace environment.

3. How did the Impact Fellowship help you grow personally? Please provide three examples.

• Improved my time management.
• Helped me handle situations that is completely not under my control. There will be cases where it is completely not under my control and I can better figure out how to work around the issue and continue forward.
• Improved my confidence when talking to new people with a higher level of experience/authority.

As a Project Team, construct a story about your project using the five story elements in the order in which they are given.

We are Thermosolar, and we are increasing photovoltaic efficiency through solar panel cooling. By attaching an enclosed box with a phase changing material inside to the back of a panel, our innovation can make it at least 5% more efficient. In efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, the world is transitioning to cleaner fuels and renewable energy, but solar power is not very efficient. As the temperature of the panel increases, the amount of power output decreases. Our team conducted experiments to measure the differences in power output of solar panels with and without PCM using different ingredient formulas for the PCM and sizes of PCM box. We also measured temperatures at the front and back of the panel to understand the thermal changes occurring over time with and without PCM. Tapping into the expertise of Dr. Romero, staff, and Ph.D. students at Lehigh’s Energy Research Center, we gained a better understanding of the type of PCM to use and corresponding formula, the size of the PCM box, and the type of panel that would be more ideal for PCM to be adhered to the back. Our experiments resulted in an increased solar panel efficiency via higher voltage from solar panels that were paired with PCM than one without PCM. To illustrate the impact on a solar farm the same size as the one proposed at Lehigh University, increasing the efficiency of photovoltaics by 5% can generate 140 kW more, allowing Lehigh to use more of their own generation on-campus and avoiding paying PPL approximately $21,000 a year.

Does it make sense? Does it say everything you want and need it to say? If this were the structure of your final presentation (stretched out to 7 minutes), would it be successful and would the referees know what you were talking about and why?

I believe that it does make sense and says everything we want and need it to say. If we stretched it out, I think it would be successful and the referees would know what we are talking about because it has a really nice flow of ideas which makes it easily understood. However, we would still have to include some talk about business models and partnering with other businesses to our presentation.

You now have a (team-based) blog assignment for this week: go back through your presentation, the Q&A, and feedback received and come up with a list of TEN takeaways / lessons learned / things to do differently next time.

1. Be more confident when presenting and answer the questions by referencing previous studies about other phase change materials that been used for a similar application of increasing photovoltaic panel efficiency
2. Include the accomplishments from last semester in simplified science terms and a timeline addressing next steps
3. When answering questions be more concise and do not add more if the contribution does not answer the question
4. Elaborate on what is occurring in the pictures that touch on the experiment set up and what exactly are we testing/what are our metrics of success
5. Include research from the lifecycle analysis (calorimetry testing) and other testing conducted
6. Schedule time ahead with the group to practice the presentation together to be more confident when presenting
7. Assign each group member a topic to answer for judge’s questions
8. Explain the product in less technical terms and what exactly we are achieving
9. Spend less than a minute on a slide and do not crowd one slide with information instead include transitions
10. Use a more aesthetically pleasing presentation theme

1. Conceptual framework

2. Process flow diagram

3. Coalition visual:

Prompt 1:

Describe at least 5 partnerships with individuals and/or organizations that have been formed to support your project and that impact the success or failure of your venture. For each partnership, explain: 1) What constituted the partnership? 2) How did the partner help you? How did you help them? 3) Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not? 4) What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?

1. Ph.D. students working at Lehigh’s Energy Research Center: Lida, Julio, and Abhinay are current partnerships with individuals who positively impact the success of our venture through their technical assistance. 

• Lida helped us in the lab by providing ingredients and the formula for making the PCM material. He also lent us some equipment from his lab. The relationship was not symbiotic because he was offering technical assistance to our project, but he has not needed our service in return. To strengthen this partnership, when we are finished using the PCM we could offer to donate it to Lida to use for his experiments. We can also ensure his advisor, Dr. Romero, also receives more regular feedback on how helpful Lida has been. 
• Julio has been present at many meetings offering his knowledge and advice. The relationship has not been symbiotic because it has been one-directional. Although he has expressed enjoyment in working with undergraduate students and interest in the results of our project, there are still ways we can make the partnership more equitable. We could give him credit for any deliverables we come up with and also ensure Dr. Romero knows how helpful he has been. 
• Abhinay has devoted many hours to creating a simulation of our prototype using sophisticated software. The relationship was symbiotic because he said our model gave him more modeling experience that he leveraged for his dissertation. We could credit Abhinay’s digital model in any report or project submission to a conference or journal. Moreover, one of our team members offered to assist him in connecting to potential employers after he graduates. 

2. Lehigh’s Energy Research Center faculty/staff such as Dr. Romero, Bob, and Colleen are current partnerships that directly contribute to our success through their hands-on assistance. 

• Dr. Romero, the director of the ERC,  is our advisor for the CSIF fellowship. He offers weekly advice on moving forward and potential ideas for our product and ensures our team is on track. Our partnership is symbiotic because it keeps him in touch with students and increases the participation and number of projects at the ERC he directs. To strengthen the cooperation and make it more equitable, we can provide positive feedback about his role to leadership at the university. 
• Bob built the PCM box prototype and our testing area at the ERC. Dr. Romero advised us to work with Bob as he is a resource to the ERC. Ours has been a symbiotic relationship since Bob is compensated based on work available at the ERC. He received remuneration for helping us. To make the relationship more equitable, we could ensure Dr. Romero and others at the university know how helpful Bob was to us and what an asset he is.
• Colleen works at the ERC and helps us purchase items essential to our venture and manages our budget. Just like the other aforementioned faculty and staff, it is a symbiotic relationship because her role is to support the students at the ERC. To make the relationship more equitable, we can ensure Dr. Romero and others at the university know how helpful Collen was to us and what an asset she is.

