SouthWest Airlines
Professor: Elena Vidal (EV) Moustafa Elkholy
November 4th, 2014 BPL 5100
Case Write-ups (Southwest Airlines)
1. What do you see as the issues the company is facing?
The distance between the employees (The managers and the top management) has been increased. Before the leadership change, the top management was very close to the employees. That change causes a radical change in the company’s culture.
Southwest experienced an increase in the fuel and wages cost.
Southwest failed to maintain the perception of the Lowest-cost strategy and moved toward a profit-boosting strategy, which is a big departure from its original vision.
Other airline carriers have copied SWA’s cost model and provided more amenities for the same fare.
2. What alternative courses of action do you recommend the company pursue to respond to these concerns?
The Company has to restructure the relationship between the employees and the top management and make it closer than before.
The company cannot maintain both strategies, lowest-cost and Profit-boosting, at the same time. Lowest-cost should be the company’s competitive advantage and the only way to compete among other rivals and maintain a big market share in the US market.
The company has to respond quickly to the changes in the industry by providing more facilities to its customers.
3. What do you see as the consequences of the possible responses by the company to these concerns?
The company will save its culture from evaporating and make the unions less aggressive in expressing their frustrations and solve the arising problems much easier.
The company will lead the airline industry by adopting the lowest-cost strategy.
The company will respond to changes much quicker.
4. Which course of action would you recommend the company to pursue? Why?
Southwest airline should develop more complex strategies that are not easy to imitate by competitors to sustain a long-term competitive advantage.
The company should
November 4th, 2014 BPL 5100
Case Write-ups (Southwest Airlines)
1. What do you see as the issues the company is facing?
The distance between the employees (The managers and the top management) has been increased. Before the leadership change, the top management was very close to the employees. That change causes a radical change in the company’s culture.
Southwest experienced an increase in the fuel and wages cost.
Southwest failed to maintain the perception of the Lowest-cost strategy and moved toward a profit-boosting strategy, which is a big departure from its original vision.
Other airline carriers have copied SWA’s cost model and provided more amenities for the same fare.
2. What alternative courses of action do you recommend the company pursue to respond to these concerns?
The Company has to restructure the relationship between the employees and the top management and make it closer than before.
The company cannot maintain both strategies, lowest-cost and Profit-boosting, at the same time. Lowest-cost should be the company’s competitive advantage and the only way to compete among other rivals and maintain a big market share in the US market.
The company has to respond quickly to the changes in the industry by providing more facilities to its customers.
3. What do you see as the consequences of the possible responses by the company to these concerns?
The company will save its culture from evaporating and make the unions less aggressive in expressing their frustrations and solve the arising problems much easier.
The company will lead the airline industry by adopting the lowest-cost strategy.
The company will respond to changes much quicker.
4. Which course of action would you recommend the company to pursue? Why?
Southwest airline should develop more complex strategies that are not easy to imitate by competitors to sustain a long-term competitive advantage.
The company should