...Southwest Airlines Company's Purpose Belen Juarez COM/530 October 6, 2015 University of Phoenix Southwest Airlines Company's Purpose Every day someone is traveling. One of the most common forms of traveling is the airline. Whether the trip is business or personal, most likely while purchasing the ticket, checking in, or boarding the plane we do not sit there and ponder what the company's purpose or philosophy is. People get so caught up in everyday life they forget the company’s services that they are using have a purpose to serve them. In this paper, you will get an overview on Southwest Airlines Company, its culture, values, and communication. With headquarters located in Dallas, Texas, Southwest Airlines Company is one of the major United States airlines, as well as the world's leading low-priced carrier. Southwest Airlines Co. “founded on March 15, 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher” (Avstop.com, Sept). For the very first time, Southwest Airlines Co. launched international services on July 1, 2014. The total number of flight to and from Latin American and the Caribbean was up to 100 per day (Kelly, 2015). A company’s culture is member’s values and practices; essential it is the employee’s values and practices that can make or break the company. Southwest Airlines Company (2015) defines culture as “the development, improvement, and refinement of the originality, individuality, identity, and personality of a given people.” Southwest Airlines Co. prides itself...
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...Company Motivational Profile Paper: SOUTHWEST AIRLINES PSY/320 Human Motivation March 05, 2014 Job Redesign and Workplace Rewards Assessment Paper Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), incorporated in California in 1905, is one of the largest combination natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. There are approximately 20,000 employees who carry out PG&E Company's primary business, the transmission and delivery of energy. The company provides natural gas and electric service to approximately 15 million people throughout a 70,000-square-mile service area in northern and central California. PG&E Company and other utilities in the state are regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. The CPUC was created by the state Legislature in 1911. The CPUC regulates privately owned electric, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and passenger transportation companies. The CPUC serves the public interest by protecting consumers and ensuring the provision of safe, reliable utility service and infrastructure at reasonable rates, with a commitment to environmental enhancement and a healthy California economy. (State of California, 2007) Here are some fast facts about PG&E: * Service area stretches from Eureka in the north to Bakersfield in the south, and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Sierra Nevada in the east. * More than 141,215 circuit miles of electric lines. * More than 42,141 miles of natural gas...
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...Southwest Airlines’ Motivational Profile PSY/320 Southwest Airlines’ Motivational Profile According to Merriam-Webster (2011), the definition of motivation is “a motivating force, stimulus, or influence” (p. 1). Based on Johmarshall Reeve’s Understanding Motivation and Emotion, this definition is widely customary by many psychologists, but what psychologists cannot agree on is what causes motivation. In fact, this topic has been on a rollercoaster ride over many decades by gaining and losing popularity of psychologists. Keeping of this in mind, some of today’s top companies keep motivation near and dear to everything that they do. The chosen organization for this research is Southwest Airlines, and the following paragraphs will take a close look at the history of the organization, corporate culture, management, and the motivational strategies used. The History of Southwest Airlines When many people today think of flying in aircrafts, they do not realize that this mode of transportation started only 107 years ago with Wilbur and Orville Wright. Only 64 years later in 1967 Southwest Airlines, known as Air Southwest incorporated, and applied for license to fly (Southwest Airlines, 2011, p.1). 1971 Through 1981 Numerous legal battles with Continental Airlines and two other airlines at the time occurred in the Texas State Court and Texas Supreme Court from February 21, 1968 to June 17, 1971. The next day, June 18, 1971, marked the first day...
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...------------------------------------------------- Southwest Airlines Thousands of people travel by air; Southwest Airlines provides low-fare air transportation service among 58 cities in the United States. Although the industry suffered a major blow from the terrorist attack of September 11th, the company is still holding strong; while other airline companies are in debt. The information was majority gathered and analyzed from the Internet; sources such as "News Week," and "Wall Street Journal." According to the acquired knowledge of Southwest, the company maintains steady sales. The major success to their continued success is due to their low-cost model and competitors are aware that they cannot match Southwest Airlines low prices therefore, by dropping the price even lower; Southwest Airlines can force a company to go bankrupt. Introduction In 1971, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher started an airline service with one simple notion: "If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline." They were right about that. Southwest Airline is now a major airline, in fact, the fourth largest airliner in the United States that is trading under the Symbol LUV on NYSE. 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. It primarily provides...
