The culture of the company makes a direction contribution to this achievement as well, which has led Southwest being consistently ranked as one of the most preferred low-cost carriers in the U.S. (Carey, 2012)
Southwest Airlines employees are empowered to take any action that is ethical and legal to ensure customers' satisfaction (Hardage, 2006). The uniqueness and highly differentiated nature of the Southwest culture is also attributable to the thirteen core values that founder and CEO Herb Kelleher put into place with the company was founded (Freiberg, Freiberg, 1996)
Supervisors have managerial authority, but also perform the same work as frontline workers. In terms of employee relationships, they function to coach and advise frontline workers (Gittell, 2005)
To help with this, Southwest also has a significant amount of intellectual and technical resources, which contribute to its highly competitive innovating edge. E-ticketing, for example, is one of the major advantages to the company because of its influence on distribution costs (Srinivasan, 2009)
(Stich 178) Several eyewitnesses such as radio executive Joe Gillespie recalled 20 years after the crash: "I remember that day as if it happened yesterday." (Shess 1998) Another eyewitness, Gary Jaus, a rookie cop at San Diego Police Academy at the time, who was assigned the task of combing through the wreckage for I
One body actually smashed through a car's windshield, killing a mother and her daughter inside the car. (Stich 178) Several eyewitnesses such as radio executive Joe Gillespie recalled 20 years after the crash: "I remember that day as if it happened yesterday
Airlines have moderate pricing power over labor given the relative buyer concentration and the switching costs for labor. That said, airlines that are unionized face a higher degree of supplier power than do airlines that are not unionized (Grant, 2005)
Airlines have very little control over the price of jet fuel. Most airlines engage in extensive, active hedging strategies to ensure fuel cost certainty (McCormick, 2010)
Southwest Airlines Porter's five forces can help to understand the competitive and operating environment facing Southwest Airlines. The five forces are buyer power, supplier power, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes and intensity of rivalry (Porter, 1980)
The intensity of rivalry is very high in this industry. Southwest's experience starting the airline, and the inability of the airline to kill the absurdly anti-capitalist Wright Amendment illustrates how intense the rivalry can be, and willingness of Southwest's rivals and their political cronies to undermine America's commitment to capitalist values makes the intensity of rivalry a clear threat to firms in this industry (Chang, 2011)
AirTran employees, therefore, must very quickly become Southwest employees. On the operational side, the first changes that Southwest made involved the AirTran route network, as it began thinning out the less profitable routes and the duplicate routes (Mutzabaugh, 2012)
Southwest's experience starting the airline, and the inability of the airline to kill the absurdly anti-capitalist Wright Amendment illustrates how intense the rivalry can be, and willingness of Southwest's rivals and their political cronies to undermine America's commitment to capitalist values makes the intensity of rivalry a clear threat to firms in this industry (Chang, 2011). All told, there is little opportunity for airlines to make money, something that is evidenced in the number of bankruptcies among the legacy players (Peterson & Daily, 2011)
"Southwest allows each passenger to check two bags for free as long as it adheres to their weight requirements. Southwest also allows two carry ons per passenger, while many other airlines charge for more than one carry on" (Lester, 2010)
Headrest: The fixed-wing headrest provides better neck and head alignment with side-to-side support for sleeping. Improved Ergonomics: The combination of the low-profile cushion and fixed wing headrest improves ergonomics by positioning Customers "down and back" into the seat, allowing for better lumbar support, armrest alignment, and increased personal living space (Southwest Airlines Evolves Their Interior -- More Seats, but for the Better, 2012)
If one is too impatient, and if they expect too many results too soon, their devices for change are more likely to be unsuccessful. According to Kotter the best plan is to "create a sense of urgency, recruit powerful change leaders, build a vision and effectively communicate it, remove obstacles, create quick wins, and build on the momentum" (Spector, 2010)
What an organization assumes, believed, values, accepts, and promotes, produces and the way in which behavior occurs frames its corporate culture. Corporate culture shapes the work environment in which performance occurs and performance drives the bottom line (Young, n
In addition, SWA makes it possible for "bags to fly free" this limits time wastage before departure. The aircraft has short hauls, secondary airports and point-to-point (Acap, Feng, & Mattu, 2007)
However, in the face of hard hitting economic times, it is restricted from increasing these fares by factors such as reputation, the competiveness of the industry as well as decrease in demand (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010). Southwest airlines' frequent flyer reward system is ranked first in the United States (Little, 2011)
In addition, the airline has secured a prominent market position by defining a business model that adopts one type of aircraft; this has made operations and maintenance manageable. They are able to train their mechanics on the Boeing 737, they stock inventory for the same aircraft and the onboard and ground crew are familiar with it (Stevenson, 2012)
Naturally the time and effort as well as cost, there has been absolutely no assurance that Googlers will stay with the firm. Outside studies show that just about none of the APMs (Assistant Product Managers) view themselves working in the company in 5 years (All, 2007), and also there happen to be a number of articles as well as web-sites dedicated to an increasing number of unsatisfied and ex-workers (Arrington 2009) - this has been an enormous problem