Overview
Parent corporation for Arizona Public Service, an electrical utility.

Opportunity / Threat
Pinnacle West had recently invested in a small, high-tech company related to the electric utility industry. That company had been in business about ten years and needed a strategic plan to guide how it would invest this influx of capital. The plan would set the strategic direction for the company, defining and prioritizing product/market opportunities for its proprietary technology.

Action / Result
Strategic Advantage facilitated a two-day planning retreat to establish long-term goals and objectives for the company. Participants received a series of pre-meeting assignments to prepare for the planning session.
The process included broad representation. The principals of the high-tech company, Pinnacle West board members who wanted to help set a direction for their investment, and others from Arizona Public Service who had an interest in the technology, all participated in the strategic planning retreat.
The company is now implementing the plan. Beneficial effects are already apparent.

Client Comments
"One of my objectives was to have an outside party conducting the strategic planning process; otherwise, I probably would have conducted it myself. With a third-party facilitator you don't have to worry about sensitive areas of discussion, turf issues, because the facilitator isn't involved in the politics. It's important that everyone in the session feel uninhibited and unintimidated about openly expressing their views on the issues, challenges, and recommendations."
"Dr. Gooding's soft-spoken manner was very well accepted. He created an environment that was very conducive to open dialogue. He did a good job of keeping people focused on the real issues and coming up with concrete recommendations. It wasn't just dialogue and talking in circles."
"The written report did an effective job of documenting the outcomes of the discussions. It identified action points succinctly so that people who needed to implement them could follow up."

-- Robert Boscamp, Board Member