According to Jim Whitehurst who sits on the board of United Airlines, the most important aspect of success in the company is the development of an appropriate culture from the top of the chain going downwards. This means that the culture that the management cultivates can spiral downwards to other employees in the company. For instance, United airlines has a huge focus on safety which is one of the missions of the company as a whole. With meetings beginning with a discussion on the placement of exits and the proper way of exiting the building in case of emergencies, this gives an example of how their culture is reinforced and cultivated all through the organization (Whitehurst, 2016). Having the proper culture to emulate is important because
Throughout 20th century, two pioneering aviators and inventors, Orville and Wilbur Wright, turned human’s dream of flying into a reality. Although they were not the first to build and fly an aircraft, the Wright brothers made, the world's first power-driven heavier-than-air machine and aircraft that could be controlled while in the air. Before aircraft was invented, human tried to imitate bird’s posture to fly across the sky by building ornithopters, which was a designed to fly by flapping its wings. Therefore, Wright Brothers’ invention shaped our culture and changed the way we view our world .
Edgar Schein’s experiences he gained throughout the various professions he encountered during his life is what inspired this book. Educated and well decorated, Schein was the author of fourteen books and consultant for various company organizations. The knowledge and expertise the author shares in this book are invaluable to the reader and anyone focused on a positive culture and leadership environment. Although he attended different universities, Schein was focused and passionate for cultural psychology and the impact on organizations. He emphasizes on the importance of culture within a company and how it provides structure and meaning in the organization. Edgar Schein explains that you can create value in culture and strengthen the leadership aspects of the organization at the same time. This book suggest that developing the right kind of culture deeply relies on the values that managers are trying to instill in the organization. These values as the author explains, will create a successful climate or culture and ultimately influence the leadership aspects in all levels of the organization.
We are in receipt of the above-referenced subpoenas directed to United Airlines, Inc. (“United”) and issued by the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) on April 12, 2017 and April 13, 2017, respectively, in relation to the United Express Flight 3411 incident involving passenger David Dao on April 9, 2017 (the “Incident”). As previously discussed, our office represents United Airlines, Inc. (“United”), and we are appreciative of the opportunities that the OIG has provided to allow us address this matter and we hope to be able to continue our dialogue. Further, we kindly request that you continue to forward any future communications relating to these subpoenas to our attention.
Southwest Airlines (Southwest) is a domestic US airline that provides short haul, high frequency, point-to-point, and low-fare service to and from 60 airports in 59 cities across 31 US states. From humble beginnings in 1971, this airline with only four passengers per flight, and airhostesses wearing hot pants and white go-go boots, has evolved into a leader in the airline industry with unsurpassed employee loyalty. Southwest 's unique and relaxed corporate culture has created a highly successful airline business that has shown a profit for 30 consecutive years. This paper will examine corporate
As one of the largest, publically held companies in the county, it’s not surprising that United Airlines has some impressive statistics to its name. The Chicago-based airline employs over 87,000 people, operates routes to 360 destinations worldwide, and reported a net profit of $571 million in 2013 (UAL Corporation SWOT Analysis, 2014). While the company has struggled financially in recent years, they’ve been able recover by capitalizing on their size and reputation. In this paper we’ll examine the history of the airline and look into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that will impact their future.
In today’s competitive world, an organization’s culture can be the greatest competitive advantage. Southwest prides their investment in their employees and their family type culture to be their advantage. Zappos’ success is credited to their approach in hiring talent (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). When it comes to hiring and retaining talent, culture matters. In his work and research at Glassdoor, Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D. (2017), found that employees were less likely to leave companies with a higher rated culture. When it comes to an organization’s ability to grow their customer base and increase their bottom line, culture matters. Netflix credits their culture in their ability to excel in their market ("Netflix Culture: Freedom and
And yet, Southwest has been the only U.S. airline to be profitable for 28 consecutive years (Laing, 2001). One key to Southwest’s success is its remarkably short turnaround time, 15 minutes versus competitors’ average of 35 minutes (O’Reilly & Pfeffer, 1995). Planes don’t sit long at the jet way. Instead, employees across functional lines band together to get the planes out quickly, despite being 89% unionized. This results in an average plane utilization of around 12 hours at Southwest versus the industry average of closer to 9 hours. Southwest’s success hinges not on how brilliant, unique, or opaque their strategy is, but on the alignment between their culture and strategy, and how clearly employees understand, and intensely they feel, about the culture. Strong cultures enhance organizational performance in two ways. First, they improve performance by energizing employees – appealing to their higher ideals and values, and rallying them around a set of meaningful, unified goals. Such ideals excite employee commitment and effort because they are inherently engaging (Walton, 1980), and fill voids in identity and meaning that some believe; characterize contemporary Western society (Baumeister, 1998). Second, strong cultures boost performance by shaping and coordinating employees’ behavior. Stated values and norms focus employees’ attention on organizational priorities that then guide their behavior and
United Airlines was boycott by many angry customers after the crew of the flight 3411 that served from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Louisville, Kentucky asked the airport security officers to drag out costumer Dr. David Dao from his seat because of an overbooked flight on April 9, 2017.
