OGRANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

WEEKLY PROJECT
In partial fulfilment of requirements for Award of Degree of Master of
Business

AMERCIAN EXPRESS

SUBMITTED BY:
V.SRIVATSAN 040 21BSPHH01C1418
SHANTANU JAIN 060 21BSPHH01C1706
 TABLE OF CONTANTS

S.NO PARTICULARS PAGE

1 Diversity & Inclusion 4

2 Learning & Development 7

3 Employee Engagement 12

4 CEO AmEx 16

5 Organisational values 19

6 Organisational culture and structure 23

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 OGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS REPORT – AMERICAN EXPRESS

Executive Summary :-
The purpose of this project is to study the various organizational practices
followed by AMEX to align resources in order to enable them to achieve the
objectives of the firm. The organization practices varies across organizations as
per their need, which is triggered from their size, operating locations, scale of
business, variety in the product and services. This project will help us study the
application of the organizational structure, values and theories.

The secondary source analysis was used as the methodology to study the
organisation’s practices such as the official site, google articles and various
journals, magazines and books were also used for the research, few of them
have been mentioned in the reference section.

American Express Company, also called as Amex, was found in the year 1850.
The company initially started its business as a courier delivery organisation. In
its time of operation, Amex has been adaptive the external business
environment and which has helped them in changing business lines requiring
to the current market situations. Amex is a diversified global financial company
with it’s operations in Travel related services, Credit cards, financial advisory
(Lanman, 2008)

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 Diversity And Inclusion at American Express

“In the Road path to success, it’s always we and not me!!”
When it comes to talking about the “diversification” and “inclusiveness” of a company’s
organizational behavior, it is considered to be one of the most challenging job for any
organization.

In American Express, the company is

committed towards fostering its diverse
workforce and inclusive workplace. The
American Express (AmEx) has always
proven to be acting as leader and role
model for every other company in this
regard. The main vision of AmEx is to
create an ambitious culture among
corporate working women around the
globe as very well stated by“Sonia
Cargan”.

FIGURE - 01

There are numerous exemplum followed by AmEx which makes it to really stand out from the
crowd, and here are some of the iconic strategies which they are abided to -

1. Pay for role :- wherein they setup set pay guidelines for roles, independently of the
people who perform them
2. Pay for performance:- reward employees on the basis of performance and key business
criteria, regardless of gender
3. Pay for governance:- they believe in holding themselves completely accountable to
uphold the high standard of pay equity
4. Pay for parity regardless of the person who is performing
5. Diversity in C-suit and board room:- this is by far one of their greatest ideology
wherein they want their top level management to have members from different
background and status, such that they represent the entire work force culture.

6. Colleague resources and education:- to provide knowledge about the roots and
impact of racism and bias, by inviting external speakers who have faced and addressed these
problems in the work atmosphere.

7. Training:- people at AmEx are provided with constant training this field in order to grow an
inclusive leadership quality, to help build and encourage everyone.(especially for managers)

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Initiatives by AmEx
• Speaking on some of their initiatives which made the entire world to astound and to set
an example for the road ahead was investment of $1 billion dollars, An Action Plan to
Promote Racial, Ethnic and Gender Equity for Colleagues, Customers and Communities,
and also not to forget about the yearly publication of UK gender pay report which was
started on a request from Customers.
• AmEx was one of the first companies to bring in baby rooms in the work place so that
mothers with infants need not get stressed thinking about their home while working.
• The Black Engagement Network (BEN) was started back in 1987 purely to encourage
and bring in a network that enables African American colleagues to connect and
develop diverse talent which resulted in the dynamic and culturally rich work
atmosphere.
• Back in 2007, the people at AmEx launched a philanthropic vision of finding community
leaders for tomorrow's world who might act as warriors to handle issues on any social
issue, showcasing strong Leadership and the non-profit motive to work for resolving the
problems of the 21st Century. An investment of 80 million dollars was pooled in to train
more than 100000 social purpose leaders.
• AmEx also Launched the National LGBTQ PRIDE Campaign to “Express Love” – Key
aspects of this campaign were to give local non-profit support LGBTQ community, Pride
parade and festival activations where AmEx employees can participate in parades on an
interactive float and express their love and empathy, small shop initiatives where AmEx
can support small businesses in various markets.

