Allstate Insurance Company: Building the Capability for IT-enabled Change

Senior managers in the claims organization of Allstate's property-casualty insurance business became increasingly aware of the importance and difficulties of implementing new IT-enabled process change over the period 2002 to 2006. The case describes building the managerial and organizational capability for systems development and deployment. This capability effort involved creating a new partnership between IT and the claims business, with full responsibility for systems evolving to the business side. Leadership of the effort was facilitative and evolutionary. The change in capability was being tested in 2006 as the first releases of a major new program of IT-related change was beginning to be installed.