3. Stone House Group is a Bethlehem company dedicated to energy management and sustainability consulting services that have offered to assist us. Still, we have not fully explored how we can bring about the full benefits of a partnership. 

• To date, they have offered to provide their flat-iron roof as an area to test our product. However, one of our team members interned there this past summer, and there are also opportunities to: 

1. 1. Utilize mentorship and advice from former Lehigh University students who are now employees.
   2.  Explore possible grants they might be willing to offer. 
   3. Network with their connections.

• We could make any future partnership more equitable by potentially showing them our findings hence connecting them to solar research. We could also connect them to others at the ERC.

4. Environmental leaders at major cities in the Lehigh Valley are partnerships that have been explored preliminarily but have not been fully leveraged. However, we recognize these individuals and entities could help market our innovation, connect us to funding, and grow our network.

• Environmental Advisory Councils for Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton are individuals who advocate reducing their respective city’s carbon footprint and promoting renewable energy. Although one of our team members has communicated with the EAC in Allentown, she has connections to the other councils. To make our future partnership more equitable, we could give the EACs public credit for discovering new green technologies so the public knows the value they offer to them. 
• Mayors of the three major cities in the Lehigh Valley have publicly expressed an interest in reducing the carbon footprint of their cities. One of our team members actually worked with the Bethlehem Mayor on the city’s Climate Action Plan. Since one of our team members has had excellent working relationships with all three current mayors, she would be prepared to approach them directly on our project and how it could be beneficial to their residents. To make it more equitable, we could publicly extol the mayors for promoting innovations in solar technology, such as our project. 
• Environmental advocates such as the Lehigh Valley Citizens Climate Corps are connecting with the public on ways to promote renewable energy. Through their direct contact with our possible customers, they would be an essential entity to cultivate a relationship with. Although one of our members briefly mentioned our project to the LV Citizens Climate Corps, there are opportunities to build a partnership with them and other energy advocacy groups. To make it more equitable, our group could serve as resources to them since we are all studying sustainability.

5. Organizations and individuals focused on startups/innovators are projected partnerships that we have not fully explored. This partnership would have the potential to increase our network, connect to funding sources, and access to potential partners.

• Although one of our team members already approached the Ben Franklin Tech Partners of Northeast PA’s manager of Entrepreneurial Support for general advice, further inroads and assistance could be requested, primarily to network with others in this innovation space. Ben Franklin Tech Partners and other organizations hosting meetups for people starting new ventures are essential for our group to connect to. To make it more equitable, our group could serve as speakers or offer our assistance in any way they would need.

 

Prompt 2:

Provide at least 2 compelling and specific examples of how you might engage with each of the 11 types of organizations that we discussed in class.

#1 Multilaterals

• Thermosolar can request technical assistance from the UN Energy. Since the UN Energy is described as “a gateway for sharing information, knowledge, experiences and good practices, both between members/partners and more broadly, through dynamic and action-oriented approaches and with extensive use of information and communication technologies,” we can connect with experts in thermal and solar energy for ways to improve our prototype. 
  • Additionally, we can leverage Lehigh University’s NGO status at the UN for more ways to connect to the UN and resources through them.
  • https://www.un.org/en/energycompacts/page/about
• Thermosolar could contact the International Renewable Energy Agency and inquire about their Project Facilitation activities, which support the deployment of renewable energy projects by helping project developers secure financing more efficiently.
  • https://www.irena.org/ourwork/Project-Facilitation/About-project-facilitation-platforms

#2 Government Agencies  

• Thermosolar can apply for a $20,000 grant from the DOE’s State Energy Program, available because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, administered by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection for the development, implementation, and installation of our technology at commercial installations
  • https://www.dep.pa.gov/Citizens/GrantsLoansRebates/Pages/PA-State-Energy-Program.aspx
• The Department of Energy has an Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Technology Innovation Portal, which is a resource for technologies that were developed with Energy Department funding. We could look into these technologies and see if anything can be utilized for the development of our project.
  • https://www.energy.gov/eere/funding/eere-funding-opportunities

#3 Non-profits

• Thermosolar can contact the Sustainable Energy Fund for funding for the project. Many of the project members have connections with Dr. Rudy Shankar, Lehigh University’s Energy Systems Engineering program director, who is on the board of directors of the SEF. 
  • https://thesef.org/
• Thermosolar can publish its findings with our research to the IEEE’s publications. This would reach more technology professionals, who could provide advice and ideas with us to make a better product for our venture. These professionals can also provide us with contacts for potential partnerships. Since one of our team members knows the leaders of the LV Chapter, she could leverage that connection too.
  • https://www.ieee.org/ and https://r2.ieee.org/lv/communities/societies-chapters/

#4 Foundations  

• Thermosolar can apply for a Venture Well grant since we have a technological innovation and are working on a prototype. If we apply to be part of the E-team for VentureWell (VentureWell Accelerator), we can be awarded up to $25,000 dollars as well as be given sponsored training, networking and mentorship opportunities, and national exposure/recognition.
  • https://venturewell.org/
• Although it was difficult to find support from foundations for individual student projects, since most funded 501 (c)(3) orgs for their programs, our project could be one among a few that Lehigh University submits to the United Engineering Foundation. It could be more specific funding under the Campsus Sustainable Impact Fellowship program.  It appears the university could submit as much as $100K from this foundation. 
  • https://www.uefoundation.org/uef-grants-program/

#5 Academia  

• Thermosolar can contact Lehigh’s Small Business Development Center that provides support on many levels to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Lehigh professors often use SBDC client businesses for real-world case studies and research projects, so we could discuss with Dr. Romero/Khanjan/Bill this partnership.
  • https://business.lehigh.edu/centers/small-business-development-center
• Thermsolar can also contact Professors from the Material Science and Engineering department, specifically, Dr. Misiolek who has previously worked with phase change materials for thermal energy storage on various occasions. This will be of significant value when determining what material would be suitable for the box that could contain the commercial grade salt. 

