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5-2 Final Project One Submission Application of the Fundamental Principles of Management for a Successful Company OL-215-X3859 Principles of Management 20EW3 Quantella Gregory Southern New Hampshire University

Introduction The company I reviewed for this project about management practices is Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and is the world's largest low-cost carrier. Southwest Co. was established on March 15, 1967. In later years the airline adopted the current name Southwest Airlines.

Profile of a Successful Company Mission & Vision 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 (Evans, 2019). The vision of Southwest is to be the world’s most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline (Southwest, 2020). The company has communicated their mission and vision by putting their employee’s first and ensuring high morale across all levels. By doing so the employee’s happiness is shown in their customer service. One way a previous CEO demonstrated the importance of his employees was including his salary in the 5 year pay freeze initiated for the pilot’s union, estimated to be about a $100M loss in compensation for the CEO.

Strategic Management Plan The main goal of Southwest Airlines strategic management plan is to quickly reach the destination at the lowest possible price to the customer. They offer a travel product targeted to specific demographics and ticket pricing is simplified to allow for easy understanding of these costs to the customer. With these product distribution strategies, they are able to offer the lowest possible fares and still compete with other airline carriers. The company places a strong emphasis on training work teams and cultivating employee citizenship behavior. Employees participate in daily meetings where they can discuss any issues and determine a cause of action if needed. Job applicants not viewed as team players are not even considered for employment. An example of the management plan adding to the success of the company is the company’s

turnover rate. With employees’ roles clearly defined and executed, both top-level and front-line employees are able to focus on the company’s vision more confidently. Organizational Culture This team oriented organizational culture offers more positive relationships with managers and co-workers making Southwest Airlines a quality workplace. The company's organizational culture supports employee involvement, satisfaction, morale, and motivation to aim for high performance that relates to the mission and vision. As one of the leading airlines, Southwest takes pride in its organizational culture, as other firms attempt to emulate this cultural approach. Southwest implemented programs to improve the culture for their employees. One thing that is interesting is the redesign of the corporate office to include “culture centers.” Each center highlights one of the company’s values and provides break services, meeting rooms and different photos and flair to show each value (Robertson, 2018). Decision Making Southwest Airlines encourages respect, innovation, a caring attitude, and strives to adhere to all labor and employment laws which includes respecting privacy and equal opportunity employment. With a strong concern for avoiding corruption and avoiding anti-competitive behavior. They work hard to maintain accountability of all business practices. A great example of this is the promotion of completion to provide consumers low air fares and a variety of high quality air service offerings across the United States. This shows their devotion to the community they serve and maintains the company culture. An example is when some flight attendants were recruited into a task force to help design the uniforms. Southwest has made a commitment of integrity and ensures all decisions made are measured against this commitment. Principles of Ethics The major principles of ethics are a major priority with Southwest. A couple of the core ethical principles are transparency and fairness. Southwest ensures both of these by committing to what is called “Transfarency.” Transfarency is defined by Southwest.com as a philosophy in which customers are treated honestly and fairly, and low fares actually stay low. Southwest is

guaranteeing that each customer is treated the same, one not more important than the other, and customer’s will be not be hit with any hidden fees. Human Resources Keeping the importance of being a customer-oriented company, Southwest has a firm and inflexible hiring process. While Southwest Airlines’ business model is conclusively far more important, its strong culture of hiring the right people is arguably the most valuable competitive advantage the company has (Verasai, 2018). Southwest highly values personality and ensures proper training for any lacking skills. Because of this the company has set up various training facilities to ensure all level of employee is properly trained. Conclusion While times and conditions may have changed over the years, the mission for Southwest Airlines has remained. 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 (Evans, 2019). The company ensures quality customer service by first taking care of their employees and including the employees on corporate decisions. In addition to taking care of their employees over the years, Southwest has made it a point to implement various programs to enhance customer service. To accommodate the changing times and maintaining customer service, Southwest tailored their programs to more business travelers. These changes emphasize both the customer service experience and the company’s mission and vision statements.

References Company Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2020, from http://investors.southwest.com/ our-company/company-overview Evans, L. (2019, May 30). Southwest Airlines Co.'s Mission Statement & Vision Statement (An Analysis). Retrieved September 14, 2020, from http://panmore.com/southwest-airlinesvisionstatement-mission-statement-analysis Kristin Robertson At Brio Leadership. (n.d.). Culture lessons from Southwest Airlines on values, employees first, and more. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://www.humansynergistics.com/blog/culture-university/details/culture-university/ 2018/05/29/southwest-airlines-reveals-5-culture-lessons Verasai, A. (2018, September 29). The Southwest Airlines HR Success Story You'll Want To Read Today. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.thehrdigest.com/the-southwestairlineshr-success-story-youll-want-to-read-today/ Purpose, Vision, and The Southwest Way. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2020, from http://investors.southwest.com/our-company/purpose-vision-and-the-southwest-way News, A. (2014, April 23). Southwest Airlines Opens for Business - Customers. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/airchive/2014/04/22/southwestairlinesopens-for-business-customers/...