...The Airline Industry: A Strategic Overview of Southwest Airlines Terra Thompson Ohio Dominican University Running head: SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 1 The Airline Industry: A Strategic Overview of Southwest Airlines Terra Thompson Ohio Dominican University SOUTHWEST AIRLINES The Airline Industry: A Strategic Overview of Southwest Airlines Table of Contents 2 The History of Southwest Airlines ................................................................................................. 3 Target Market and Business Model ................................................................................................ 3 Current Product............................................................................................................................... 4 Southwest’s Culture ........................................................................................................................ 5 Mission Statement .......................................................................................................................... 5 Mission and Corporate Culture....................................................................................................... 6 Employees and the Mission ............................................................................................................ 7 The Importance of the Mission Statement and Corporate Vision................................................... 7 Strategic Analysis .................
Words: 6158 - Pages: 25
...Mission and Vision Statement Today, in the 21st century, when the borders between countries erased, and people travel all over the world and within their countries, the airline industry has become more popular. Air carriers have become more sophisticated and aware of their customers’ needs; thus, they operate at all levels providing a valuable service to their customers. Talking about the US airline industry, I want to analyze such companies as Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue Air. In order to analyze these companies, it is necessary to start with what are the company aims, what is important to it, what it wants to achieve, and who the groups are. All this valuable information is reflected in the company’s mission and vision statement. Thus, let’s take a closer look at mission and vision statements of Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue Air. According to the Southwest Airlines Annual Report (2013), “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.” Moreover, the company has expanded mission statement, “We are committed to quality service for the everyday person. Southwest provides air transportation to cities all around the United States. We fly the most luxurious planes on the market with the latest technology money can buy. We competitively provide the lowest airfare price in search for the greatest advantage in today’s busy world. We provide the...
Words: 3518 - Pages: 15
...research and understand how the changes of globalization and technology have impacted the Airline industry. This paper will also apply the industrial organization model and the resource-based model to determine how the Airline industry earn above-average returns. This paper will explain how the Airline industry’s success is through its mission and vision statements with Southwest Airlines as an example. Finally, this paper will evaluate how the importance each category of the stakeholder impacts are to the overall success of the Airline industry. Globalization and Technology In today’s business industry, the globalization process has become an important aspect and fundamental force. The elements that contribute to globalization is the environment, culture, regulation and technology and production. While the advancements globalization has increased greatly, so has the advancements in airline industry with their aircraft (Shevell, 1999). Globalization also provides a great amount of potential profits to nations and their corporations (Button, 2008). Air transportation has evolved into a major industry (Kroo, 1999). The airline industry’s continuously grows and is facilitated through its international investment, tourism, world trade and economic growth (Kroo, 1999). According to Siliang Yang, due to the advancements of technology, airlines have been able to increase its distribution of tickets by e-commerce and the internet (Yang...
Words: 1359 - Pages: 6
...take concrete actions as needed to ensure success ([Thompson & Strickland (1999)]). The importance of mission statements to the effective strategic management of business organisations is well documented in the literature. A mission statement is a general expression of the overriding purpose of an organisation that, ideally, is in line with the values and expectations of major stakeholders. Mission statements are often regarded as ‘enduring statements of purpose that distinguish one business firm from others’. Some theorists regard the organisation's mission as a ‘cultural glue’ which enables it to function as a collective unit. This ‘cultural glue’ consists of strong norms and values that influence the way in which people behave, how they work together and how they pursue the goals of the organisation ( [Campbell & Yeung (1991a)]). A well-designed mission statement is essential for formulating, implementing, and evaluating business strategy ( [David (2001)]). The role of the mission statement in the strategic management of business firms has not been sufficiently highlighted in the research literature. As [Campbell & Yeung (1991a)] note, regarding the mission statement ‘there is little research into its nature and importance’. Since this refers to the management literature generally, it is not surprising that minimal attention has been paid to the role of mission statements in the strategic management of tourism and hospitality organisations. A major objective of this paper...