#6 Social Ventures

• Thermosolar can partner with Earthspark through Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, which is a social venture installing mini-grids in villages in Haiti. Through this partnership, the people in Haiti would be provided with more renewable energy through our product, while we gather more data and testing on how our product works in realistic conditions.
  • https://www.millersocent.org/earthspark-solving-energy-poverty-in-haiti-bridges-funding-with-truss/
• Thermosolar can partner with Quintas Renewable Energy Solutions, a social enterprise that provides equipment and services for biomass, solar, and natural gas technologies to address huge energy gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through this partnership, the people in Sub-Saharan Africa would be provided with more solar energy, addressing the energy gaps while reducing the use of natural gas and biomass. In addition, we would have more data on how our product works in the climates of deserts, Sahel, savannas, and tropical forests.
  • https://www.quintasenergies.com.ng/

 #7 Think Tanks

• Thermosolar can apply to join the Energy Think Tank which consists of “global energy thought leaders to solve energy challenges”. Members share ideas, participate in educational forums, attend events that encourage engagement, and speak at our conferences. This could be great presentation and networking opportunities for our group.
  • https://www.theenergythinktank.com/
• Thermosolar can join the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, which consists of policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders to “meet our critical climate and energy challenges”. We can present our venture under an innovative energy technology and meet with its members through forums and conferences.
  • https://www.c2es.org/

#8 K-12 System

• Contact Whitehall High School or Broughal Middle School to test our prototype at their school land, gathering more data on how our product works in realistic conditions. In exchange, we can teach the students the basics behind our project, what our project is all about, and what we are hoping to do with it.
  • https://www.whitehallcoplay.org/Domain/12 and https://basdwpweb.beth.k12.pa.us/broughal/
• Let high school students use our prototype in physics lab experiments and we can utilize the data they collect (if software is available). This would give students the opportunity to experience a college research project while providing us with more lab data.

#9 Corporations

• Thermosolar can partner with Jinko Solar to integrate the PCM as part of the solar panel. Jinko Solar manufactures monofacial, silicon-based solar panels, which are the panels we wish to use with our product. By integrating our product with the production of these solar panels, it would save costs in installing our product onto the panel. 
  • https://www.jinkosolar.com/en/
• Thermosolar can partner with Enphase Energy to sell our product in the general market. Enphase sells many solar panel accessories, such as micro-inverters, battery energy storage, EV charging stations, and other accessories. With Enphase endorsing our product, we would have much more credibility to our venture and our product.
  • https://enphase.com/

#10 Consulting Firms

• Accenture, a large consulting company, which has received “Technology Advisory Firm of the Year” award from Energy Risk 6x, could offer valuable information, research, recommendations, and data on energy/the future renewables landscape, and how our designs could impact the public at a much greater scale. Their research reports utility scale solar that could be useful to us.
  • https://www.accenture.com/us-en/services/utilities/renewables

• Ernst and Young offer energy and resources consulting, tackling the decarbonization, digitization, and cost pressures in the energy and resources industry. We can use their research, recommendations, and networking to establish relationship with partners.
  • https://www.ey.com/en_us/energy-resources

#11 Startups

• Blue Elephant Energy acquires and operates solar and wind parks in 8 countries, focusing on Western and Central Europe. They have supplied 1,110,767 households with clean energy and saving 1,462,823 tons of CO2, as well as securing 1,707 MWp solar parks. We can present our venture and demonstrate how it can further increase the efficiency of the panels they are acquiring thus maximizing their profits when selling the energy back to customers to achieve a larger portfolio.
  • https://blueelephantenergy.com/de/
• DST Innovations researches and develops sources of renewable energy for commercial and industrial use (our target audience with Thermosolar). We can present to them our venture and receive feedback from the engineers as to what what materials are suitable and where to potentially experiment at a large scale. 
  • https://dst-innovations.net/mission

Part 1: 

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. Clearly state the ethical issue. 

• There is a complex crime issue in the youth population (poor education, systemic racism, school-to-prison pipeline, cycle of poverty).
• Ugochi launched a social venture to give vulnerable youth a voice and build their confidence to become employable and responsible adults.
• The social venture provided leadership workshops, career pathway exploration, and strengthening communication and teamwork skills.
• Ugochi initially received funding from supporters/donors and help from local businesses/organizations.
• During the 5 years that Spike’s donation went from 2 million to 6 million, the entities providing Ugochi with in-kind support started dropping out
  • Grossly raising overall cost of event, all costs covered by Spikey 
• Spikey’s contractors employ children under the age of 12 in Cambodia.
• Contractor 1 – limits the work hours (for 20 hrs) and provides education for the children
• Contractor 2 and 3 – employ kids for 60 hours a week without educational benefits 
• All contractors are legal under Cambodian law.
• If Ugochi keeps Spikey as supporters of her social venture, they might increase the level of sponsorship with some strings attached.