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...Southwest Airlines Motivational Profile PSY 320 Southwest Airlines Motivational Profile Southwest Airlines provides the motivation the company needs for its employees to succeed. For employees to take actions on desired goals he or she requires motivation. Therefore, it becomes necessary for companies to effectively motivate employees. With the proper motivation, employees can improve their knowledge within an organization as well as help the company become a success. Employees desire the need to accomplish personal and professional goals within a company and also the knowledge they gain from the experience; it is motivation that helps an individual accomplishes their goals. Southwest Airlines values their employees; they believe that the low turnover rate and high productivity levels are positive proof that they value their employees. This paper will provide a brief history, current motivation methods of Southwest Airlines, and explanations of the current motivational methods of Southwest Airlines and provide detail if the methods work or not for Southwest Airlines. A Brief History of Southwest Airlines Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rolling King, Southwest Airlines began as a small operation offering commercial flights beginning 1971 covering three Texas cities (Ashutosh & Mukuli, 2011). The airline has grown from a very small operation to a premier carrier of the largest number of passengers...
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...strength that Southwest Airlines has is its financial stability. As known in the US airline industry, Southwest is one of those airlines who are consistently earning profits despite the problems the industry is facing. With such stability, the corporation is able to make decisions and adjust policies, which other heavily burdened airlines may not be able to imitate. Having a low amount of cost in their operations is one of the contributing factors in Southwest Airlines’ financial success. Such low cost model of the corporation is brought about by an effective strategy. Southwest uses only one type of aircraft – the fuel-efficient Boeing 737. This tactic keeps training and maintenance costs down. Moreover, the no-frills approach to customer service contributed to the low cost of operations for Southwest. The airline does not serve meals on board, and there are no luxurious or first class seats offered. Services like these have been seen by the airline as unnecessary for an airline that provides a short-haul trip from city to city. By these, Southwest were able to offer low price tickets to customers, which was good for the company because most people would prefer to fly without those services mentioned if it meant for cheaper ticket price. Even though Southwest offers no-frills, there is still a high degree of customer satisfaction that continuously builds customer loyalty for the company. As mentioned, Southwest offers low prices on their airplane tickets. Also, Southwest is renowned...
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...Southwest Airlines MGMT 420 Abstract Since the early 1980’s the number of passengers travelling via airlines has increased drastically. The airlines all went through a troubling time when the Deregulation Act of 1978 came into effect. It opened doors for more competitive airlines to be built and created a competitive environment for the airlines. Southwest Airlines since it was developed has had numerous challenges to overcome and to operate. Since those challenges have depleted it has risen to be one of the top airlines that offer the lowest air fares for its customers. They also offer their employees the best work atmosphere and culture. Their mission statement is directed to both employees and customers. They have placed multiple strategic plans that has made them successful especially after the effects of 9/11 on the economy and trust of the consumer. Though the employees of the airlines are mostly Union workers, Southwest Airline has only had one strike from their employees during their time of operation. Southwest Airlines utilized promotional tactics such as offering safe, reliable, low cost flights with exceptional service. The company wanted to ensure that it was meeting the needs of both leisure travelers that did not have the funds to pay for expensive flights and for the travelers that were on time restraints and had to get to their location on time. Southwest has successfully done better than its competitors when it comes to cost and respect. Their frequent...
