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Organizational Commitment and Communication: Southwest Airlines

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Leadership Southwest airlines, a company that is known to have strong employee relationships, believes that the happier an employee the better productivity they will have. Southwest Airline CEO, Gary C. Kelly, has stated that in order to have a strong company he needs to take time building strong relationships as well. “Happy Employees = Happy Customers. Happy Customers keep Southwest flying” (Southwest). He created an environment that challenges employees to be innovative which lead to creative solutions. Gary C. Kelly is able to initiate structure within the company, since he had a clear goal and direction for the company employees were not confused. If Southwest Airlines was to change their leadership style to reflect a …show more content…

Employees have a strong sense of loyalty to Southwest Airlines; their loyalty and admiration to Southwest CEO, Gary C. Kelly, makes the ability to influence the behavior of its employees easier. “Original employees – many of whom say they considered him more of a father than a boss – wanted to please and emulate him. Workers routinely went above and beyond the call of duty to help the airline thrive” (Trottman, 2003). Another form of power is reward power. There is an incentive for working at Southwest for a long time; Employees who work with Southwest Airlines receive benefits as well as stock options within the company. Southwest believes that hard work and dedication to the company should result in rewards and promotions. They do not rely on the reward system to motivate their employees, but they believe it is a great way to let employees know they are appreciated. Power such as coercive power will only hurt communication within an organization. If an organization operates on the principle of fear and withholding of information employees will feel less inclined to communicate with one another. This type of power creates an environment that stiffens creativity in fear that they will be punished. Another form of power that may hinder communication within an organization is legitimate power. This form of power is based on authority or position. If Gary C. Kelly were to exert his authority over employees simply

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