Ethical Issue: Should she continue to be sponsored by Spikey knowing that they contract children in Cambodia to work in their factories without educational benefits which might perpetuate the lack of voice and space of youths?

Step 2: Define the Stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome 

• Ugochi
• Spikey
• Other donors/supporters
• Kids and families benefiting from the program 
• Local businesses/organizations 

Step 3: Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders 

• Ugochi wants to uplift the youth in cities by teaching them soft skills and getting them jobs. However, she wants to reach more youth with her program, which would require a lot more funding.
• Spikey is trying to market themselves as a socially-progressive brand. The company also wants to increase their profits, particularly in participating cities of Ugochi’s venture.
• Other donors and supporters wanted to support the program and support the youth by providing things such as money, health services, photography, etc. 
• Kids and their families are hoping for a better future and to be employed. However, they may turn to crime in order to provide for themselves and their families.
• Local businesses and organizations are hoping to gain good employees that can help their companies. They also want to support the local community and market themselves as a socially-progressive brand.

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, using basic ethical core values as guide Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action] 

1. Potential solution: Terminate her partnership with Spikey and expose the Spikey situation to the public 

• Ethical Principle or code: Bring more awareness of the current situation in Cambodia with Spikey; however, exposing the situation seems like a breach of honesty and integrity in the eyes of Spikey.
• Pros: Ugochi’s venture would seem very social-progressive and “good” to the general public. Spreads awareness of the current situation in Cambodia with Spikey.
• Cons: Can potentially get sued by Spikey. Loss of funding from Spikey, which would prevent thousands of young people in other cities from participating.

2. Potential solution: Continue her partnership with Spikey but continue to seek more information about the situation in Cambodia. 

• Ethical Principle or code: This leaves Ugochi in an uncomfortable situation. She is unsure whether Spikey is lying about being loyal to Cambodian law. This also goes against the original purpose of her social venture (of helping the youth).
• Pros: Funding continues and Ugochi can continue to help vulnerable kids and fight against the school-to-prison pipeline. 
• Cons: Goes against Ugochi’s morals and also allows Spikey to continue supporting child labor and long hours. 

3. Potential solution:  She could threaten to go to one of Spikey’s competitors. Ask Spikey to send more of their business to a different contractor(s).

• Ethical Principle or code: Ugochi is against child labor and supports youth development. 
• Pros: She uses her leverage to promote change in these big shoe companies. Spikey would not work with contractors that use child labor.
• Cons: The different contractor(s) might not have ethically sourced labor. Risks not having a large sponsor at all. The kids working with contractors 1, 2, and 3 might lose their jobs.

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

• Reach out to previous or potential donors to try and step away from Spikey 
• Research more about the situation in Cambodia 
• Reach out to similar social ventures to see their opinion or ideas

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class. 

• Option 2: Continue her partnership with Spikey but continue to seek more information about the situation in Cambodia. This way, she can continue to receive funding, reaching many more young people in different cities. In addition, she can also look for ways to include the local community. 
• This is better than Option 1 since it allows Ugochi to continue to receive funding. With this funding Ugochi can continue to help thousands of families and kids. If she were to terminate her funding from Spikey she would have to restart all she has built, forcing the youth to go back to their previous situation.
• This is better than Option 3 because she does not have to take the risk of losing her largest sponsor. The jobs created in Cambodia are most likely benefiting the children more than harming their well being (a job is a job, and the children need them to support their families). 

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

• Ugochi is supporting something that, partially, goes against the ethics of her own social venture. 
• “Some strings attached” may lead to key parts of her program being altered and may make the program much worse.
• This may all backfire if people are to find out that Ugochi knows about the labor in Cambodia, which would render her relationship with Spikey unstable and decrease further support .

Part 2

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible 

• There is a complex crime issue in the youth population (poor education, systemic racism, school-to-prison pipeline, cycle of poverty).
• Ugochi launched a social venture to give vulnerable youth a voice and build their confidence to become employable and responsible adults 
• The social venture provided leadership workshops, career pathway exploration, and strengthening communication and teamwork skills.
• Ugochi initially received funding from supporters/donors and help from local businesses/organizations.
• During the 5 years that Spike’s donation went from 2 million to 6 million, the entities providing Ugochi with in-kind support started dropping out
  • Grossly raising overall cost of event, all costs covered by Spikey 
• Last year, some of the young people were caught smoking marijuana.
• Mr. Mikey wants to change the program from helping vulnerable youth to only consisting of men over 18
• Mr. Mikey does not want women in the program, and suggests they could be cheerleaders 
• 80% of Ugochi’s funding comes from Spikey, while 20% are from previous donors and supporters.

Ethical issue: Should Ugochi continue to be sponsored by Spikey even though Spikey no longer wants to focus on vulnerable youth but instead on men over 18? Spikey also does not want to include women unless they are cheerleaders. This essentially changes Ugochi’s original idea of the program completely.

Step 2: Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome 

• Ugochi
• Spikey
• Mr. Mikey 
• Other donors/supporters
• Kids and families benefiting from the program
• Local businesses and organizations 

Step 3: Determine and distinguish between the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders. 

