Creating a Process-Oriented Enterprise at Pinnacle West

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Problem Identification

In this case many problems arise, but the main problem is that the process re-engineering has hit a brick wall. If they want to move forward they will have to fix the constant miscommunication that happens between the business people and the IT department.

Background

Pinnacle West is in the energy-related services business and its headquarters is in Phoenix, Arizona. Its largest subsidiary, APS, is a power utility that serves over a million customers across Arizona. APS also co-owned and operated the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Generating station. Palo Verde was the largest power generation facility in the United States and was a primary source for power for the Southwest United States. The case took place during one of the biggest recessions in recent history. It is written from the perspective of the vice-president and chief information officer. It chronicles the various recent successful change initiatives at Pinnacle West. The vice – President and chief information officer, Denny Brown, achieved initial success in instituting a process-oriented culture inside his own information technology (IT) services organization, and is some specific business units within Pinnacle West. He now faces a significant crossroads in his process orientation strategy for Pinnacle West. He has to devise a strategy for a wider rollout of a process-oriented strategy throughout Pinnacle West and determine if the larger enterprise is ready for this strategy. He has to consider various issues in making this decision- resource availability, change management competency and buy-in from top-level managers. He has to weigh the various options in rolling out this strategy as he fears that any mistake may derail his carefully executed plans for bringing a process-oriented approach to managing at Pinnacle West. Since this company is big and complex it needs to come up with some alternatives and solutions that will help them in the future. Need...