With its diversified initiatives, AmEx also plans to enhance its relationship with customers by
supporting LGBTQ community and campaigns, this way they can showcase themselves more in
front of their customers and hence explore greater number of diverse talents which are
coming in AmEx.

Achievements
Words are less to express the amount of love people share with the company. It's open
acceptance towards cognitive diversity, which in turn has lent its hands for AmEx to outshine in
the global market bring in lots of recognition and awards with regards to this aspect.

1. Fortune: #13 on 100 Best Companies to Work For.

2. Forbes: America’s Best Employers for Diversity
3. Great Place to Work: India’s Best Workplaces for Women so on and on.

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Key Notes
Acknowledging the diversity and inclusion journey for over 30 years, American Express
currently has over 53% female employees globally which makes it a very healthy diversity in
ratio.

Employees at American Express feel

‘respected' by the management, based
on the level of support, collaboration
and caring they experience, expressed
through the management's actions
towards them. Respect is reflected
through the professional development
and regularly demonstrated
appreciation for efforts. Also,
collaboration with employees on certain
relevant decisions and the culture of
seeking and responding to suggestions
and ideas makes the employees feel
empowered.

FIGURE – 02

American Express is not only Recognized in US for its focused diversity and inclusion but they
are also being recognized in India as well. ‘GenNxt – workplace of the future’ is a key diversity
and inclusion initiative launched for India, which mainly focuses on gender and multi
generation equity. The focus is to create an aspirational and inspirational workplace which
attracts and develops the best talent, who in further delivers winning results for their
customers and shareholders. Thus, they strive to attract, develop, nurture and retain premium
talent to support their business growth.

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Albert Einstein:-
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”

Many factors influence an organization's ability to retain personnel, including income, bonuses,
growth opportunities, and workplace culture, to name a few. Another issue that corporations
frequently ignore is learning and growth (L&D).

Samantha Hammock is
responsible for the global
strategy and execution of
elite talent development
and advancement at
American Express through a
variety of learning initiatives
co-created in collaboration
with key company leaders.
Technology will continue to
grow at a rapid pace,
changing the way people
work. This is exciting, but
we must be prepared to
change alongside it. For the
future of talent
FIGURE -03 development, leveraging AI
will be a game changer. We have access to data
that can help us customise our learning. Basic information about our co-workers, such as their
company, role, talents, time in the role, technologies they use, and evaluations.

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Some of the strategies followed at AmEx are:-

1. Creating learning experiences aligned to individual needs

2. Introduce Online learning for employees

3. Provide on-demand learning opportunities

4. Hire managers who coach

FIGURE – 04

Concerned about security & Information Curation:-

Employees are still hesitant of using a contactless payment option, despite the fact that it is
backed by a powerful fraud detection system and multi-layered security. This cautious attitude
may hinder firms from implementing and supporting online classes.

American Express is already working on new digital-era offerings. Late last year, it announced
the launch of American Express Go in Australia, a virtual payments system designed to assist
mid- and large-sized businesses manage the business expenses of temporary workers,
contractors, and ordinary staff more efficiently. Businesses can rapidly issue a unique virtual
card that can be used in person, online, over the phone, or as a form of payment in another
app, such as food delivery or ride-sharing services, using American Express Go. For contactless

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payments, it works with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. This type of innovation
necessitates a new generation of employees with new skill sets, such as the capacity to use
predictive analytics to produce game-changing products.

This quick cohort rollout reflects the speed with which things are changing and aims for
strategic alignment among all colleagues at all levels. The sessions are designed to help
participants quickly improve their skills in American Express' three strategic leadership pillars:
Set the Agenda, Bring Others Along, and Do It Right.

Through a combination of self-paced learning and collaborative group learning in global cross-
functional cohorts, colleagues gain actual leadership abilities. They also learn directly from
senior leader sponsors who discuss their professional journeys and apply what they've learned
to the American Express business environment. To date, almost 100 leading executives have
agreed to serve as sponsors.