• Ugochi 
  • Personal: She wants to uplift the youth in cities by teaching them soft skills and getting them jobs.
  • Professional: She wants to receive a lot more funding, which would enable her to reach more youth with her program
• Spikey
  • Personal: The company is trying to market themselves as a socially-progressive brand. 
  • Professional: The company wants to increase their profits, particularly in participating cities of Ugochi’s venture. In order to increase profits, the company wants to emphasize the soccer tournament rather than helping the youth community.
• Mr. Mikey 
  • Personal: He wants to look valuable to the company, potentially getting a raise and a promotion from the company.
  • Professional: He wants to profit more and convert this program from a social venture to more of an athletic league. He also wants to make it a more exclusive group, with only men over 18 being allowed to participate. 
• Other donors and supporters 
  • Personal: They wanted to support the program and support the youth by providing things such as money, health services, photography, etc. 
  • Professional: They want to appear as “good” to society.
• Kids and their families 
  • Personal: They are hoping for a better future and learn soft skills essential for working with others.
  • Professional: They want to be employed and provide for themselves and their families.
• Local businesses and organizations
  • Personal: They want to support the local community and market themselves as a socially-progressive brand.
  • Professional: They are hoping to gain good employees that can help their companies. 

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture. Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action] 

1. Potential Solution: Follow Spikey’s proposition to the T and allow the foundations of the organization to change 

• How does it solve the problem? This continues funding which allows the outreach of the program to be much more widespread. 
  • Pros: Spikey continues funding.
  • Cons: The whole social venture is essentially dead, since the focus is not on the vulnerable youth.
  • How does it save face of those involved? This saves face for Spikey since they are not being exposed and still are benefiting from Ugochi’s program.
  •  Implications on relationships 
    • Short-term: The relationship with Spikey is preserved. Many of the relationships between Ugochi and the families/kids would be terminated, since the program now only focuses on men over 18. 
    • Long-term: The relationship between Ugochi and Spikey would most likely only go downhill, since Spikey is now taking Ugochi’s program and making it their own. They also seem to not listen to Ugochi, which will lead to a strained relationship.
  • Implications on the venture 
    • Short-term: Many changes will lead to a period of many disagreements and anger from different parties.  
    • Long-term: Spikey will most likely have a successful athletic league that does not resemble the original idea of the social venture. 

2. Potential Solution: Terminate the partnership with Spikey and only have 20% of her previous funding. 

• How does it solve the problem? This preserves the ethics and goals of Ugochi’s original social venture. 
  • Pros: Ugochi continues to fight for what she believes in, preserving the inclusive community she first advocated for.
  • Cons: Ugochi loses 80% of her funding, which leads to many kids and families being cut from the program. This also leads to Ugochi needing to find many new sponsors. 
  • How does it save face of those involved? It would save Spikey’s face because Ugochi would not expose Spikey’s ideas for the venture to the general public. It would also save Ugochi’s face because decision demonstrates that Ugochi is the leader of the venter (not the organization) and it sticks with the original purpose of the social venture
  • Implications on relationships 
    • Short-term: The relationship between Ugochi and Spikey is terminated.
    • Long-term: Increase likelihood of acquiring partners who are more aligned with the mission since now they know that Ugochi is in charge of their venture.
  • Implications on the venture 
    • Short-term: The venture will go through many changes with a huge cut in how many families and kids can be supported.
    • Long-term: If Ugochi is able to gather funding and donors, then the social venture will be able to continue to support vulnerable kids. If Ugochi is not able to gather funding, the social venture will most likely have to shut down. 

3. Potential Solution: Threaten to expose Spikey’s ideas for her social venture to the general public and find another revenue stream.

• How does it solve the problem? This exposes the misogynistic views of Mr. Mikey and the lack of respect Mr. Mikey and Spikey had for Ugochi and her social venture.
  • Pros – Conserve the organization’s identity and allow Ugochi’s organization to become more independent 
  • Cons – Loses a great amount of low hanging funding that would allow her to expand the operations of the organization 
  • How does it save face of those involved? Ugochi save face for herself by showing that she is the leader in her organization.
  •  Implications on relationships 
    • Short-term
      • Risks losing funding for the upcoming tournament and events.
      • Many kids would likely be removed from the venture for now.
    • Long-term – 
      • Completely destroys the relationship with Spikey and potential corporations in the future. 
      • Supports her relationship with the other supporters because she proves she really cares about her original values.
      • Could risk future jobs for people in the program and lose even more local support.
  • Implications on the venture 
    • Short-term – Limits the amount of free equipments that can be given to youths in her organizations 
    • Long-term – Limits the expansion of the organization 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

• Talk to their board of advisors and trustees 
• Wait for 2 weeks before making the decisions to do an inner reflection 
• Reach out to non-profits being funded by Spikey for advice on long-term impacts of the decision based on how well they understand their relationship with Spikey 

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that solves the problem, saves face and has the best short term and long-term implications for your relationship and venture. Explain reasoning and discuss your solution vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in class.

• Option 3 – Threaten to expose Spikey’s ideas for her social venture to the general public and find another revenue stream. She uses her leverage/political capital to maintain the organization’s purpose and integrity. She continues to help all youth in the cities. While there are many risks involved, Ugochi will hopefully find another source of funding.
• This is better than option 1 because it allows Ugochi to take a stand against Spikey. This shows that it is not Spikey’s venture, but Ugochi’s.
• This is better than option 2 because in this situation Ugochi could possibly receive other funding and attention due to the exposure of such a large company like Spikey. Without the exposure, it might be difficult to find another source of funding.

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.

• Gather enough information and actual facts about the unethical activities of Spikey 
• Make a case 
• Get a lot of lawyers to help you out because it will be tough 
• Release the information publicly 
• Hope that the public will be on Ugochi’s side
• Hope that another organization(s) will act as a revenue stream for the venture

Larger lessons 

1. Stay true to your own values and don’t lose sight of your initial goals (money is not always the most important factor).
2. Always have diverse sources of funding in order to prevent power struggles.
3. Big companies often only care about profits.

