Southwest Airlines

Their program is created to drive performance through a mixture of near-term finances, working goals and long-term focus on their stock price performance. The reliability in how the company achieves their compensation program and their objectives under that program has proven to be a significant influence. Their viewpoint remains to accentuate fairness within compensation as the most important element of the NEOs’ total program that supports our pay-for-performance purposes. (EXECUTIVE AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION, 2016)

Southwest Airlines is a major US airline established in 1967 that services a multitude of cities in all 50 states and beyond. The company is known for its outstanding quality in providing services and it 's cost effective ticket prices to its many passengers throughout the nation. This airline is based in the southwestern United States, in the city of Dallas Texas, and due to the tremendous number of airplanes that it has and the timely service that it provides to its passengers, this airline services more US passengers than any other airline. This airline also has the largest fleet of planes of any economical or low-cost airline service in the world and employees more than 45,000.

One of the important aspects of business management is having a proper compensation system. Compensation ensures that the staff of the company obtains the results of their efforts. Compensation is a cost to the enterprise and, therefore, a proper remuneration model must demonstrate its ability to produce returns. Also, since compensation is what the employees get in exchange for their services, the type used must be one that will motivate the employees (Belcourt & McBey, 2015). Henderson printing company is a mid-level company. Therefore, it requires a very critical remuneration system that will help it to survive. This memo explores the compensation models that Henderson printing operates as well as suggests the necessary changes.

In the case presented both AFLAC and L.L. Bean had their own distinctive ways of utilizing their products in order to enhance the total compensation for its employees. The factor that has deterred more employees away from their current employer is that of benefit packages, and reward systems. As stated by () “compensation affects a person economically, sociologically, and psychologically. For this reason, mishandling compensation issues is likely to have a strong negative impact on employees and, ultimately, on the firm’s performance” (p.313). Many felt just a bump in pay wasn’t enough to substantiate their hard work or the efforts that the performance efforts provided to their organization. As stated by () “the right total rewards system a blend of monetary and non-monetary

From a total rewards perspective, the reorganization allowed the company to develop ways to improve the satisfaction of its employees. Linking pay to performance and other compensation incentives was an asset when recruiting talented technology professionals to come in and build

Over 35 years ago, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher decided to create a different type of airline. They began with the simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time and at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline. They were right (Southwest Airlines, 2004)!

As Director of Human Resources for Wilson Bros, the conclusions that I draw with respect to the status of the company’s compensation strategies is that they lack security for their employee’s compensation and lack flexibility to the changing economy, competitive environment, and growing organizational needs.

At Southwest Airlines, the company’s business strategy has a positive effect on the training they provide to their employees. Southwest Airlines is a Texas based airline that started up in 1971 (Corporate Fact Sheet). Over the years the airline has been recognized for its outstanding customer service and its low airfare fees. Due to their excellent customer service, the company has been ranked number one in customer satisfaction in 2013 by the U.S Department of Transportation. In. 2015, Southwest airlines was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award. The reason that Southwest airlines is recognized for all these great things is because they obtain a good organizational control over the airline.

A well-articulated compensation philosophy drives organizational success by aligning pay and other rewards with business strategy. It provides the foundation for plan design and administration and anchors current and future plans to the company's culture and values (Kaplan, 2006, p.32). Recognizing and rewarding achievement is the cornerstone of the company A’s compensation philosophy. The mission of the company is to attract, select, place and promote all individuals based on their qualifications. The company believes that performance-based compensation helps attract, develop and retain talented professionals. In addition to base pay which based upon local market conditions and targeted to be above market, the company provides the following types of potential compensation to reward performance:

How has SWA (a) responded to the “Shuttle By United” initiative (half page 5 points); and (b) what assessments can be made about SWA’s market and financial position on competitive routes based on 1994 4th quarter results (half page 5 points)?

Dunlap’s salary was just over $500k and he took no bonus. But he received a substantial stock option and award package. The restricted stock award component was to vest in two years, meaning that Dunlap’s compensation would be closely linked to the company’s stock performance for that time. Although the short term profits benefited shareholders, no incentives to create a long term, profitable company existed. Sunbeam’s performance-based incentives brought greater motivation to Dunlap to increase the firm’s stock value by any means necessary. He created remarkable shareholder value, in part by cutting half the company's 12,000 workers and closing many plants. Generally speaking, the first compensation package was excessive, but it linked the CEO’s and stockholders’ goals. It was not well designed, but it was congruent with Sunbeam’s business model of maximizing shareholder profits, but it drove an unhealthy behavior.

A major role of this committee is the reviewing of the Company’s compensation strategy. Ensuring that the compensation strategy aligns with their goal to attract and retain high-quality leadership is crucial to the success of The Home Depot. They must make certain that management is awarded the appropriate incentives and rewarded appropriately for its contributions to the growth and profitability of the Company. The Home Depot’s compensation strategy must also align with all of the Company’s objectives and stockholder interests. ("Leadership development &," 2013)

This proposal addresses the needed steps to be taken in order for Southwest Airlines to see continued growth in the airline industry. Southwest Airlines has been able to remain one of the most profitable airlines in the industry for an extended period of time. Even with the hindrance of the 2001 terrorist attacks involving airplanes and the U.S recession of 2008, Southwest has continued to see strong revenue growth. Meanwhile, other companies were experiencing major losses and in some cases folding. Southwest Airlines has capitalized on the company’s strength of being the top low cost

Although research generally confirms that pay-for-performance plans can influence greater outcomes, it is unclear how effective different pay plans are relative to each other (Park, 2012). Like most things in business, compensation is something that requires evaluation, study, assessment, strategy, modeling and integration.  Achieving a pay for performance culture does not happen without paying attention to the behaviors, activities, rewards and motivations that have to be linked and reinforced through a well engineered and successfully executed process.  Actually if that process does not tie rewards to shareholder financial objectives, employ the proper mix of compensation elements, result in meaningful dollars, embrace performance that employees can impact and are effectively communicated and reinforced, then the results it produces will likely fall short (Vision Link Advisory Group, 2013).

Southwest Airlines Company (Southwest Airlines or ‘the Company’ SWA) is a passenger airline that provides scheduled passenger and freight transportation services. The Company primarily provides scheduled services throughout the US and near-international markets. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and employs 48,000 people and serves over one hundred million customers annually (“Southwest,” 2015). Southwest Airlines has accumulated over forty years of revenue and is one of the supremely flown airlines in the United States of America (Dess, et al, 2014, p. C137). Recognized for dominating the national or domestic airline market, Southwest Airlines’ diligence has built an