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Southwest airlines case study
Southwest airlines case study
Southwest airlines case study
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According to Smith (2004), there are several organizations in the United States that tend to implement what is described a formalized quality management program. However, most of these organizations implementing quality management programs tend to fail. This is because these quality management programs were considered as programs of the month, and eventually faded away. Instead, Smith (2004) recommended that when an organization decides to implement a particular quality program, it usually requires what is described as a cultural change in the way its day –to-day activities are performed. Thus, the notion of doing it right on the first time should be incorporated into the particular organization’s day-to day activities or culture. In addition, top management …show more content…
In addition, this mission statement is usually followed in the day-to-day activities of all its employees (Smith, 2004). According to Smith (2004), Southwest Airlines’ mission statement appears to have implications for its employees, and customers. For instance, Southwest Airlines appears to be committed to provide the highest quality of customer service to its customers. It also appears to be committed to provide each employee with what is described as stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and growth. In essence, one might argue that Southwest Airlines believes in the creativity and innovation within its employees in order to improve its effectiveness such as being a low cost carrier (Smith, 2004). According to Chen and Huang (2009), an innovative initiative such as quality management tends to be depended on the knowledge, expertise, and commitment among employees within a particular organization. As a result, there are certain HRM practices based on its culture that appear to encourage knowledge sharing within the Southwest Airlines such as performance appraisal and
TQM is a company’s complete “culture of quality” approach which focuses on long-term success. It strives for continuous improvement, in all aspects of an organization, as a process and not as a short-term goal. TQM’s involves everyone in the organization to transform the organization into a forward-thinking entity by influencing attitudes, practices, structures, and systems of the entire organization (Business Dictionary, 2014). TQM was crafted by William Edwards Deming, a statistician who specialized in statistical process control after World War II. Deming outlined 14 points of TQM where all people of an organization can constantly search for ways to improve the process, product, and service. Deming developed the
Southwest Airlines is one of the most successful airlines in the United States. There has never been layoffs or strikes in the history of the company, although there were several times when layoffs could have been justified, including the months following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. However, Southwest's Mission statement says “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.” (Southwest, 1988). The Airline has always believed that their corporate culture is one of the keys to their success. The culture recognizes that employees have emotional intelligence and that their attitudes and morale are key to the teamwork and creative environment.
Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher studied other airlines to try and figure out what culture he wanted to bring to Southwest Airlines. Herb Kelleher and President Lamar Muse ended up using a model copied almost word for word from an airline out of California called Pacific Southwest Airlines. (Southwest Airlines, n.d.) Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) motto was pretty simple as they wanted to also be known as the “The World’s Friendliest Airline” You could tell PSA wanted to be the friendliest airline by the big smiley face that was on the front of each of the companies Boeing 727 airplanes. (Pacific Southwest Airlines, n.d.) Kelleher and Muse saw the success that the culture brought to PSA and they wanted to bring that success to Southwest Airlines. Muse later confessed that creating the operations manual for Southwest Airlines was pr...
The company’s cultural change, which is still ongoing, may lead to a decrease in employees’ morale. As AirTran’s employees continue to embrace Southwest Airline culture, the issues emerges from this organizational change remain priority.
“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
If the short haul passenger was the backbone of Southwest Airlines success, then their 737s were the lifelines that supported it. By choosing the 737 as the airplane for all of Southwest's flights, the company saved time and resources in training its employees. The crew could be easily substituted for one another due to the extensive training on the 737. Low costs and, therefore, low fares are an enormous competitive advantage, when combined with their high-quality and loyal workforce. A very unique culture was found at Southwest Airlines among all of its employees.
In 1971 Southwest Airlines started their operations with a vision of being a low cost/low fare carrier for passengers traveling between San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. After early legal battles and struggles gaining market share, their fighting spirit, integrity and will to succeed paid off. Over the course of the next 40+ years, Southwest has become the world’s largest low-cost carrier, while carrying more domestic passengers that any other U.S. airline (“Southwest Corporate,” 2015). Their culture, values and operating practices are what have driven this company to its current success and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Southwest Airlines is also well-known for having a very productive and loyal workforce. Such loyalty and productivity among the employees were brought by the way Southwest’s management treats them. As they say, the employees are willing to work hard for the company because they feel appreciated by the top management. Southwest maintains good employee relations because what they believe in is that if employees are happy, satisfied, dedicated, and energetic, they'll take real good care of the customers.