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible 

• Shortage of gifts for four kids at youth center.
• The four kids did not feel included and were left out.
• The four kids started to act coldly towards Jack.
  • Jack did not purchase the gifts, was only handing them out.
• The youth center representative (Jack) felt blamed for a trivial problem. 
• Staff was not concerned about the forgotten kids.
• Staff was angry at Jack, felt as if he was becoming a “children’s rights activity”.

Step 2: Define the problem and the stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome 

• Problem – Jack is trying to build trust with the kids; however, bringing up the subject is ‘annoying’ the staff and makes them feel they are wasting their time.
• Stakeholders – Jack, kids, staff from the youth center, people who gave the gifts

Step 3: Determine and distinguish between the personal and professional motivations of the stakeholders. 

• Jack
  • Personal: wants a good relationship with the kids, wants to have an enjoyable five-month stay 
  • Professional: wants a good relationship with the staff, to have good reviews of his stay 
• Kids 
  • Personal: wants a gift in a ceremoniously manner, feel good about themselves, get their basic needs met
  • Professional: maintaining a good relationship (does not want to be disrespectful) with people ‘above’ them 
• Staff
  • Personal: Appear good to the rest of society, not be troubled 
  • Professional: do a good job for the center: helping the kids to get what they want while they are there, keep their jobs and earn money
• People who gave the gifts
  • Personal: Appear good to the rest of society, feel good about themselves
  • Professional: Appear charitable to others (especially in their professional environment), 

Step 4: Formulate (atleast three) alternative solutions – based on information available, to have a win-win situation for your relationship and your venture. 

Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action] 

1. Potential Solution: Jack hosts an event with the kids and makes sure that everyone feels included and the kids who were initially ‘forgotten’ feel special. Jack doesn’t acknowledge the previous situation, but instead works on building the trust of the kids so they can hopefully move on. 

• How does it solve the problem?
  • Pros: Builds a better relationship with the kids, could build trust and make Jack’s stay more enjoyable. 
  • Cons: It potentially makes the other kids feel left out. Makes the staff feel like they aren’t doing enough compared to Jack. Sets an example.

• How does it save face of those involved? It would save Jack’s face because it shows that he did not forget about the four kids. I would also save the face of the four kids because it shows that they were not forgotten (they are special too).
• Implications on relationships
  • Short-term: Kids would like Jack more and enjoy the event. The other kids may feel like they are not treated equally.
  • Long-term: The staff would continue to believe that Jack is a “children’s rights activist”, continuing their distrust in Jack. 

• Implications on the venture
  • Short-term: The four kids would feel appreciated, Jack would feel less guilty, and the staff may feel like they aren’t doing enough compared to Jack
  • Long-term: If the staff does not like Jack, he could possibly get poor feedback on the trip which could affect his professional goals. 

2. Potential Solution: Tell the kids that the other staff forgot about 4 kids and Jack did not. 

• How does it solve the problem?
  • Pros: Maintains Jack’s relationship with the kids.
  • Cons: But (potentially) destroys the relationship with the staff.

• How does it save face of those involved? Saves the face of Jack, he is not seen as the one who forgot the gifts anymore. 
• Implications on relationships
  • Short-term: Annoyance between staff and Jack. The kids shift the blame from Jack to the staff. The kids may forgive Jack.
  • Long-term: Complete loss of trust between staff and Jack. Complete loss of trust between staff and the kids. 

• Implications on the venture
  • Short-term: Bad experience for the next 5 months because of this bad relationship with the staff. 
  • Long-term: Jack will not be able to come back for another trip in the future, which could affect his professional goals. 

3. Potential Solution: Just ignore it and move on. 

• How does it solve the problem?
  • Pros: Jack does not have to diss his coworkers. He can make up for his mistake in the future.
  • Cons: The kids are not compensated immediately, and might hold a grudge against Jack for the next five months.

• How does it save face of those involved? Saves the face of the staff, kids still view Jack as the one who forgot the gifts.
• Implications on relationships
  • Short-term: The staff sees that Jack is not a “children’s rights activist” and grows. The four kids would still blame Jack for forgetting their gifts and may tell the other kids.
  • Long-term: Jack could receive good feedback on his trip and possibly return or do similar trips in the future. 

• Implications on the venture
  • Short-term: The kids left out are unhappy.
  • Long-term: Jack eventually leaves the youth center with a relatively good relationship with the staff, as well as a good review and feedback from the staff.

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

• Talk to the higher-up of the youth center
• Consult a children’s parents for advice on how to make them feel better.
• Talk to the local community about the situation
• Look back on your childhood and see how you felt when you were forgotten from getting a gift.

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that solves the problem, saves face and has the best short-term and long-term implications for your relationship and venture. Explain reasoning and discuss your solution vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in class. 

We are going to ignore the issue and move on, learning from this mistake. This way, Jack will still maintain to good relationship with the staff, helping his professional goals. In other words, Jack will no longer seem like a “children’s’ rights activist” to the staff or sets an example of what the staff should do for the kids. Ignoring the issue will also not involve shifting the blame to the staff, which would have resulted in an even worse relationship with the staff. This course of action may have the four kids continue to blame Jack, but the kids will probably forget within a month. In addition, this would not have the other kids feel like they are being treated unfairly (by doing an event only for the four kids). This course of action will let Jack make a favorable impression to the staff, helping him get a good recommendation and better opportunities in the future.

Step 7: List the sequence of actions you will take to implement your solution.

