Southwest Airlines
Effectiveness of Southwest Leadership
Southwest management has defined a clear and simple business purpose. The management has also chosen the right business model that supports the business purpose. The management consistently demonstrates the core values and behaviors derived from the key business purpose (Emerald, 2005). The quality of the airline customer service is synonymous with warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit. This has kept the staff morale high. The leadership has opted not to do their business the usual way by providing low fare air transportation service in 34 states in the United States of America (Emerald, 2005). This has forced its competitors into bankruptcy. The airline's decision making bodies are capable of executing the business model through perfect strategic alignment. Southwest Airlines' organization is kind of upside-down pyramid making it very much in line with the way they want to do business. The upper management is at the bottom and supports the frontline employees who are the experts.
The experts execute the day-to-day and yearly business planning and operational budgeting which is done bottom-up. This unorthodox leadership style was put in place by Herb Kelleher who was its co-founder. Under this kind of leadership style, management decisions are made by everyone in the organization not just the top executives (Roybal, 2011). Emphasis is not put on structures. Employees are instead allowed to think freely without constraints. The way Southwest Airlines do business is unique to them. Their fleet solely consists of 737 Boeing. They strictly offer economy seats. There are no in-flight meals save for peanuts and other snacks. This set them apart from their competitors. The Herb Kelleher leadership style motivates Southwest Airlines employees who are valued for their ideas, their hard work, their extra effort, and extraordinary work ethic. They feel valued, respected, and motivated to perform...
Southwest Airlines: The corporate culture of the LUV airline Southwest Airlines is known for a unique corporate culture that is particularly distinctive, in contrast to its competitors. Southwest Airlines has "a raucous corporate culture that is the exception in the grim airline industry" (Bailey 2008). From the Airline's inception, its founder and chairman, Herbert D. Kelleher ensured that there was "a startling amount of office hugging and kissing in lieu of
Southwest Airlines originally began operation in 1967, but as Air Southwest Co. In 1971 its name was changed to Southwest Air Co. The purpose behind its foundation was to provide passengers with a cheap means of air travel within Texas. Today they have a fleet of 550 Boeing 737s and 37000 employees. Although it's a relatively small, domestic airline, taking passengers to 73 American cities, but it provides remarkable customer
Southwest Airlines The deregulation of the United States domestic civil aviation industry in 1978 saw airlines begin to compete freely. However, the capital-intensive nature of the business, along with undifferentiated products and services, has led to 120 airline bankruptcies since then. In the light of this context, Southwest's ability to compete is particularly interesting as it has not only continued to expand, but has been the only one to earn a
Southwest Airlines Case Analysis Southwest Airlines is a company that has grown from a small regional carrier in Texas and surrounding states to the largest U.S.-based airline. The primary strategy of the company is to be the low-cost, no frills option for people wanting to travel within the United States. Recently, Southwest acquired another carrier so they will soon begin international flights to the Caribbean and Mexico. This paper discusses the
Southwest Airlines Value chain and resource-based view of the firm Southwest Airlines has a famously unique business model for an airline, one which has enabled it to sustain a profit even during times when the rest of the airline industry's fortunes were flagging. Southwest is a budget airline that offers relatively limited flights to a fixed number of destinations, in comparison to its competitors. However, it strives to offer superior service, thanks
Southwest Airlines Before 1978, the federal government regulated the U.S. airline industry. Airlines were given profitable routes but were also obligated to serve unprofitable routes in the public's interest. Increases in airline costs were routinely passed along to customers due to the lack of price competition. In 1978, the airline deregulation act enabled airlines to set their own fares and enter or exit routes without government approval (Lam, 2003). The major airlines
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