Strategic Objectives Of Southwest Airlines

Business Strategy – BAD 4013 – SUMMER 1999 Case Study Southwest Airlines I. Strategic Profile and Case Analysis Purpose The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit. Twenty-seven years ago, Rolling King, owner of floundering commuter airline, and Herb Kelleher, King’s lawyer, got together and decided to start a different kind of airline that would provide a short-haul, low-fair, high-frequency, point-to-point service in the United States. The company began service on June 18, 1971 with flights between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio (“The Golden Triangle” as Herb called it). Southwest Airlines is the fourth

In an era of organizational flux due to competition and globalization, companies and employees are faced with constant change. Leaders must be able to adapt to change as the environment shifts. HR has been known as the organizational change agent, administrative expert, and employee advocate. More recently they have been regarded as business strategic partners for many organizations. In order to be successful and remain competitive in today’s market, Human Resources (HR) must be considered a strategic partner if an organization wants to flourish. Top executives today commit significant resources to ensure that their company’s functions are capable of rapid change and achieving their

The five universal competitive plans include overall low-cost provider strategy, broad differentiation strategy, focused low-cost strategy, focused differentiation strategy and best cost provider strategy (Bethel, 2017). Southwest Airlines popular competitive strategy is keeping customers happy by being low cost, employee driven, future-minded, and differentiated. The overall low-cost provider strategy that is being used at Southwest is a low-cost airline that focuses on no-frills service (Investopedia, 2015). Southwest Airlines diligently follows the strategy of a differentiated low-cost carrier. [They do this by providing the lowest possible fare in the industry, and do so by focusing on consistent service, reliable operations,

Southwest Airlines (SWA) maintained a low-cost, low-price and no frills strategy. The small Texas carrier began as a concept, its business plan detailed on a cocktail napkin in 1971 and grew into the nation’s fourth largest airline. Known as an innovator with low operating costs, dominating smaller airports, with a humorous customer service, SWA saw its 40th profitable year in 2013. Like all companies, SWA underwent leadership changes in 2001, and said goodbye to the company’s founder in 2008. Unfortunately, the changes in leadership were not the only changes; the organization proceeded to alter their beliefs and activities.

The five universal competitive plans include overall low-cost provider strategy, broad differentiation strategy, focused low-cost strategy, focused differentiation strategy and best cost provider strategy (Bethel, 2017). Southwest Airlines popular competitive strategy is keeping customers happy by being low cost, employee driven, future-minded, and differentiated. The overall low-cost provider strategy that is being used at Southwest is a low-cost airline that focuses on no-frills service (Investopedia, 2015). Southwest prides itself on being a people-oriented airline that operates with warm and helpful employees and team members. The most valuable competitive interest has been being its intense focus on hiring the right people (Investopedia, 2015).

‘HR strategy, a ‘people plan’, that will help you ensure you have the right people in your business, at the right time with the right skills to ensure you achieve your business goals’.

Southwest Airlines is excellent in planning out their long-term goals. The above SWOT analysis proved that the company is successfully carrying out the cost leadership strategy to manipulate their competitors and boost up their company. Their mission in providing Low Fare cost is one of the best strategy that they can have to increase their market share, but not just that it also put a significant increase in the demand of air travel. Southwest Airline rapid rewards program is brilliant, so they should continue and expand it even more.

The first step in strategic HR planning is by assessing your workforce and identifying your current employees’ knowledge, skills and abilities. This includes evaluating your employees’ strengths, education levels, additional training, and certifications. Personnel files should be examined as well, you can find a wealth of information needed to help

It is important for HR Management to transform from being primarily administrative and operational to becoming more strategic contributor because of the involvement of competitive advantages through a company s’ employees. Strategic HR managers need proceed with the professional growth by hiring employees with high potential and giving them opportunity to learn and make lot of experience from their job roles where can access to brightest future in the industry. Secondly, the executive succession where the strategic HR managers will hiring the potential successors and grooming them with experience and advancement to be ready for replacement of the owner of company. A company can be in right direction if proceed with the strategic succession planning. Third is the labor cost efficiency. Strategic HR department mainly focus on their top performers who effort the most to organizational goals and long-term company success. A strategic HR philosophy ensures the employees satisfied perfect where by paid to

Low-cost carriers pose a serious threat to traditional "full service" airlines, since the high cost structure of full-service carriers prevents them from competing

Strategic HR responsibilities surpass transactional duties. These responsibilities have to do with an ongoing support of the organizational long-term goals. This is where “strategy meets the market place” so that when “the economy moves from recession to recovery” the company is prepared to move with it (Cascio, 2005). The Strategic HR process looks ahead using organizational strategy as the guideline to building organizational readiness.

Whether an organization consists of five or 25,000 employees, human resources management is vital to the success of the organization. HR is important to all managers because it provides managers with the resources – the employees – necessary to produce the work for the managers and the organization. Beyond this role, HR is capable of becoming a strong strategic partner when it comes to “establishing the overall direction and objectives of key areas of human resource management in order to ensure that they not only are consistent with but also support the achievement of business goals.” (Massey, 1994, p. 27)

Southwest Airlines faced many barriers to entry from the fierce competition of other airlines in the industry. Though competition was fierce, Southwest Airlines managed to succeed by doing things differently. Their mission was to provide affordable air travel to those who would not normally fly. Contradictory to the rest of the airline industry, Southwest maintained a profit while keeping its fares low. Southwest was unique to the industry in two ways. They focused on the short haul traveler and used a point-to-point method of flight connections.

HR’s strategic management responsibilities include collaborating with other departments and leadership to plan, incorporate change initiatives, and provide tools which measure the effectiveness of HR in reaching organizational goals (Reed & Bogardus, 2012). As Anca-Ioana (2013) pointed out, it is crucial that HR participate in strategic planning and management processes in order to develop a workforce of employees who possess the competencies needed to achieve organizational objectives.

In most successful companies there is virtually no distinction between strategic planning and HRP; the planning cycles are the same and HR issues are seen as inherent in the business management. HR managers are important facilitators of the strategic planning process and are viewed as important contributors to carve the