A Case Study: Building Business Agility At Southwest Airlines

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Strategic use of information systems is one of the most important issues facing firms in today’s business environment. Information systems (IS) can either enable or hinder business growth, so organizations must learn to use IS advantageously. The case study “Building Business Agility at Southwest Airlines” by Ross and Beath (2007) demonstrates how a firm can drive business success through a revolutionary change in its use of IS. In the following case analysis, I will introduce and evaluate Southwest Airlines, describe and analyze its approach to IS as outlined in “Building Business Agility at Southwest Airlines,” and provide future recommendations for the company.
First of all, let’s take a look at Southwest Airlines. This airline company …show more content…

“Our people are our single greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage,” reports CEO Gary Kelly on the Southwest Airline website (https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest). The company works hard to hire great individuals and then rewards and supports them to make satisfied, productive employees (Ross & Beath, 2007). In fact, Southwest Airlines has received repeated recognition as a great place to work (“Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet,” n.d.). As a result, Southwest Airlines is able to provide a low-cost, fun-cultured experience with excellent customer service (Ross & Beath, 2007). This has allowed the company to build its final strength in this evaluation: a strong brand …show more content…

Despite its growing domestic network, the company didn’t offer international flights until July 2014, and even then, it only offered limited destinations (“Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet,” n.d.). Furthermore, the company’s reliance on a single aircraft is cause for concern. Southwest Airlines was also weak with technology utilization initially but has since turned this into an asset, as described later. Finally, the company has a limitation with providing customer perks due to its low-cost operations (Ross & Beath,

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