top of page

CASE STUDY 3: 
Elevating Executive Escalation Management and Writing Quality & Designing a Global PM Function from Scratch

I identified a critical gap in Amazon’s global Executive Inquiry Leader (EIL) process—one that directly impacted the quality of documents sent to Amazon’s most senior executives, including Directors, VPs, SVPs, and CEOs Andy Jassy and Doug Herrington. Escalation writeups were inconsistent, incomplete, poorly written, and lacked the analytical rigor needed to drive executive-level decision-making.

​

To solve this, I invented and formalized a new Program Manager role, built global writing and process standards, coached 19 Escalation Managers worldwide, and implemented mechanisms that significantly improved quality, throughput, and accountability. This case study demonstrates my ability to architect processes, raise the bar for writing and analysis, coach global teams, and drive operational excellence at executive scale.

Overview

Role: Senior Program Manager / Global Executive Escalations Quality Manager
Skills: Executive Writing, RCA Methodologies, Global Program Design, Quality Auditing, Mechanism & Metric Creation, Coaching & Mentorship, Stakeholder Alignment
Type: Multi-quarter global standards + operational excellence initiative
Impact Snapshot:

  • 74.23% improvement in writing quality

  • 62.4% increase in root cause accuracy

  • 71.78% reduction in executive edit cycles

  • Cleared an 8-month backlog ahead of deadline with 100% SLA compliance

  • Upskilled my 19 Escalation Managers, resulting in 8 promotions

The Challenge

The Executive Inquiry Leader (EIL) process handles messages sent by Amazon Selling Partners to top Amazon executives. When an executive forwards an inquiry, the EIL team conducts a deep dive to identify:

  • Accurate issue background and case history

  • True root cause(s)

  • Resolving Actions for the specific Selling Partner

  • Preventative Actions to fix the issue for all impacted Selling Partners

 

However, when I began assessing global operations, I uncovered systemic failures:

1. Incomplete Case Deep Dives

EILs often performed shallow or incorrect investigations, stopping at surface-level symptoms (“Seller couldn’t ship FBA inventory”) instead of identifying why the issue occurred.

2. Poor Root Cause Analysis

Inaccurate root cause identification triggered incorrect or incomplete fixes—impacting both individual Sellers and global populations.

3. Inconsistent & Low-Quality Writing

Writeups varied wildly in:

  • Date formats

  • Grammar, spelling, and article usage

  • Oxford comma adherence

  • Document structure and clarity

  • Visual formatting and readability

These inconsistencies reached executives across Amazon’s highest levels.

4. Lack of Operational Discipline

  • No mechanism to secure Estimated Completion Dates (ECDs)

  • No follow-up or tracking for Preventative Actions

  • No standard SLA enforcement

  • No quality assurance or audit process

5. A Massive Backlog

With a global SLA of 15 days and an average of 22 escalations per month, the team had accumulated an 8-month backlog prior to my arrival.

My Role

Recognizing the systemic issues—and the business risk of low-quality executive communication—I proactively designed and launched a new Program Manager role dedicated to elevating writing quality, operational rigor, and analytical reliability across escalation writeups from all 19 global EILs.

​

I built a full end-to-end strategy: standards, frameworks, training, auditing, coaching, and performance management.

What I Did

1. Established Global Writing Standards

I built and rolled out the first worldwide writing framework for Escalation Managers, including:

  • Oxford comma and grammar rules

  • Standardized date and number formatting

  • Document structure templates

  • Readability and clarity guidelines

  • Formatting consistency across visuals and annotations

These standards became the baseline for every executive-facing document.

 

2. Created a Rigorous Escalation Management Framework

I developed the processes and tools needed to ensure every escalation met Amazon-bar quality:

  • A structured methodology for deep case analysis

  • A template for true Root Cause Analysis (not symptom reporting)

  • Correct mapping of Resolving Actions and Preventative Actions

  • A tracking mechanism to verify ECDs and follow through to completion

  • A repeatable, measurable system to maintain quality across regions

 

3. Cleared an 8-Month Backlog

While building new systems, I simultaneously delivered.

I cleared the entire 8-month backlog 2 weeks ahead of the 3-month deadline, and ensured every new escalation met the 15-day SLA.

 

4. Coached & Mentored 19 Escalation Managers Worldwide

I provided both team-level and 1:1 coaching in:

  • High-impact writing

  • Technical clarity

  • Root cause analysis

  • Stakeholder alignment

  • Issue resolution

  • Process ownership

I also helped EILs develop long-term career skills such as data analysis, narrative writing, and program thinking.

 

5. Built a Global Audit + Scorecard System

To sustain improvements, I built:

  • An objective quality rating rubric

  • A WW auditing mechanism for every escalation

  • A performance Scorecard in Excel for easy visibility

  • Regional and subject-matter reporting (NA, EMEA, IN; Ads, FBA, Catalog, etc.)

I audited every EIL’s prior 3 months of work to establish a baseline—then used this to drive measurable improvements over time.

Impact

Across 186 escalation documents, I delivered significant global improvements:

  • 74.23% improvement in writing quality

  • 62.4% improvement in root cause accuracy

  • 71.78% reduction in executive edit cycles

  • 100% SLA compliance while eliminating an 8-month backlog, and doing so 2 weeks ahead of a 3-month goal

  • 8 of 19 Escalation Managers promoted from Escalation Manager to Program Manager due to my coaching, mentoring, and upskilling

  • Delivery of consistent, audit-ready, executive-caliber documentation to Amazon’s highest-level leaders

 

This work not only improved global operational quality but also restored Amazon executives’ trust in the EIL function

Outcome

I successfully:

  • Invented a new Program Manager function

  • Scaled global standards across 3 regions

  • Repaired the executive communication pipeline

  • Drove measurable, repeatable improvements

  • Developed talent, elevating 42% of the global EIL team into PM roles

 

This case study demonstrates my ability to architect processes, raise the bar for writing and analysis, coach global teams, and drive operational excellence at executive scale.

What I Learned

This initiative strengthened several key capabilities that I now bring into every program I build:

  • Executive-caliber narrative writing is a teachable, scalable skill. By breaking writing into measurable, coachable components, I proved that even highly variable writers can achieve consistent, high-impact results.

  • Symptom-based analysis is the signal of root cause analysis failures. Teaching teams to push past surface-level explanations fundamentally upgrades the quality of both short-term fixes and long-term solutions.

  • Standards only work when paired with coaching and accountability. The combination of frameworks + audits + mentorship created lasting, self-sustaining improvements.

  • Operational rigor unlocks trust from senior leaders. Once the team delivered consistent, accurate, and timely materials, executive friction dropped, and cross-org teams became more responsive.

bottom of page