Creating a Process-oriented Enterprise at Pinnacle West

Pinnacle West is in the energy-related services business and headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Its largest subsidiary, APS, is a power utility that serves over a million customers across Arizona. The case was written when one of the biggest recessions in recent history hit global and U.S. markets. Written from the perspective of the vice-president and chief information officer, the case chronicles the various recent successful process change initiatives at Pinnacle West. The vice-president has achieved initial success in instituting a process-oriented culture inside his own information technology (IT) services organization, and in 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 other top-level managers. He has to carefully weigh the various options in rolling out this strategy, as he fears that any misstep may derail his carefully executed plans for bringing a process-oriented approach to managing at Pinnacle West. This case can be used in an introductory systems course. It can also be used in a course on business process management or operations management.