Words: 1712 - Pages: 7
...STUDY ON SOUTHWEST AIRLINE CHUOP Theot Therith TABLE OF CONTENT Table of Content 1. Case Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Propose a Vision Statement............................................................................................................................ 2 3. The company mission statement and mission statement proposed .................................................. 2 4. List the corresponding Mission Statement components ......................................................................... 2 5. Perform an External Audit.............................................................................................................................. 3 6. Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) ............................................................................................................... 5 7. The EFE Matrix .................................................................................................................................................... 5 8. Perform an Internal Audit ............................................................................................................................... 7 9. The IFE Matrix ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 10. TOWS Analysis ..................
Words: 5651 - Pages: 23
...Southwest Airlines Co. Analysis * Introduction and Mission Southwest Airlines Co. is a major U.S airline and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It was established in 1967 and adopted its current name in 1971. The airline operates more than 3,400 flights per day and has more than 46,000 employees as of August 2012. In 2013, Southwest Airlines has scheduled service to 84 destinations in 41 states and Puerto Rico. In 2012, Southwest Airlines was the market share leader in domestic air travel in the United States; it transported more passengers from U.S airports to U.S destinations than any other airline, and it offered more regularly scheduled domestic flights than any other airlines. For the 40th consecutive year, the Company was profitable, earning $421 million in net income. 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. The mission statement has always regulated the way the company conducts their business. The company mission statement also highlights their desire to serve customers better and it provides them with direction when they have to make certain service-related decisions. The company mission statement is also another way of saying, "We always try to do the right thing!" According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Southwest Airlines has the best cumulative consumer satisfaction record. * Market Share These three...
Words: 1804 - Pages: 8
...the mission statement of each of the two companies; * Prepare a well–reasoned analysis of the similarities and differences of the two organizations based on the mission statement; * Organize the paper with headings so the author knows what you are writing about; * Discuss the quality of each mission statement based on concepts from the course material. * Assess whether the mission statement clearly defines the organization and drives strategic decisions? * Provide recommendations to the leadership team for improving the quality of the current mission statement; * Discuss the vision for each company. Do the companies appear to be heading in the same direction? Explain your rationale and provide support for your position. Part II * Select one of the companies in the pair and respond to the questions below. Ensure that correlations are drawn between your responses and concepts discussed in the e-text; * How does the company respond to the issue of social responsibility? In what kinds of activities does the organization participate? Do you think its activities are appropriate? Explain you answer; * Prepare a SWOT analysis of the selected company, including at least two strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats each; * Based on the concepts learned so far, provide your recommendation for turning the weaknesses into strengths and the threats into opportunities; * Be sure the reader knows where part II begins The mission of Southwest...
Words: 2121 - Pages: 9
...Week Five Failure Analysis/Change Strategy Deirdre Martin-Banks, Claudia K. Elizondo, Hana Habbal, Aisha Lawson, Elizabeth Walton, and Erika Williams MGT/521 August 9th, 2015 Dr. Arny Bereson Introduction Analyzing and comparing the organizational strategies of different businesses operating under the same circumstances can help in understanding the factors that affect the success or failure of a business. Team A indentified as an organization that managed to succeed, and Borders Books as a business that failed during the past few years. This paper examines each company by analyzing each of their structure, culture, strategies, and behavioral theories, and creates a change strategy for Borders Book to save the company assuming the failure did not take place yet. Part One A- Southwest Airlines Objective, Mission, and Vision Southwest Airlines was founded in March 15, 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, ("About Southwest"). They wanted to start a different airline that advocated for the people. Their objectives were to get passengers to their destinations when they wanted to be there and for the lowest fare possible. From these objectives grew a successful company that passengers and employees alike will agree, advocates for them. The mission to customers then aligned with these objectives and became, “dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit, ("About...
