Southwest Culture
Southwest Culture
Southwest Airlines: “We Love your Bags.”
Taylor, April R.
Strayer University
Business 508 Contemporary Business
Dr. Faith Glaspie-Ellis
July 21, 2012 “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.”
Southwest Airlines was born in 1971, to Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. And this baby has yet to stop growing. Kelleher and King wanted to provide low cost, safe, and frequent airline service to the Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio area. Now they provide these same services to more than 100 destinations worldwide. Its success is built on a signature style of low costs, low fares, frequent flights and a quick expansion into new cities and countries.
During Southwest’s’ first year of operation, it experienced a cash flow problem. The owners had to make some very tough choices either sell some planes or lay-off some employees. Before making any decisions the owners met with their ground-service people and struck a deal, if the ground-service people could reduce the planes turnaround time from 55 minutes to 15 minutes, then Southwest would not lay-off any employees. Kelleher and King knew that by reducing the turnaround time of the airplanes, they would significantly improve the revenue production of the planes. The ground-service people received and accomplished the challenge and no employees were laid off, thus begins Southwest culture. Southwest culture focuses on people as valuable company assets. They promote a relaxed corporate culture that provides employees with the independence to operate at their most optimal level. At Southwest, the employees are considered to be the “first customers” and the passengers as next in line. They feel that if they treat their employees like customers, attending to their needs and appreciating their worth, then their employees will love their jobs and perform above
Southwest Airlines: “We Love your Bags.”
Taylor, April R.
Strayer University
Business 508 Contemporary Business
Dr. Faith Glaspie-Ellis
July 21, 2012 “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.”
Southwest Airlines was born in 1971, to Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. And this baby has yet to stop growing. Kelleher and King wanted to provide low cost, safe, and frequent airline service to the Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio area. Now they provide these same services to more than 100 destinations worldwide. Its success is built on a signature style of low costs, low fares, frequent flights and a quick expansion into new cities and countries.
During Southwest’s’ first year of operation, it experienced a cash flow problem. The owners had to make some very tough choices either sell some planes or lay-off some employees. Before making any decisions the owners met with their ground-service people and struck a deal, if the ground-service people could reduce the planes turnaround time from 55 minutes to 15 minutes, then Southwest would not lay-off any employees. Kelleher and King knew that by reducing the turnaround time of the airplanes, they would significantly improve the revenue production of the planes. The ground-service people received and accomplished the challenge and no employees were laid off, thus begins Southwest culture. Southwest culture focuses on people as valuable company assets. They promote a relaxed corporate culture that provides employees with the independence to operate at their most optimal level. At Southwest, the employees are considered to be the “first customers” and the passengers as next in line. They feel that if they treat their employees like customers, attending to their needs and appreciating their worth, then their employees will love their jobs and perform above
References: With LUV, we build on our strong foundation to prepare for another 40 years of success. http://www.southwestonereport.com/2011/#!/people/future-people We emulate a Culture of LUV for our Stakeholders, treat our Customers like guests in our home, and give back to the communities we serve. http://www.southwestonereport.com/2011/#!/people/social-management-approach Harkin, Brian http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/business/13southwest.html?pagewanted=all Kurtz, David L. (2012) Southwest Airlines: “We Love Your Bags”. Contemporary Business 14th Edition (pp. 78) New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Larson, Mark. Corporate culture is Southwest 's edge. http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/1997/01/13/editorial2.html?page=all Mouawad, Jad (2010) Pushing 40, Southwest Is Still Playing the Rebel. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/business/21south.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all Smith, Gene Culture is the key at Southwest Airlines. Measuring Business Excellence Volume 8 Number 4, 2004 Pp. 26-33.