Southwest Airline Case Study

My recommendations for both companies are to keep employee job satisfaction and workplace environment number 1 priority, provide open forums for employee concerns Understand that happy employees=happy customers and continue to market Southwest and Jet Blue as concerned about customer satisfaction and safety.

The core value of Southwest Airlines revolves around the belief that in today’s economy more and more people are finding it more difficult to travel at an affordable price. Those individuals who make time to workout do it in a way that may not be suitable. Southwest Airlines believes that everyone needs proper guidance in planning low cost affordable travel that meets their needs.

The intent of this paper it to define critical concepts of strategic planning with Southwest Airlines (SWA) top management and how their organization pursued choices and different strategies to run the business by using superior performance employees that gave them a competitive advantage over their competitors. I will concentrate on the thirteen strategic staffing decisions that are critical for any organization to be successful. I will also emphasis the knowledge, skills, abilities, and others (KSAOs) relative to the staffing process and how the company teaches these skills to the employees.

In the mid 1960’s, Rollin King, an owner of a small commuter air service from San Antonio Texas realized the inconvenience and expense of travelling between San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. Through the urging of his banker and his own vision, Rollin King decided to start an intrastate airline. King first pitched his plan to Herb Kelleher – a San Antonio attorney who had performed previous legal work for King. King’s proposal was to focus on the three-city, Golden Triangle of San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston, all of which were experiencing rapid growth and development. King’s research determined that the three cities were far enough apart in

Southwest Airlines' strong organizational culture is reflected in its mission statement "dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit" (Southwest, 2012). Southwest serves not only as a prime example of a company that excels in customer service and profitability, but as one that has utilized employee development as a means to meet these ends. Southwest makes a strong commitment to foster ongoing relationships with human resources. They demand that their employees are responsible members, however

Southwest Airline’s mission statement is a demonstration that the company has a strong commitment to its employees. The company affords the same respect to its employees that is provided to its customers. The Southwest mission statement is unique in that it recognizes the importance of its employees within the broader business strategy, which emphasizes superb customer service and operational efficiency. The employees reciprocate the respect, loyalty and trust that Southwest demonstrates. Southwest employees are known for their loyalty, dedication, attitude and innovation. The employees are the distinguishing factor between Southwest airline and the rest of the airline

Southwest Airlines has come from an underdog to being one of the best airlines in the industry. This reputation translates from its strategic management of resources. The Co-founder and former CEO, Herb Kelleher, established a unique corporate culture that leads to high customer satisfaction, employees’ morale, and one of the most profitable airlines in the industry (Jackson et al., 2012). The corporate culture concentrates on empowerment the workforce. It shows through Southwest Airlines core values that “happy employees lead to happy customers, which create happy shareholders” (Jackson et al., 2012). Since its first grand opening in 1971, Southwest Airlines has shown steady growth, and now carries more passengers than

To ensure that Southwest Airlines sustains their competitive advantages, it is up to the employees and the management to stay true to their business model of giving their customers a cheap ticket, on-time flights and great service. The search for employees must be thorough, and must go further than most companies to ensure the "culture" can be adopted by the new people. If they do that, than they might have another thirty years of consecutive profits.

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

This case analysis is an overview of Southwest Airlines which will explore its history in brief and timeline. Southwest Airlines is currently a major airline in the United States domestic market, looking for growth and expansion opportunities. The focus of this paper is to review many aspects of strategic analysis that have an impact on Southwest Airlines; utilizing the SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces and Business Model Strategies methods of analysis. Lastly a recommendation will be presented for the firm on for the problem statement of expansion.

According to the Southwest Airlines Case Study, it can separate the answer into 4 parts as follows:

More than 36 years ago, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher got together and decided to start a different kind of airline. They began with one simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline.

Southwest Airlines is a low-cost airline carrier that has been operating in The United States since 1967. The company is one of the most successful airlines in the market, putting their employees first in order of importance. Just like all the other companies out there, Southwest Airlines has its own SWOT Analysis. The company’s analysis consists of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threads. This analysis is often used as part of the company’s strategic planning, which plays an important role for decision making. The analysis gives a deeper understanding of the internal attributes and resources as well as the external factors of the company. Many of the company’s weaknesses can be turned into strengths as well as many threats can be turned into opportunities.

traffic to offer a sizable number of daily flights. They also implemented a quick turnover of

a single passenger class a single type of airplane (reducing training and servicing costs) a simple fare scheme (typically fares increase as the plane fills up, which rewards early reservations) free seating (which encourages passengers to board early) direct, point to point