One of American Express' primary cornerstones is the development of people managers. As a

result, the organization has spent a significant amount of time identifying the competencies
needed to grow their people managers. But first, let's take a look at how good people
managers are identified in the first place.

American Express has a well-established Leadership Competency Framework, which highlights

typical behaviours that every People Leader at American Express is required to exhibit.
Individuals with High Potential and High/Solid Performance are considered ready for people
management jobs, whereas employees with solid potential and solid performance are
considered to be ready for people management responsibilities in the future, as some
leadership characteristics must still be developed.

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 Philosophy
As per the American Express CSR Report
2018-19 - Our objective is to assist our
colleagues excel at what they do,
therefore we create leadership
opportunities at all levels to help
colleagues build relationships, influence
people, and drive results that benefit our
customers and our company. We develop
strong leaders who want to make a
difference while growing and thriving in
their careers and lives through formal
programs, thousands of training
activities, and opportunities for
challenging work with a purpose.

In 2018, more than 85% of our colleagues

participated in either a personal or
professional development experience
through training programs the company
FIGURE - 05 offered.

Colleagues are encouraged to take multiple approaches in order to expand their experience,
learning ability and networks, such as:

• Leadership programs
• Personal development activities
• Colleague Networks
• Continuing education

Kim Webster – American Express Global Business Travel

One of the Leading protagonists with respect to L&D at American Express, Kim Webster is global
Leader of Learning & Development, within Global Talents. She is responsible of Design,
establishment & communication of Global L&D Operating Model for the entire AMEX GBT
organization.

Implementing a new Learning Experience platform to accommodate a digital and virtual

workforce will result in a more comprehensive roadmap of capability to support the colleague
experience.

Implementation of a "user-centred design experience" to ensure that our colleagues' learning

journeys are relevant and personalised in order to improve performance, Also implemented the

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Leadership Development Framework and Program that supports the confidence and
competence of leaders at all levels of the business.

Initiatives
• The Structured Talent Enhancement Program (STEP) is designed to help high-potential
middle managers enhance their leadership skills by exposing them to complicated tasks,
learning and development interventions, senior leaders as mentors, experiential
learning, and senior leadership visibility. Over the course of six months, the initiative has
helped more than 95 percent of patients gain access to leadership positions.
• The Leadership Academy is another in-house leadership development programme
offered by AMEX. It's a six-month training programme aimed at grooming high-potential
talent who have gone through a rigorous selection procedure.
• AMEX also offers a Global Rotation Program, which allows high-potential workers with
job experience in a different line of business or location while developing their global
attitude within this program The Platinum Leadership Program gives selected High
Potential frontline people leaders exceptional opportunity and exposure, as well as
creating a succession planning.

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 Employee engagement at AmEx:-

1. Help your employees set goals for themselves: - If your employees haven't set
personal goals for themselves, they won't be able to tie company goals to them. Emilie Dulles
claims that helping her employees think about their personal aspirations benefits her
organisation. “We understand that working at Dulles stationery and invitations is a three- to
five-year holding pattern job between college and graduate school or from being single to
getting married, so we encourage talking about ambitions beyond Dulles stationery and
invitations,” she says.

2. Give your employees the freedom to create goals: - Your employees' ability to think
creatively and share outstanding ideas may be harmed by a bureaucratic and micromanaging
atmosphere. People want to complete their tasks. If people believe that part of their job isn't
to be great, they won't be, so promote it, says Alexis Haselberger, a time management and
productivity coach in San Francisco with over 15 years of experience managing staff.

3. Creating an inclusive atmosphere and incorporating inclusive leadership style and diversity
strategies to provide a positive colleague experience. Based on data and ideas from colleagues,
we've created products, processes, and tools that revolve around them.

4. Growing the best talent: Our goal is to provide all stakeholders with a high-quality, end-
to-end candidate experience while also developing best-in-class leaders who will assure
colleague growth through performance and development feedback.