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...Southwest Airlines, Inc. Introduction Southwest Airlines was established in 1967 by entrepreneur Herb Kelleher. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas the name Southwest Airlines was adopted in 1971. Southwest Airlines today has set the bench mark for many other Airlines trying to catch up to the innovation that has taken place over the last 35 years. Several of the key elements of Southwest’s success is their Mission Statement “Low Fares and Spartan Service” and their dominating Philosophy of “Peanut Fares, Peanut Meals, and Peanut Jokes.” So what does Southwest Airlines value? Like most companies the answer to this question would be our customers of course, but not Southwest Airlines they value their employees, they see their employees as their number one customer. Which brings us to the interesting topic of Southwest’s culture. Southwest Airlines Culture is unlike many of numerous companies in the USA where they have implemented and formalized “quality management programs” and they failed because they were “programs of the month.” At Southwest Airlines implementing “quality” throughout the company is not the result of a formalized program but required cultural change in the way they conduct their daily activities. The main requirement of “doing it right the first time” is integrated into the daily activities or culture of the company. The chairman of the board and president of a company has established the tone for quality in not only what they communicate but also in...
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...Introduction: Southwest Airlines has carried more customers than any other U.S. airline for combined domestic and international passengers. Southwest Airlines is one of the world’s most profitable airlines, posting a profit for the 36th consecutive year in January 2009. Southwest has built a successful business on an unusual model: flying multiple short, quick trips into the secondary (more efficient and less costly) airports of major cities, using primarily only one aircraft type, the Boeing 737. Brief History Suppliers, Customers & Rivals: Customers include both residential and commercial sectors. There is no bargaining power for customers, as there is no threat of backward integration; it is unlikely that customers of Southwest Airlines are going to build their own airplanes and fly themselves. Rivalry among competitors sets the price-Southwest Airlines is a discount airliner. Rivalry is increasing, as the market decreases, and competitors downsize, the competitors become more or less equal in size and capacity. This means that as economic conditions worsen, competitors downsize and then compete for the same remaining market. Few of their main competitors are Continental Airlines and American Airlines. Substitute products include the train (Amtrak) and bus (Greyhound) which cover long distances. While these alternates cannot offer the speed of travel, most of Southwest Airlines' customers are attracted to the low price. *Key Success *Strategies of SWA: Organization...
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...The Culture of Southwest Airlines Ashley Foster Leadership and Organizational Behavior Dr. Jelena Vucetic August 22, 2014 What does organizational culture mean? Organizational culture is the system of shared actions, values, and beliefs that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members.(Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhl-Bien, and Hunt, 2012) So, between the choices of picking an organization, I chose Southwest Airlines. In this paper, I will discuss Southwest Airlines, what they are trying to accomplish for their company, and what their culture means to the company. So the question is who is Southwest Airlines and why does the culture there make them from other airlines around the United States? Who is Southwest Airlines? Southwest Airlines was created in the 1971 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. Kelleher is legendary in the airline industry for doing things differently than the competition. Before he found himself Southwest's pitchman, Kelleher was a lawyer retained by the airline to get it off the ground - a fight that took him all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It seemed the last thing Southwest's competitors wanted to see was a low-cost upstart doing nothing but flying around Texas in and out of Dallas Love Field.(CBS News, 2007) CEO James Parker feels that it is all about the people and it starts with finding and hiring the right people. We at Southwest put a lot of effort into our selection process. We received over 100,000 applications...
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...along with the values that are set by the company will normally act as a foundation of the guidelines that the company sets for themselves. There are times when the guidelines that are set by the company are not followed as they should be. The company Southwest Airlines is one of the major air transportation that is provide in the United States. The organizational culture for the company Southwest Airlines is tended to be more toward having extraordinary customer service. They are also more employees’ oriented (Southwest Airlines Co.). The key to an organizations being successful is to have excellent communication skills. If the company is having trouble with communicating between management to employees that then the goals along with the values that are set forth by the company then they are not going to be met. The best idea for a company is to have an open communication line that goes between the two: both the managers and the employees. No matter how affective you set up your communication within a company there is always a chance that there will be a conflict. These conflicts can result from human motivations, human emotion, disagreement on how they should proceed, and political philosophy. If conflict does happen there are things that a manager can do to defuse then such as empathy, listening and exploring. Empathy is an expression of understanding and concern for the other person’s position (Kenneth V. Oster). Southwest Airlines hires an outside source to come in and do...
