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Introduction of a Successful Company: Southwest Airlines

Final Project One: Profile of a Successful Company Southern New Hampshire University OL-215: Principles of Management

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2 Introduction Southwest Airlines is a major American airline, based in Dallas, Texas. In its 50th year of service, Southwest Airlines continues to make a name in the industry with exemplary customer service. Currently employing more than 60,000 and servicing over 130 million passengers, Southwest has become the nation’s largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded (Southwest, 2020). 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 efficient, and most profitable airlines (Southwest, 2020). To ensure the company keeps up with their mission and vision statements, Southwest has implemented a few programs to tailor more to a broader customer base. Business select and early bird check-in were both implemented to interest more business travelers. Business select allows for earlier boarding, priority check in and security. EarlyBird check in automatically checks in a passenger for a better boarding position. According to Forbes.com, Southwest does 6% or 5% of boarding by business select and double with EarlyBird. The combined revenues were nearly $295 million in 2013. Southwest Airlines recognizes that treating its employees well creates happy customers, which results in financial success (Robertson, 2018). Employees are empowered and shown appreciation on all levels. Because of the planning, organization, leadership, and culture of Southwest, the company has minimal turnover rate, is #1 for least amount of customer complaints, and over 85% of employees say they are proud to work for Southwest. Profile – Southwest Airlines Mission and 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,

3 2020). The company has communicated their mission and vision by putting their employees first and ensuring high morale across all levels. By doing so the employees 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 Each level of management within Southwest focuses on a specific part of the management framework to ensure a common goal is met. Top-level management priorities include the long-term planning and decision making. Middle-level priorities are on the organization, resource allocation. Lastly lower-management’s priorities include the leading and controlling, providing the vision and creating the policies. 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 Southwest implemented programs to improve the culture for their employees. One thing I find 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 Every level of employee at Southwest is considered in the decision-making process. Employees are encouraged to voice ideas and are recognized for doing so. 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

4 The major principles of ethics are a major priority with Southwest. A couple of the core ethical principles is 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 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.

5 References Reference:

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-airlinesvision-statement-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/cultureuniversity/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-southwest-airlines-hrsuccess-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/southwestairlines-opens-for-business-customers/...