Contained within the following paper is the evaluation of the author’s organization’s mission, vision goals, and objectives .The author will discuss the pre-determined questions as set forth by Jeffrey Trapp, a certified University of Phoenix instructor. This paper will discuss the differences that a rise between a company that has implemented TQM (Total Quality Management) with that of the authors own organization’s management style.
Since 1987, when the Department of Transportation began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics, Southwest has consistently led the entire airline industry with the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded. Many airlines have tried to copy Southwest’s business model, and the Culture of Southwest is admired and emulated by corporations and organizations in all walks of life. Always the innovator, Southwest pioneered Senior Fares, a same-day air freight delivery service, and Ticketless Travel. Southwest led the way with the first airline web page—southwest.com, DING, the first-ever direct link to Customer’s computer desktops that delivers live updates on the hottest deals, and the first airline corporate blog, Nuts About Southwest. Our Share the Spirit community programs make Southwest the hometown airline of every city we serve.
Even after 9/11 Southwest Airlines has always been the top airlines in the United States. The reason for their unwavering success is based on the simplistic way they execute common values. After extensively reading their value statement, I’ve come to realize the company’s ambition thrives on motivating and taking care of their employees. Southwest’s values revolve around a warrior spirit, a servant’s heart, and a fun-loving attitude. These values transcend the more original ones from other organizations and ultimately represent more than that. For example, a warrior spirit represent the area where Southwest Airlines provides the tools for employees to better serve their customers. A servant heart implies that one is encouraged to treat each other with respect by showing concern for the customer. Lastly, a fun-loving attitude suggests that employees should have fun at work. Value is a strong concept created to guide or direct individuals behavior towards a desired or favorable outcome. For Southwest Airlines, values are not just about what the company believes, it’s about how it sets the culture. Newly hired employees are tested in the company’s three core values and in reward Southwest Airlines provide a recognition program for all employees who are complimented by customers. These values are mentioned in newsletters, staff meetings by the CEO and at special event. Southwest’s
In the mid 1980s, and into the 1990s, business leaders realized that a renewed focus on quality was required to continue to compete in an expanding global market. (NIST, 2010) Consequently, several strategic frameworks were developed for managing, and measuring organizational performance. Among them were the Malcomb Baldrige National Quality Award, which was created by and act of congress and signed into law by the President in 1987, and The Balanced Scorecard, which is a performance management tool that was born out of research conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Robert S. Kaplan, and David P. Norton published in 1996 (Kaplan, 1996). Initially, the renewed emphasis on quality management systems was a reaction to the LEAN approach to quality management implemented by many Japanese businesses to great success post World War II.
There are few things that are impressive about Southwest Airlines first one is how they treat the employees. For Southwest Airlines employees are first and customers are second. If the employees are treated well that will bring in happy customers. Next is that Southwest is not only with their low prices but is able to create a competitive advantage by offering a fun and humorous experience when flying. Finally another impressive fact is when Herb Kelleher’s retire from CEO position yet remained a Southwest employee till July 2014. Even after the retirement he was still active with the Southwest Airlines that reflected his enthusiasm and dedication for the
The mission of Southwest Airlines is a dedication to the highest quality of service delivered with warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit (Mission…, 2007). The company also provides opportunities for learning and personal growth to each employee. Creativity and innovation is very important and highly encouraged, for the purposes of improving effectiveness. Employees are to be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that the employees are expected to share with the customer. Southwest Airlines was initially created to be a low-cost alternative to high price of intra-Texas air carriers (Freiberg, 1996). Southwest’s fares were originally supposed to compete with car and bus transportation. It was a little airline, and it would withstand the test of time. As a discount, no-frills airline, it would provide stiff competition for larger airlines. Their strategy was to operate at low cost, offering no food, no movies, no first class, and no reserved seats. They created their own market and provided increased turnaround times at the gate, by avoiding hub-and-spoke airports and opting for short-haul, direct flights. Through this market approach, Southwest has a majority of market share in the markets they serve.
Even though Total Quality Management (TQM) has been replaced by other quality methodologies in many cases, organizations that have taken the long arduous journey to properly implement TQM benefited from it immensely [1]. While TQM may be perceived by many employees as just another passing fad that will soon fall by the wayside, the environmental conditions that exist within the organization will determine if TQM can be successfully implemented and take root. What is Total Quality Management (TQM)? TQM is a system of continuous improvement of work processes to enhance the organization’s ability to deliver high-quality products or services in a cost-effective manner [2].