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...Southwest Airlines 2002: An Industry Under Siege Harvard Business School: 9-803-133 Executive Summary Southwest Airlines in 2002 faced a serious of important management decisions after the 9/11 tragedy in order to continue the record breaking company growth that Southwest had experienced since the 1970’s. Southwest Airlines revolutionized the airline industry with what is known as the Southwest Effect: low cost fares, point-to-point service, “10 minute turnaround” and an enjoyable friendly atmosphere. After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Southwest adopted a polity that irregardless of the profitability of expansion opportunities, the company wanted to commit to a manageable annual growth rate of about 10-15%. The following questions and discussion will address the historical challenges of Southwest airlines, the direction the company contemplated in 2002, and a brief look at the challenges of today. 1). What is the competitive business environment The airline industry has always been competitive. In an analysis of the most profitably investments as per our class discussion, surprisingly, airlines come in at the lowest return on each dollar invested at around 2.5%. Southwest Airlines experienced 30 consecutive years of profit a mere two years after it’s founding in 1971. Many airports began requesting Southwest service for their passengers, but throughout Southwest’s expansion, the company aimed to maintain a manageable growth rate and focus...
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...culture that is needed to accelerate the goals and objectives and to guarantee that implemented changes are successful. The intention of this paper is to analyze the effects of organizational culture on organizational development and change. To allow one to grasp the concept of organizational culture Team A will give the description of Southwest Airlines, including the organization’s philosophy, mission, vision, values, and structure, an analysis of the relationship between the design and Southwest Airlines and its organizational culture, and the effects of organizational culture on Southwest Airlines workforce will be reviewed. An evaluation of the effects of change within Southwest Airlines will also be discussed. Description of Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines is an airline that provides many services in different destinations around the United States. Southwest Airlines believes in being devoted to each of the communities that they serve by having their employees, customers, neighbors being a part of a loving family. Southwest philosophy is that happy employee’s equal happy customers and happy customers keep Southwest flying. They believe in providing a one of kind culture within their organization that means...
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...COMPANY PROFILE Southwest Airlines Co. REFERENCE CODE: DEFBDE99-9B78-4A63-BE9C-7EA7568D476E PUBLICATION DATE: 30 Nov 2012 www.marketline.com COPYRIGHT MARKETLINE. THIS CONTENT IS A LICENSED PRODUCT AND IS NOT TO BE PHOTOCOPIED OR DISTRIBUTED. Southwest Airlines Co. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Company Overview..............................................................................................3 Key Facts...............................................................................................................3 Business Description...........................................................................................4 History...................................................................................................................5 Key Employees.....................................................................................................7 Key Employee Biographies................................................................................10 Major Products and Services............................................................................16 Revenue Analysis...............................................................................................17 SWOT Analysis...................................................................................................18 Top Competitors.................................................................................................23 Company View.............................
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...1. Is there anything that you find particularly impressive about Southwest Airlines? There are several things that I like about Southwest Airlines The first is its large fleet of 527 aircraft, all of which are Boeing 737. In addition, I like the implementation of the strategy of the low cost airlines. The company has been able to understand the cost structure in the Airlines industry, has been able to understand customer needs, and has been able to deliver a remarkable value based product to its customers. I have been impressed by the manner in which the Airlines has been able to implement the low cost model of airlines. Southwest Airlines has also shown flexibility in addressing the needs of its customers. It has now decided to go in for 737-800 because they would improve scheduling. Southwest Airlines has been successful because it has eliminated services that were not valued by the customers and instead provided customers with a relatively lower cost option. 2. What grade would you give Southwest management for the job it has done in crafting the company's strategy? What is it that you like or dislike about the strategy? Does Southwest have a winning strategy? Southwest Airlines management deserves to be given an A grade for developing a winning strategy. Southwest Airlines strategy begins with its HR strategy of recruiting personnel that are high quality, are trained well and their performance is well managed. In addition, the strategy focuses on improving high level of employee...
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