• Just not do anything about the issue
• Establish better communication skills with the staff.
• Treat kids all equally. Keep in mind that you made a mistake, and make an effort not to repeat it.
• Plan better next time and ask the number of kids present 

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. Clearly state the ethical issue. 

• Lehigh University is working towards a low-carbon circular economy.
• Students will use T-shirts to raise awareness to their various student groups.
• You receive a $5,000 grant from an alumni to fund these T-shirts.
  • Alumni is a diehard champion for sustainability and buying products manufactured in the USA.
  • *Reduce university-wide water usage by 10% by 2025 from a FY2019 baseline, including process, irrigation and potable water usage. Reassess data in 2025 and establish additional metrics for 2030. 
• If the pilot stage is successful, alumni will fund another $100,000.

Assumptions:

• Cheaper shirts are of lower quality, while more expensive shirts are of higher quality.
• Defining success: 
  • Most people reach 
  • T-shirt purchased or given 
  • Driving the strategic plan for Lehigh for sustainability

Step 2: Define the Stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome 

• Alumni
• Lehigh board
• Sustainable Lehigh 2030 program
• Shirt manufacturing company 
• Students groups

Step 3: Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders 

• The alumni promote sustainability and American-made products. The alumni also want to support Lehigh University and their efforts.
  • Wants to support the program Lehigh 2030.
• The Lehigh Board wants to please both the student groups and the alumni. But the board also wants to receive the alumni gift.
• Sustainable Lehigh 2030 program wants to make sure the shirts are handled sustainably. The program also wants to receive the alumni gift. 
• Shirt manufacturing company wants to make a deal with Lehigh in order to make a profit for their business. However, they will not change any of their t-shirt options or prices because they are dealing with Lehigh.
• Student want t-shirts to promote their groups. However, they do not want to spend much time or money to do so because of their busy school schedules.

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, using basic ethical core values as guide Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action] 

• Potential solution • Ethical Principle or code • Pros • Cons 

• Purchase one $25 t-shirt to show to the alumni, purchase the rest of them from the $10 or $2 option 
  • Moral justification: it is for the greater good.
  • Ethically very poor, since we are lying to the alumni and supporting a sweatshop 
  • Pros: can get more shirts 
  • Cons: lying to the alumni, supporting unfair working conditions 
• Convince the alumni and students to do reusable water bottles
  • Ethically good because we are still promoting something that is sustainable
  • Pros: looks at different options, water bottles uses less natural resources than shirts
  • Cons: students and alumni might not agree with it
• Sell the shirts to the student groups, use the revenue to buy more shirts
  • Ethically poor because it would create feelings of unfairness from the students
  • Pros: reduces the price of the shirts for the university
  • Cons: would only reach students who are willing to pay for the shirts, creates feelings of unfairness from students who are not willing to pay for shirts

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

• Talk to the Alumni (see what they define as “success”).
• Talk to Office of Sustainability for their opinion.
• Talk to the students for their opinion.
• Find providers of t-shirts in previous cases that are cheaper and sustainable and are also made in the USA.

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class. 

The best course of action is to buy the organic shirts for $25, and make the students figure out how to reach the most people through events and giveaways. This would please the alumni, since the alumni support sustainability and American-made products. However, it would require students to do more work in order to plan their event. There would be less shirts available for the students; however, through events, it would make the shirts more valued. While the shirts becoming more valued, there is a less likely chance that they would be thrown away, making it more sustainable (shirt is more likely to be reused).

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

• Economic: Overpaying for t-shirts. You spend more per shirt and get less to give away.
• Social: Not as many people may be reached because less shirts were made. However, it would make the shirts more valued by the students who have the shirt.
• Environmental: The shirts are still fast fashion and will likely be disposed of quickly. However, it is still the best option out of the 3 in terms of the environment. Also since it is close by, transportation implications are much less significant. In addition, being organic allows for the shirts to be more environmentally decomposable in a landfill.
• Technological: Supporting organic technology. With more demand for organic technology, it shows the need for more research and development, possibly finding ways to make the shirt cheaper and more sustainable.

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. Clearly state the ethical issue. 

• Reusing syringes spreads disease
• Disposable syringes uses more plastic
• Making the syringes’ auto-disable after a single use is costly to the design
• Ethical Issue: Making a cheaper syringe provides the risk of spreading disease, but adding a safety feature makes it more unaffordable.

Step 2: Define the Stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome 

• Patients 
• Doctors/nurses
• Company
• Designer

Step 3: Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders

• Patients want to stay alive and be well. However, patients also wish for their medical treatment to be affordable in order to live their lives freely (without too much debt or ridden with disease).
• Doctors and nurses do not want liability and moral baggage. Doctors and nurses must also consider how much their equipment costs, how much the hospital can afford (to buy equipment), and how much the patients can afford (to pay for medical treatment).
• The company wants to make money. The company also wants to keep a good public image and avoid any controversies.
• Designer wants to create a design that a lot of people will buy. Designer also wants to follow the engineering principles and avoid any liability and moral baggage.