Achievements: -
• 96% of employees at American Express say it is a great place to work compared
to 59% of employees at a typical U.S.-based company.
• 97% feel good about the ways we contribute to the community
• 95% Management is competent at running the business.
• Comes under top 10% of best place to work.

American Express Employee Reviews: -

1. Out of 252 American Express employee reviews, 70% were positive. The rest 30% were
constructive reviews in the view with a goal of helping American Express improve their
work culture. With 92 percent positive feedback, the Product team at American Express
has the best experience of all the company's departments. The Engineering team
provided the most constructive comments, with 63 percent of their reviews being

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 positive. Workplace diversity: Colleagues' requirements and needs are likely to differ,
necessitating inclusive tactics that cater to varied needs. When it comes to diversity, we
need to think about it through the lens of practising inclusiveness with a diverse group
of co-workers and different working styles/arrangements.
2. Colleague retention

3. Diversity in workplace
Staying involved with your staff reduces waste and increases productivity, and both of these
outcomes result in financial gains. To get there, though, small-business owners must create
effective communication channels with the individuals they want to hire.

The act of reaching out and asking for information is an important element of the process that
leads to increased employee engagement. While many businesses do this, they may not do so
frequently enough to gain the benefits that an engaged workforce may provide.

Employee engagement is a difficult notion to grasp. It's the "emotional connection" that an
employee has with their company. What makes a person feel connected to a company and
encourages them to do their best differs from person to person. It also shifts in response to
events in and around the world.

Employee Engagement best practices at American Express

1. Inspire committed and aligned
leaders - The buy-in of the
management team is very vital.
Managers are the ones on the ground,
working with your staff on a daily
basis, creating relationships and
influencing the culture of your
organisation. They are in the best
position to track engagement and
manage significant points of friction as
they arise. Your employee
engagement strategies will never get
off the ground if your management
are not engaged. To enhance your
chances of success, get buy-in from
managers and senior executives. FIGURE- 06

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1. Prioritize regular communication with employees - Face-to-face interaction
between managers and employees is prioritised in highly engaged businesses. Employee
engagement and satisfaction are heavily influenced by communication. Here are some
tools that highly engaged organizations use:
• One-on-one meetings
• All-company meetings
• Team or department meetings
• Exit interviews
• Employee engagement surveys
• Performance reviews or conversations
• Social media tools
• Leadership roundtables
• Formal goal setting and tracking programs

2. Create a robust feedback culture - Go right to the source to figure out where or
why your employees are disengaged. You won't be able to offer them with the
experience they expect until you ask them what they need. Continuous and regular
feedback can assist you in responding to and acting on specific requirements.

3. Share employee feedback and follow up - While getting employee input is a good
start, the most successful engagement initiatives prioritise follow-up. Employees who
receive follow-up from their supervisors after completing a survey are 12 times more
likely to be engaged the following year than those who do not.
Managers must take the following steps:
• Have access to the findings of their team's survey
• Discuss the findings of the survey with their coworkers.
• Assist their team or staff in creating action plans.
• Employees should be informed about their development on a regular basis.
To put it another way, gathering data and sharing it with leadership isn't enough (and
even the employees). The value of feedback is only as good as the action it motivates.

4. Complement exit interviews with exit surveys - The danger to your firm is
expensive to sell. What causes employees quit in the first place is the key to increasing
retention and sales reductions. Often underutilized resource is exit surveys providing
insights for employee involvement.
You can solve the issue at the source if you understand why your employees are leaving.
Priority was attached to conventional Performance Reviews among highly involved firms
exiting interviews and employee engagement surveys. HR executives should assist
managers in understanding the outcome of the surveys and working collaboratively to
establish a future action plan.

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5. Ingrain employee engagement throughout your workforce - 78% do employee
engagement activities throughout the year for highly engaged organisations. As a
continuous listening approach continues to be a priority in the once-a-year commitment
survey or performance review, this is no surprise for healthy and high performance
cultures. Disengaged enterprises are more susceptible to engagement as a short-term
initiative. Staff can only feel uneasy, unmotivated and uncertain about their future fitness
inside their organisations if addressed once a year only. You lose possibilities for course
correction, mentoring and growth for employees by polling or analysing performance
once a year.

