Westjet Case
QUESTIONS REGARDING THE CASE “WESTJET AIRLINES: THE CULTURE THAT BREEDS A PASSION TO SUCCEED”
1. What is WestJet’s competitive advantage? What are the sources of the competitive advantage?
Their main competitive advantages are low prices and exceptional customer service. The low prices can be offered because they offer no meals, no frequent fliers and have a very fast turnaround at the gate, landed on airports that have low landing fees. in addition to this WestJet’s employees are very motivated to work and help out wherever they can, the team spirit, which is also a reason why the company can offer low prices for their flights. With this spirit the company has to hire less people.
Their second competitive advantage which is the high customer service is a result of the employees of the company and their corporate culture. Employees were able to make their own decisions when dealing with clients, which made them very flexible and the problem could be resolved fast. Besides that they were properly trained to deal with the clients in a caring, positive and cheerful way.
2. Is the culture at WestJet as important to the success of the organisation as its management team believes it to be?
Yes, it is. The reason why I agree with this is because the low costs and the high customer service cannot be reached if the workers are not motivated enough to work as hard as they were currently doing. The reason behind them being so motivated to work hard is the company culture.
3. How serious is the threat from conventional airlines to imitate the WestJet culture? What does it take to imitate organizational culture?
It should be taken seriously, but there is not a huge chance that the will be successful in imitating the WestJet culture. It is really hard to imitate something they have been working on since their existence. It is so embedded in people’s mind, both customers and
1. What is WestJet’s competitive advantage? What are the sources of the competitive advantage?
Their main competitive advantages are low prices and exceptional customer service. The low prices can be offered because they offer no meals, no frequent fliers and have a very fast turnaround at the gate, landed on airports that have low landing fees. in addition to this WestJet’s employees are very motivated to work and help out wherever they can, the team spirit, which is also a reason why the company can offer low prices for their flights. With this spirit the company has to hire less people.
Their second competitive advantage which is the high customer service is a result of the employees of the company and their corporate culture. Employees were able to make their own decisions when dealing with clients, which made them very flexible and the problem could be resolved fast. Besides that they were properly trained to deal with the clients in a caring, positive and cheerful way.
2. Is the culture at WestJet as important to the success of the organisation as its management team believes it to be?
Yes, it is. The reason why I agree with this is because the low costs and the high customer service cannot be reached if the workers are not motivated enough to work as hard as they were currently doing. The reason behind them being so motivated to work hard is the company culture.
3. How serious is the threat from conventional airlines to imitate the WestJet culture? What does it take to imitate organizational culture?
It should be taken seriously, but there is not a huge chance that the will be successful in imitating the WestJet culture. It is really hard to imitate something they have been working on since their existence. It is so embedded in people’s mind, both customers and