Words: 1986 - Pages: 8
...Organizational History and Current State of Affairs This portion of the paper will include key information about Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta): (a) history; (b) culture; (c) important leaders over the years; (d) current products and service offerings: (e) target markets; and (f) methods of product and service delivery. History This section describes the history of Delta. The company was founded in Macon, Georgia, in 1924, as the world’s first crop-dusting service, Huff-Daland Dusters. The company moved to Monroe, Louisiana, in 1925. In 1928, field manager C. E. Woolman and two partners purchased the service and renamed it Delta Air Service after the Mississippi Delta region it served. Delta was the first international mail and passenger route on the west coast of South America. Delta operated its first passenger flights over route stretching from Dallas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi, via Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. Also, Delta was awarded a US Postal Service contract in 1934 to fly from Fort Worth to Charleston via Atlanta (Hoover’s, 2011). In 1941, Delta relocated to Atlanta. Woolman became the president in 1945 and he managed the company until his death in 1966 (Delta, 2011). Delta offered its first night service in 1935, using the Stinson Model A; the first Delta aircraft with two pilots. Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 service was introduced and the introduction of flight attendants, called “stewardesses,” added to flight crews. Delta contributed to the war effort...
Words: 7453 - Pages: 30
...JetBlue Strategic plan Michele Branam STR581 March 26, 2013 Billie Hutson, PhD TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract …………pg. 4 Introduction pg. 5 MISSION, VISION, AND VALUE STATEMENT…………………………………PG. 5 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS…………………………………………………..PG. 5 ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN………………………………………………................PG. 6 SWOT ANALYSIS PG. 6 PEST ANALYSIS………………………………………..………………………..…PG. 8 STRATEGY…………………………………………………………………………..PG. 9 VALUE DISCIPLINE..……………………………………………………….……...PG. 9 GENERIC STRATEGY………………………………………………………………PG. 10 GRAND STRATEGY………………………………………………………………..PG. 10 RECOMMENDATIONS.…………………………………………………………....PG. 11 OBJECTIVES………………………………………………………………………...PG. 11 FUNCTIONAL TACTICS…………………………………………………….……..PG. 13 ACTION ITEMS…………………………………...………………………………..PG. 13 MILES STONES AND DEADLINES………………………………………………PG. 14 TASKS AND OWNERSHIP………………………………………………….……..PG. 14 RESOURCE ALLOCATION………………………………………………………..PG. 14 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS…………………………………………………………PG. 15 BREAK EVEN ANALYSIS………………………………………….…….……….PG. 16 FORECASTED FINANCIALS……………………………………………………...PG. 17 BUDGET……………………………………………………………………………PG. 18 CONTINGENCY PLAN……………………………………………………………PG. 18 CONCLUSION…………………………………..………………..…………..…….PG. 18 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………PG. 20 Abstract The airline industry received devastating blows from the global economic downturn of 2008. An uncertain and volatile market, JetBlue will adopt a strategic...
Words: 4124 - Pages: 17
...company’s vision and mission statement? Comment on them and suggest for improvement if you feel necessary. Why? Or why not? (Maximum 2 pages) Company – Air Asia Air Asia vision: To become a biggest low cost airline in Asia & serving the three billion of people who are presently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. A vision is virtually comprises thinking strategically about the direction of the company in the future. After an assessment has been made on Air Asia original vision statement, there are some suggestion and improvement that needed. The new vision can be revised as: ‘To spearhead airlines industry and become most famous low-cost airline that provides the great flying experience in Asia’. Based on the revise vision statement, it showed that the formed is still within its scope as Air Asia is highlighting that they wanted to be the biggest low-cost airline in Asia. When the company expands larger, the more people will know more about Air Asia. And this will improve the strong brand identity to the consumers. Apart from that, the new vision statement shows that Air Asia wants to provide the great flying experience to the consumer or passenger. Other than that, Air Asia also can take noted that as consumers nowadays are more concern about the services quality rather than the facilities for an Airlines company. A vision statement is important to direct a company to be surviving in the future. If a company have a unreliable vision statement, it might lead...