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 CEO of AMEX

Stephen J Squeri believes - “More than a

strategy or business philosophy, diversity
and inclusion is at the core of our culture,
guiding our people and business decisions
daily. We foster a workplace culture in
which differences are valued and expressed
freely and all colleagues have the support
they need to take risks, learn and
collaborate.”

FIGURE -07

ABOUT :-
He was born on the year 1959. He did his bachelor's degree in physics and an MBA from
Manhattan College in 1981 and 1986, respectively.

Intially before joining AmEx, Squeri worked as a management consultant with Arthur Andersen
for four years, starting in 1981. Squeri is a board member of J.Crew and The Guardian Life
Insurance Company of America since 2017. He serves on the Valerie Fund and Manhattan
College boards of trustees as well.

Squeri began his career with American Express as a manager in the Travellers Cheque Group in
1985. He was President of the Establishment Services group in the United States and Canada
from 2000 to 2002, and President of the Corporate Card division from 2002 to 2005, during
which time he helped to globalise the company.

In 2005, he was named Chief Information Officer of the corporation, and he also oversaw the
Corporate Development division, which included mergers and acquisitions. He was designated
Group President in 2009, and he oversaw the creation of the Global Services Group, which
consolidated and globalised the company's shared services responsibilities. In 2015, he was
promoted to Vice Chairman. Following Kenneth Chenault's retirement in 2018, Steve was
offered the post and was promoted to become the Chairman and CEO of American Express.

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His Vision & Mission :-
Building a Culture of Inclusion: unlike any other AmEx heroes, he aims to continue building an
inclusive environment by promoting the workplace culture in which differences are valued and
all colleagues support each other and take risks, learn and collaborate.

Increasing Workplace Diversity: Steve aspires to build a diverse talent workplace, ensuring
employees and customers have access to different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences.

Building new Leaders :- being a CEO he believes that it’s critical to equip the future leaders
with the tools they need to develop diverse talent and gain a deeper understanding of the
value of inclusion.

Examining and understanding his vision and mission we could infer that he certainly follows
“TYPE X” leadership style. He believes in his employees and has the acceptance to bring out the
opinions.

Stephen J Squeri was announced as the CEO of the company, replacing the ex-CEO Kenneth I
Chenault who had played a major role in the development of AmEx in its initial stages.

He has served AmEx for 35years. He has served the company since 1985, and has inspired a lot
of people with his work. Being a team player made him learn a lot about managing people and
employees, which has certainly helped him to craft himself a good leader.

He comes under the top 5% of the CEOs in the world, and has also been rated A+ grade one of
the highest, by the women workers in AmEx.

Stephen Squeri, , has 197 employee reviews and a 79/100 score, putting the company in the
Top 5% of comparable size firms on Comparably with 10,000+ Employees and the Top 10% of
other companies in New York. It is observed that, from break down the CEO score by
department, gender, and ethnicity, we observe that ladies at American Express evaluate
Stephen Squeri higher than males, giving the CEO a higher score of A+.

STRATEGIES AND DEVELOPMENT :

He formed Commercial Services Group by combining several departments that supported small
businesses, medium market firms, and large corporations to form the Commercial Services
Group, which now accounts for 40% of total Card Member spending.

Led a company-wide reengineering project that reduced operating costs and reallocated
resources to many of the initiatives that are now driving the company's growth.

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The company's Global Business Travel segment was reorganised into a joint venture, giving it
access to additional investment resources to help it grow and assist its commercial customers.

Oversaw the transition of the Technology department into a flexible resource that drives
product and service innovation throughout the organisation.

The Global Servicing Network, which delivers award-winning support to clients all around the
world, was formed by combining stand-alone regional businesses.

He was in charge of the company's Y2K preparations and transition strategy.

Assisted in the transformation of the Merchant Services group from a travel and entertainment
network to one that meets our Card Members' everyday spending needs, and pioneered early
relationships.

