I always use social responsibility as a change issue, but another easy one is technological developments.
You should first define this issue: Social responsibility refers to an organisation's ability to act in an ethical and moral manner with concern for society at large, beyond that imposed on it by laws.
An example for the social responsibility change issue is Safeway's implementation of re-usable carry bags to decrease the negative impact of plastic bags on the environment.
Social responsibility increases competitiveness in the following ways:
- attracts and retains a talented workforce, due to people rather participating in socially responsible work than not
- attracts more shareholders because people would rather support/invest in an organisation that has concern for society
- attracts more customers as a result of being socially responsible because people would rather buy products from organisations that have concern for society
- promotes a positive image to the general public, which would also attract more customers
It may also ask you to discuss any negatives, there aren't too many, but you should be fine with mentioning:
- costs associated with the research and development of finding socially responsible alternatives
- costs associated with the actual implementation of the change
- potential rise in costs of goods to retain similar profit levels, which could cause customers to choose another competitor who offers products at a lower price
Hope this helps, i think social responsibility is the easiest one to elaborate on.