Words: 2598 - Pages: 11
...2. 3. 4. Lecturer : Program: Actual Submission Date: Marie Silondi HND Business 16th October, 2015 Location (Choose one) 1. Uploaded to the Learning Center (Moodle) 2. Submitted to reception Optional: I have also handed a hard copy to the lecturer according to his/her request Email submissions to the lecturer are not valid, and all extensions are submitted directly to administration. Student Declaration I declare that the work contained in this assignment was researched and prepared by me, except where acknowledgement of sources is made. I understand that the college can and will test any work submitted by me for plagiarism. Note: The attachment of this statement on any electronically submitted assignments will be deemed to have the same authority as a signed statement Signature: M. Yadollahi Date: 16th October, 2015 A separate feedback sheet will be returned to you after your work has been graded. Refer to your Student Manual for the Appeals Procedure if you have concerns about the grading decision. Student Comments (optional) Was the task clear? If not, how could it be improved? Was there sufficient time to complete the task? If not, how much time should be allowed? Did you need additional assistance with the assignment? Was the lecturer able to help you? Were there sufficient resources available? How could the assignment be improved? For further comments, please use the reverse of this page. Assignment cover sheet ...
Words: 2538 - Pages: 11
...Summary These have been unstable times for the Australian airline industry. It has been faced with a marked decline in global tourism after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Recently, there has been traffic loss which is attributed to the war in Iraq and severs acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurrences in parts of Canada and Asia. In addition, to this mayhem the industry has gone through main structural changes since 1990s. There were four airlines on the essential routes but currently they are two. In 2000, the local trunk routes were controlled by Ansett Australia and Qantas Airways with new competitors Impulse Airlines and Virgin Blue rising in niche market. Currently the industry has irregular two airline structures, with Qantas leading since its occupation of Impulse Airlines in 2001 and the Ansett group’s following collapse in September 2001. On the contrary, Virgin Blue is not a member of an association, its service frequencies are reserved in comparison with those of Qantas, and its local network is not as extensive as that of Qantas is dynamic. In reaction to Virgin blue success, Qantas is taking steps to expand its allocation of the budget travel market, while Virgin is now in quest of expansion past its vacation traveller position by developing its business travel market. The government is showing a liking for administrative way outs such as a certain number of local airline slots at climax times, a restriction on the number of hourly...
Words: 3528 - Pages: 15
...An Analysis of “Southwest Airlines: We Love Your Bags” I visited the Southwest Airlines website and clicked on the “Our Culture “ tab. On this page, Southwest has culture defined as such: Cul’ture: the development, improvement, and refinement of the originality, individuality, identity, and personality of a given people (“Culture”, 2012). Southwest Airlines has stood out from the rest of the airlines even before I ever read a case study on the company and its business model. Although I have never flown on a Southwest Airline airplane, the difference can be seen just by walking through an airport that they service. The people look more relaxed, happier, and dedicated to their jobs. The company has capitalized by tailoring their culture to fit their customers and their employees versus tailoring their culture to adapt to the market/environment of the airline business. While they may not be the fanciest company in the airport, the friendly service is seen wherever you see their logo. It is an airline designed for the individuals looking for great value and dependability. When you look at the mission statement for Southwest, it is evident that they are committed to its employees. In a Knowledge@Wharton article, Colleen Barrett was quoted as saying ”Our mission statement is posted every three feet, all over every location that we have, so if you are a customer, you’ve seen it”(Knowledge@Wharton, nd, para. 3). The mission statement states, “Above all, Employees will...
Words: 862 - Pages: 4
...Reflection for Southwest Airlines As a group we started looking at Southwest strategic management, analyzing the strategic formulation of the vision statement as effective and a good mission statement. The vision for Southwest is a people-centered organization that focuses on the needs of customers as well as employees. Like the Southwest employee said, “We are all dedicated to the delivery of positively outrageous service to customers—with a sense of pride, warmth, and friendliness.” Southwest has formulated a strategy that is unlike any other airline. They have designed a culture among their employees that: * Creates a friendly atmosphere * Nonconforming structure that lets people be themselves * Generates team spirit * Empowers employees to make decisions Based on the interviews of Southwest employees by the HREP of Stanford, it appears that this vision is working for Southwest employees effectively. And if you’ve ever flown Southwest, you would learn that it works for customers, too. The low-cost, no-frills airline with no assigned seating and no business class appeals to the masses, including business travelers. The sense of humor used by the flight attendants makes passengers feel relaxed. The mission statement for Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit. We are committed to provide our employees a stable work environment with equal...
Words: 1123 - Pages: 5