Standing together at COVID-19 TIMES ;-

American Express has been keeping a close eye on the COVID-19 crisis and its broader
economic implications. While the company's performance in January and February of this year
was essentially identical with that of 2019, spending volumes slowed in the last few days of
February.

American Express is unable to anticipate its future financial results beyond the first quarter
because to the continuous uncertainty about the duration, severity, and geographic reach of
COVID-19. On its first-quarter earnings call in April, the business hopes to share more
information on the COVID-19 impact.

The organisation is committed to safeguarding the health and safety of its employees around
the world, as well as servicing Card Members and merchants and providing assistance to those
in need. Being an ideal leader the company as a whole has played the right role in securing
and safeguarding the employees and their families. Everyone at the office was asked to work
from home.

Our thoughts on Steve :-

We find him as an ideal leader who has faith in his believes and works for a betterment in the
society. He has showed his loyalty by working and putting all his efforts for a long period of 35
years, which has to be appreciated. But there are 3 things that he must focus:-

1. Reignite the New Product Development Engine

2. Restore Leadership in the Premium Segment
3. Reach for Leadership in Global Growth Markets

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 Organizational Values of American Express

American Express is one of the greatest financial companies in the United States, with
intentions to expand globally.
They were founded in 1850, 170
years ago, and have provided a
variety of services to customers
in need of financial assistance
since then. When it comes to its
services, this organization is the
embodiment of complete trust
and financial competence.

The mission statement of

American Express relies around
attracting the best employees
and utilizing their skills to help
customers overcome financial
hurdles. When compared to
business professionals and
entrepreneurs, people's
financial literacy is still lacking.
That is at the heart of American
Express's philosophy. FIGURE-08

Mission
Their mission statement announces itself as,” Become essential to our customers by providing
differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.”

Key features -

• Become essential to our customers - This feature refers to the company being so
deeply ingrained in the lives of its customers that it wishes to be an integral part of
their journey by providing them with the most appropriate financial assistance. This can
only be accomplished through their pleasant interactions with consumers and their
willingness to assist them as much as possible. Because they are the greatest at what
they do, they become a crucial component of any financial crisis that their clients face
because they will always think of a finance firm they know for loans and other services
when money is tight. Because of their commitment to aiding clients and their attitude
toward them, they have been able to get more and more customers every day.

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 • Providing them with differentiated products and services - The second
feature discusses delivering differentiated financial services to clients that come to
their doorstep that are valuable and attempt to solve their problems in a unique way.
Because providing the same loan service might become tedious, the current return and
interest rates only add to the weight of financial difficulties. That is why American
Express has differentiated plans like insurances, credit cards, savings accounts,
corporate programs, and prepaid cards.

• Help them achieve their aspirations - The third aspect discusses how they can
make their services so much better and more inexpensive to their consumers that they
can help them reach their goals with the money they supply without putting them
under financial strain.

FIGURE-09

Vision
The vision of American Express is crisp and to-the-point, giving them a straightforward aim to
work toward. All personnel should attempt to base their actions on the vision and to help their
attitudes be guided by the mission. Their vision statement reads, “Provide the world’s best
customer experience every day.”

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Key features -

• Provide the world’s best customer experience - The first feature refers to the
company's desire to be the best in customer service and to always be there for its
consumers by providing necessary financial services. They've assisted firms in rising to
the top of their industries by advising them on the best strategies for success based on
their hard work and planning. This has been a big differentiator between them and
other financial agencies since they see through their customers' concerns and present
them with the finest potential solution among the services they offer.
• Everyday - The second part is made up of only one word, yet it has a deeper
significance. Every day can refer to delivering services that assist consumers on a daily
basis or being there in the lives of persons who seek their assistance without any
delays.

Values
Customers and their morality are equally valued by American Express. They have taken delight
in reaching their objectives by committing their coding to improving people's lives. They use a
variety of methods to keep personnel informed about their customers while also giving them
with the tools they need to stay connected and give better service.