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, using basic ethical core values as guide Approaches [1/2/3: repeat for every action]                                               Potential solution • Ethical Principle or code • Pros • Cons 

• Making a syringe with a safety feature
  • Ethical Code: Ensures the safety to the consumer (patient).
  • Pros: Stops the spread of disease due to staring a needle and obliges with general safety standards in the US.
  • Cons: Costs more, more hospitals will not be able to afford the syringes, and more patients will be unable to receive medical treatment (due to the hospital not having syringes or the patients not being able to afford treatment).
• Making a reusable syringe without a safety feature 
  • Ethical Code: Maximizes population health and uses scarce health resources efficiently.
  • Pros: Costs less, more hospitals will have access to syringes, and more patients will receive medical treatment.
  • Cons: Increases the risks of disease due to sharing a needle and potentially causing a wide epidemic.
• Having the patient decide which syringe to use
  • Ethical Code: Respects the autonomy of the patient.
  • Pros: Patients will understand the potential risks and financial costs and decides for themselves.
  • Cons: Hospitals would be required to buy both syringes (more hospitals will not be able to afford the syringes and more patients will be unable to receive medical treatment) .
• Making a reusable syringe without a safety feature but with a warning (either verbally or physically)
  • Ethical Code: Respects the autonomy of the patient and uses scarce health resources efficiently.
  • Pros: Patients will understand the potential risks when using the syringe and can decide whether to continue with the treatment or not. More hospitals will have access to syringes.
  • Cons: Increases the risks of disease due to sharing a needle and potentially causing a wide epidemic. Requires training and/or additional costs.
• Making a syringe with a safety feature. Charge more for the hospitals that can afford it, less/none for those that cannot
  • Ethical Code: Maximizes population health.
  • Pros: Stops the spread of disease due to staring a needle and obliges with safety standards. Provides the syringes to hospitals that can not afford it.
  • Cons: Has the potential of black market trading, creates resentment and feelings of unfairness.

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection 

• Follow a supervisor’s input or company policy.
• Speak to Doctors/nurses/hospital board.
• Look into how severe the disease being treated is.
• Research disease transmission rates from reused syringes.
• Ask the patients about if they are willing to reuse the syringe.
• Look into the approaches that other companies have taken. 
• Engineering code of ethics: Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
• Inner reflection: What are you getting out of this? Do you really need to go against your morals for a product? How many lives will be saved and lost because of your decision?

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class. 

I believe that the best course of action is to make the syringe without the safety feature, but have a warning to the patient. This warning could be verbally by the doctor or nurse, or physically by creating a mechanism where the syringe is shows a green signal when not used then a red signal when used, This would make syringes more accessible to hospitals, providing more medical treatment to patients, compared to making a syringe with a safety feature or having the patient decide which syringe to use. In addition, the patient will know of the risks due the warning, rather than just making the syringe without the safety feature and having the patients not know of the reusing of needles. This method will also avoid any potential black market trading or feelings of unfairness (which could be possible by charging more for the hospitals that can afford it and less/none for those that cannot). While this course of action may require training or additional costs, it would cost less than making the safety feature for the syringe. I believe that some patients are willing to be at risk of disease in exchange for receiving life-saving treatments, rather than not being able to receive life-saving treatments due to the hospital not being able to afford it or the patient not being able to afford it, bringing an overall benefit to the society.

Responses from teammates:

• • Spencer: First review company policy, and hospital needs. The syringe needs to be economically feasible to save people. Consider if the syringe can be produced and profitable. Assess transmission rates through used syringes vs impacts from the afflicting disease. Choose which one saves the most people.
  • Isabella: Make the syringe with the safety feature. Price varies by hospital, hospitals that can afford it pay more, those who cannot pay less.
  • Thaksheel: Pricing the syringe on a need basis where patients with the ability to afford the syringe will have a varying price set for their syringe with a safety. Effectively, the manufacturing and distribution will be net profitable 

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

• The implications of my solutions on the venture are that technology is limited, the economic viability of the resources/features must be considered, the project should bring the most overall benefit, and the end-of-life of the project must be considered.
  • In the syringe situation, if we had more advanced technology, then maybe we could have made a cheap, affordable syringe that prevents the spread of disease, having no ethical issue at all. However, we are limited by our current technology, so we have to face the issue. For ThermoSolar, maybe we could have very efficient solar panels that didn’t need any cooling, rendering our project purposeless. However, we do not have such advanced technology, so ThermoSolar is working with current photovoltaic technologies.
  • In the syringe situation, the resources and features are evaluated economically. The company of the syringes must consider the costs of making the syringe and the revenue it would receive. With a higher cost to make the syringe, the more the syringe will be charged, making it more unaffordable for hospitals and patients. If the company does not make any profit, then they can not continue making the syringes, preventing all of the people to not receive medical treatment. For ThermoSolar, we are using commercial-graded salt to reduce the costs of the project. If we used a higher-graded salt, it may be more efficient; however, it would cost a lot more. We have determined that we should use commercial-graded salt to lower costs for consumers while still increasing the efficiency of the solar panel.
  • In my proposed course of action, I believe we should make the syringe without the safety feature, but have a warning to the patient. I believe that this would create a more overall good to the people, providing more affordable medical treatment to many more people of low-income families while notifying the people of the risks they will experience. By reducing the costs of the salt for our ThermoSolar project, we will be attracting many more customers, providing a more overall good to people with solar panels. Making our project affordable will allow families and companies to receive more power from their solar panels, reducing their pay-back period.
  • In the syringe situation, making disposable syringes uses more plastic. This will impact the land greatly, since most of these syringes will probably end up on a landfill. While my proposed course of action indirectly allows reusing syringes, it does help the plastic issue; however, it is not enough in the grand scheme of things. We do not have advanced technologies, as well as the economic resources, to make a cheap, affordable syringe that prevents the spread of disease while being easily (and cheaply) recyclable or disposable. For ThermoSolar, solar panel recycling, as well as the recycling of our product, is possible; however, there is no U.S. federal regulation on solar panel recycling. Our project could take responsibility in the recycling; however, that would greatly increase the price of our project. In addition, with our current technologies, solar panels are not completely recyclable (about 95% recyclable).