United Airlines is very proud of the current culture and specifically seeks to hire pilots who are a positive addition to its pilot group. The first step as a pilot applicant is to take a job fit assessment. This is approximately a four hundred question true or false test that is designed to asses an individual’s personality in comparison to the current United pilot group. Upon my successful completion, I was invited to interview. From the day I stepped on the property to interview the positive culture of United has been apparent. The airline recognizes the importance of fostering a positive culture and how it directly relates to employee satisfaction and customer service. During initial training the expectation of being a team player
An embedded corporate culture is extremely difficult to change, even if management tries to change it. If Gary Kelly strives to maintain the culture of Southwest Airlines the culture will in all likelihood persist. However, the effect on culture of Herb Kelleher’s personality and unique approach should not be underestimated and must be preserved in some form. In other words, the fun and creative part of the customer experience should not be sacrificed.
Organizational culture has been described as shared values and beliefs that underline a company’s identity. A strong culture that encourages employees from the top to the bottom in adaptation and change can increase organizational performance by energizing and motivating employees, shape behaviors, unify personnel in the goals / objectives and align employee’s actions with the priorities of the company (Daft, R., 2013). Creating a constructive culture should be a manager’s top priority because the right culture will propel a company into a top performer in its industry.
Reasoning, Information Literacy, Communication, Scientific Literacy, Cultural Literacy, Lifelong Personal Growth, Aviation Maintenance, Aviation Maintenance Management, and Aviation Maintenance Safety.
Organizations like the Southwest Airlines all have a culture, which demonstrates how the organization works and usually acts as its motivational tool. An organizational culture is important to the organization, as it is the major element in helping attain the organization's goals and objectives. Cultures in organizations are vast, with different organizations adopting their own type of culture. The examples of culture include; club cultures, where employees of the organization are assisted to fit into the culture. This is the most common type adopted by most organizations. There is also the academy culture, where the organization keeps its most skilled employees. The skills are developed by the company and an example of the organization that mostly uses this culture is the large corporations like the Southwest Airlines. The base team culture is designed to maintain high skilled employees, as these employees have great skills and can work for many other organizations. Other organizations have cultures that are highly discouraged, like the fortress culture, where employees hardly know their fate, and can be laid off any time. These organizations often undergo changes through reorganization, and only the specialized skilled people have chances for positions in the organization. Despite these many types of the cultures, management should ensure culture that is reputable, and
According to our text, Deal and Kennedy identified four dimensions of culture. Values, Heroes, Rites and Rituals, and Culture Network reflect how in a large part an organization makes decisions (Lester & Parnell, 2006). An organization’s culture is impressed upon staff beginning at the hiring process and continues throughout their tenure. For example, a Healthcare organization may have a culture that stresses patient safety and satisfaction beyond anything else. In this culture, any decision regarding process improvement or introduction of a new service line would be tailored to either safety or satisfaction. If a hospital were to start a patient lift team, the project team would ask how this departmental addition would impact patient safety
A norm of spectacular customer service will sell your products and engage your employees. Tolerating poor performance or exhibiting a lack of discipline to maintain established processes and systems will impede your success.” (Heathfield). Which is true of subsystems and organizations as a whole, if one department is not accountable for what they are responsible for, the organization as a whole, can fail. Subsystem norms must to align with organizational norms and culture, otherwise, “when your work culture is strong, most people in the group agree on the culture. When your work culture is weak, people do not agree on the culture. Sometimes a weak organizational culture can be the result of many subcultures, or the shared values, assumptions, and behaviors of a subset of the organization.” (Heathfield). “When the organization culture supports teamwork, team members understand how the strategy of using teams fits in the total context of their organization's strategic plan and success goals.” (Heathfield). Furthermore, “in a successful team culture, teams understand where their work fits in the total context of the organization’s mission, goals, principles, vision, and values.” (Heathfield).