• Deliver to their customers - The first factor emphasizes that they will always deliver
what they have aimed for, both for themselves and for their clients. They recognize
their customers' trust in them and strive to provide the highest quality financial services
so that they are satisfied with the service they receive.
• Respect people - Another principle they live by is to always respect others,
regardless of their relationship. Even if they aren't clients, they should be treated as if
they were. After all, as the old adage goes, if you offer respect, you will receive respect.
And they are die-hard fans of the analogy.
• Care about communities - They care about communities and have an impact on
them to make a difference in how the less fortunate are treated and that all people are
treated equally. Their corporate social responsibility is strengthened through
connecting with people from all walks of life to help them reach out and learn more.
• They believe to make things great - American Express takes pride in offering
excellent service to its customers at a reasonable cost, as well as delivering world-class
care to ensure that they return and profit from the company. The company expects the
best from its staff and is always happy to provide the greatest financial solutions to its
consumers.

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• Aceept different views - Because they value multiple perspectives in different
situations, this company encourages creative thinking. This is why the company has
gotten to where it is because of its unique set of rules and restrictions, as well as a
creative workforce that recommends new paths.
• Doing what’s right - Doing the right thing is difficult because doing the right thing is
often difficult. Despite the challenges, this organization makes decisions that benefit its
customers so that they do not regret putting their trust in it. They strive to be
dependable and consistent in their client service.
• Win as a team - Their dedication to servicing the clients and their ability to operate
as a team are impressive. They put in long hours and strive for the greatest results for
their clients. They have both won and lost as a team. Individual accomplishments are
valued, but not at the expense of team cohesion.

Organizational Culture & Structure

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Oganisational Culture :-
American Express has always been an organisation which has promoted a competitive and an
inclusive work culture for their employees. The major components of the organisation’s culture
are as follows: -

• Diversity: American Express stands at 70th percentile across the culture 500.
• Integrity : the company from the beginning has always focused on integrating
different type of people, culture, believes and perspectives. They are basically focused
on creating a workforce that represents their customer base.
• Collaboration
• Top level management represents the whole work place.

They are able to achieve this by following the small footsteps to bring in a change: -

Educating employees about anti-racism.

• Dismantling Implicit bias

• Encouraging and rewarding
more participation
• Showing respect to every
individuals ( employees to
customers)
• Team building activities
• Work life balance

Talking about the views of the top

level management upon the cultural
environment of the organisation, at
AmEx they believe the following things :-

• Good culture eliminates inflated salaries :- They believe that

a company’s values and focus on employee fulfilment are apparently the most
important factors in attracting and engaging quality employees, and being as we said
earlier AmEx being a company that cares about the well-being of its staff is twice as
likely to be viewed as very important in attracting and retaining staff as providing a high
base salary.
• According to the Steve (CEO) money doesn’t buy satisfaction. He feels that it’ll cost the
company to bring in satisfaction sense among the employees but this would certainly
be worth it as they’ll help In maintain the minimum workers turnover ratio and building
employee retention ratio for longer run.

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 • Creating the right social environment :- it is believed in general that a workplace
in any company must be serious and disciplined, making the work area less interactive
and boring. But AmEx is an exception in this regard, the company believes that the
more fun and interactive the workplace is the better the quality of work would be. In
their view it is the company’s work culture that is the single biggest determinant for the
organisation’s success or failure, and affects every part of the business starting from
hiring of new employees till the customer service department.

Having a plan, and working upon it has paid off AmEx in terms of support from their employees
and has ranked 2 best place to work in India, globally Forbes has ranked American Express as
the world's 23rd most valuable brand (and the highest among financial services) in 2017,
valuing the company at $24.5 billion. Based on an employee satisfaction poll, Fortune
magazine put American Express at number 9 on their Fortune List of the Top 100 Companies to
Work For in 2020.

Oganisational Structure:-
The management framework of the American Express Company is responsible for the
production and fair presentation of the work structure, in accordance with general accounting
standards recognised in the US, of its Consolidated Financial Statements, which contain amounts
based on the best management views. The management of the firm is also accountable for the
accuracy and consistency of the other financial information in this Annual Report.

