Praxis Framework Case Study

American Express – Global Business Travel

March 2019
INTRODUCTION

Traveler Care (Operations) is a group within American Express Global Business Travel. Projects
and programmes are an integral part of operations and the group has recently turned to the
Praxis Framework to support project and programme management (PPM) staff, processes and
outcomes.

Working with Brijender S Rathore ( Director for Global Service Transformation at American
Express Global Business Travel), this case study is intended to reflect the group’s initial
experience of the Praxis Framework.

THE ORGANIZATION
American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) is a multinational travel and meetings program
management company headquartered in the United States. The company has approximately
12,000 employees and operations in nearly 120 countries.

The company has three focus areas:

❑ Travel Management
❑ Meetings & Events
❑ Business Consulting

American Express GBT are experts in business travel, providing end-to-end corporate travel
management, meetings and booking solutions. The company’s travel management solutions and
services allow travelling employees to hit the ground running, helping to control costs and realize
meaningful returns across an organization’s whole travel programme.

Traveler Care (Operations) (is the largest group within the company in terms of employees. It
includes all the service delivery teams that service clients by phone, email and chat, as well as all
support functions like Transformation, Customer Onboarding, Tools Deployment and Workforce
Management.

PPM ACTIVITY

Traveler Care – Operations (TCO) is no stranger to projects with over 100 different projects
running every year. Projects are focused on a range of topics and can usually be attributed to
process improvement for front and back office, organization design, outsourcing, robotic process
automation (RPA), new tools/platforms deployment, re-engineering and cost reduction.

Central PMO functions have existed in the past but have been disbanded due to perceived
disconnect between the PMO function and what was actually happening ‘on the ground’.

Prior to Praxis, there was no standardized PPM framework which all PPM staff and teams
followed. There were some basic expectations of project managers, but each individual / team
was free to choose the most appropriate framework or methodology for a given project.
PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

The Traveler Care Operations team have encountered a range of PPM-related issues and
challenges. These can be summarised as:

❑ Planning: Planning is not thorough and often fails to account for future resource requirements
and stakeholder support.
❑ Sponsors: Sponsors are not fully aware of their role and accountabilities.
❑ Stakeholders: Key stakeholders are not engaged effectively or engaged too late.
❑ Requirements: Requirements are not captured formally or in sufficient detail and are mis-
aligned with key stakeholders.
❑ Benefits management: Existing benefits management practice lack the necessary rigour.
❑ Change management: Effort is underestimated and not fully understood and supported by
stakeholders.
❑ Consistency: As there has not been a standardised PPM framework or methodology across the
group, there are often fundamental differences in outputs (e.g. project approach and
documentation) and expectations.

WHY PRAXIS?

Given the challenges highlighted above, the Traveler Care Operations team has been seeking to
establish a more formal, standardized approach to PPM activity.

There are three key features that attracted the team to the Praxis Framework:

❑ Simple, tailorable approach: PRAXIS offers a body of knowledge and methodology that are
straightforward to understand and apply. The framework can be tailored effectively to suit the
organization’s requirement; often a weakness of other frameworks and methodologies.
❑ Praxis website: The PRAXIS website is a great support resource for reference and it’s easy to
navigate. Resources and tools for all key aspects of PPM are just a few clicks away and it’s all
available online, for free, 24/7.
❑ Praxis Local: Praxis Local is a tailorable pdf file that summarises all the main functions and
processes of project and programme management. It provides links to the Praxis Framework
web site to access all the extensive supporting detail that is available including competencies,
checklists and tools & techniques from the encyclopaedia.

IMPLEMENTING PRAXIS

Having reviewed existing processes and practices within AMEX GBT, the team found many
disparate project management tools, templates and processes; not surprising given the size of
the organization and the needs of its different divisions across the globe.

The team recognised that the Praxis Framework is useful in its entirety, but in order to embed it
as an agreed project delivery infrastructure, a series of steps was required.

The first step was to link existing processes and templates held on the organisation’s intranet and
show that they were not looking to change what already works. The objective was to gain
integration and consistency. Praxis Local provided the ideal tool to demonstrate these links, and
it could be held alongside existing processes and templates within the intranet. The use of Praxis
Local also enabled a step-by-step approach to implementing the full framework. AMEX GBT could
decide which of the Praxis 'building blocks' to focus on first. Links within the Praxis Local tool
could then take users into the full website for further guidance where needed.

The second step was to educate project management staff. Given the global distribution of
project management staff, a series of virtual training courses was delivered. This approach
ensured everyone was educated at the same time and speaking the same language. The need for
senior management briefings was also identified as fundamental to engage key stakeholders.

The third step was to identify champions in each region (EMEA, Asia-Pacific and Americas) to
support the implementation of consistent processes and help embed the required practices.
Appraisals for Project Managers would focus not just on what projects had delivered, but also
how the project was delivered. The Praxis 360 assessment tool provides the means for project
managers to gather this evidence.

EARLY EXPERIENCE & COLLEAGUE FEEDBACK

Feedback based on early experience of Praxis has been very positive. The team are delighted
with not only the volume of content and resources available, but also the quality and ease of
which the framework and supporting resources are understood.

The fact that the framework and supporting tools and resources are available online is a welcome
added benefit of Praxis and members are impressed at how easily the framework can be tailored
to individual project requirements.

An immediate benefit is the creation of a common language for PPM which everyone has
understood. This has been a challenge in the past given the use of multiple frameworks in the
past.

There have been a few challenges. For example, there can be terminology confusion where team
members have previously been trained in other frameworks/methodologies.

This case study is intended to reflect the onboarding process for Praxis and initial experiences of
the team at AMEX GBT. As experience with the Praxis Framework grows and gains can be
measured, so this case study will evolve to reflect how the Praxis Framework has facilitated
benefits in terms of addressing the problems and challenges highlighted on page 3.

RECOMMENDING PRAXIS

Brijender would have no hesitation in recommending the Praxis Framework to other PPM
professionals and organizations.
CONTRIBUTOR

Brijender S Rathore is Director for Global Service Transformation at American Express Global
Business Travel. Brijender leads a portfolio on multi-million dollar regional and global initiatives
with a team of project and programme managers across multiple locations. Brijender has led on
AMEX GBT’s adoption of the Praxis Framework.

Find out more about American Express Global Business Travel at:
www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com

ABOUT THE PRAXIS FRAMEWORK

Praxis is a free framework for the management of projects, programmes and portfolios. It
includes a body of knowledge, methodology, competency framework and capability maturity
model. The framework is supported by a knowledgebase of resources and an encyclopaedia.

Discover the framework at www.praxisframework.org.

Published by Praxis Framework Ltd.