The Company has a system of internal control over financial reporting to ensure the reliability of
its financial statements, in recognition of its responsibility for the accuracy and objectivity of its
data contained in its financial reports. The concept of a reasonable guarantee is founded on the
notion of not going beyond the advantages of the internal control system.

Different methods/classification of organizational structure followed at AmEx:-

By function or functional structure: Designing the organisation is the process of aligning the
organisation structure according to the business areas handled by each section or department.
At American Express, the travel related services, risk management, and financial divisions are
all aligned differently.
By Divisions or Divisional organizational structure: Divisional structures groups people together
who work on a similar product, work in the same geographical region, or serve the same
customers.

By product or activity: In this situation, the structure is created in accordance with the
organization's products. Charge cards and credit cards are each assigned to a different business
unit within American Express.

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By area: When firms are aligned along geographical or regional lines, the organisational
structure based on the area of activities becomes apparent. Different geographies are aligned
in a framework in this case. JAPA (Japan & Asia Pacific), Americas (North America), and Europe
& Middle East are the three distinct areas of operations for American Express.

By customer: This organisational structure is common in companies that are extremely

attentive to client needs. Amex offers a variety of credit card choices to suit the demands of
various consumer segments. The Amex Black card is for high-end customers, while the Amex
Green Charge card is for the ordinary client.

Matrix Structure: By following this structure AmEx tries to gain the advantages of both the
functional and divisional approaches.
Network Structures: Network structures not only in AmEX but in any organisation maintains a
staff of core fulltime employees and use contracted services and strategic alliances to
accomplish many business needs.

American Express Organizational Team

1. Stephen J. Squeri - Chairman & CEO
2. Alan Gallo - Chief Audit Executive and Executive Vice President, Internal Audit Group
3. Anna Marrs - President, Global Commercial Services
4. Anré Williams - Group President, Global Merchant & Network Services
5. Denise Pickett - President, Global Services Group
6. Douglas E. Buckminster - Group President, Global Consumer Services
7. Elizabeth Rutledge - CMO
8. Jeffrey C. Campbell - EVP & CFO
9. Laureen E. Seeger - EVP & General Counsel
10. Marc D. Gordon - EVP & CIO
11. Michael John O'Neill - EVP Corporate Affairs ; Communications
12. Mohammed Badi - Chief Strategy OfficerMonique
13. Herena - Chief Human Resources Officer
14. Raymond Joabar - Chief Risk Officer and President, Global Risk, Banking ; Compliance

CONCLUSION

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From the above collection of data, it can be certainly inferred that American Express’s human
resource management techniques strive to create a pleasant and satisfying work environment,
which in turn will best generate employee talent and potential. AMEX considers the present
situational circumstances as well as the interests of their stakeholders when developing policy.
As a result, it is able to compete effectively in this hyper-competitive industry. Customer
satisfaction, team spirit, openness, communication, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and
learning, among other characteristics, are intertwined and contribute to it’s fundamental
competitiveness.

To summarise, AMEX continuous success is due to the it’s values that its competitors are
unable to duplicate.

Few References
1. https://about.americanexpress.com/home/default.aspx

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2. https://howigotjob.com/mission-statement/american-
express-mission-statement-and-vision-analysis/
3. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-ca/business/trends-
and-insights/articles/importance-of-defining-a-companys-
core-values/
4. https://www.peoplematters.in/article/leadership-
development/developing-people-managers-american-
express-11592
5. 2018-2019-American-Express-CSR-Report.pdf
6. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kimwebster1
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express
8. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-
and-insights/videos/how-to-create-an-inclusive-culture/
9. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-
and-insights/articles/different-ways-to-educate-
employees-on-anti-racism/
10. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-
us/business/trends-and-insights/keywords/corporate-
culture/
11. https://www.themuse.com/profiles/americanexpress
12. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200317
005395/en/American-Express-Provides-Update-on-the-
Impact-of-COVID-19
13. https://www.businessroundtable.org/about-
us/members/stephen-j-squeri-chairman-and-chief-
executive-officer-american-express-company
14. http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-
chart/american-express
15. http://phx.corporate-
ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=64467&p=irol-irhome

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