Southwest Airlines: Culture and Diversity Critique - Research Paper Example

Southwest Airlines: Culture and Diversity Critique Introduction Southwest Airlines is an American domestic airline service provider that uses innovative and competitive strategies to provide wonderful customer experience to clients[Kel14]. The airline has been in operation for over 38 years and it has one of the most significant and the most respected cultures in the corporate world. The company is on the top list of the Fortune Magazine’s exceptional companies and since it was formed, it has declared a profit each year with no lay-offs or involuntary furloughs[Kel14]. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the organization culture of Southwest Airlines and how the culture of the firm exists in reality Culture of Southwest Airlines Organizational culture refers to the series of relatively stable values, rituals and norms that guide the way things are done within an organization[Cam112]. Organizational culture defines the important things and the procedures that have evolved over time that identifies the means through which a firm operates and carries out its activities and processes[DeW14]. Southwest Airlines aims at providing an environment whereby their employees can thrive and develop to the best of their abilities and capabilities. The leadership of the firm have exhibited a continuous transformational leadership system that includes spending time with the employees and exhibiting pride and interest in the personal and professional development of their employees[Dav13]. On the other hand, Southwest Airlines’ culture involves showing the highest quality customer service and meeting the best needs and satisfaction of consumers in all situations and circumstances[Fla13]. This implies that the focus is on what the consumers need and providing it in the best way and manner possible. Therefore, it is conclusive that the culture of Southwest Airlines is based on satisfying its people. People is at the center of the culture of Southwest Airlines and they have built a set of stable characteristics on the basis of satisfying people and building efficient structures to satisfy the people. How Culture of Southwest Airlines can be Deduced Culture is classified as a soft aspect of organizations and their fundamental essence. This is because organizational culture is not clearly defined. However, it evolves over a number of years and then become connected with the organization and its main identity. In the case of Southwest Airlines, the culture can be deduced from the current mission of the firm which states on their website that: “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.”[Kel14] This indicates that the firm is committed to two things: Customer Service & Company Spirit. Customer service is clearly illustrated in the mission and it is about the highest quality and delivering what customers want. Further reading of the submissions of Gary Kelly indicates that Company Spirit is about ensuring that employees are treated in the best and fairest way possible. Upon reading the history of Southwest Airlines, it can be deduced that the airline is focused on getting the best from their employees. And this is done by respecting them and tying their development and growth individually and collectively to the growth and development of the firm. This therefore shows that everything that is done is focused on the people who matter. And these are the consumers and the employees. They drive the organization and the top-level strategic managers have made it a point to identify the main needs of these classes of stakeholders and meet them. Factors that Caused Southwest Airlines to Embrace a People-Centered Culture From a critical review of the history of Southwest Airlines, it was formed at a time when the airline industry was steeped in state-control and state-ownership all over the world. This was in an era where the government had the sole authority over everything and the state defined standards for consumers and consumers had to accept it because states were sovereign. Therefore, as a private entity, Southwest Airlines had to grow and thrive in a way and manner that they could meet consumers’ needs and expectations. They also had to attract and maintain the most talented people. And since there was competition from the state-owned airline entities, there was the need for Southwest to identify what was best for these two classes of stakeholders and provide them accurately. Therefore, they embarked on a series of experiments and high-risk strategies like investing in cheaper airports that were not really popular nor considered to be primary. However, they were able to zone these airports and advertise the benefits like beating the traffic and punctuality. These were complemented with a lot of marketing research and evaluations that allowed them to detect the true needs of consumers and provided them in totality[Fla13]. In the process, Southwest Airlines also invested in providing a system through which employees could be made to commit and become dedicated to the airline forever. This means that they had to create arrangements that would ensure that employees were given packages like shares and profit-oriented motivational packages. This allowed them to create a democratic structure in which employees took an essential part in decision-making and analysis of situations. The implication was that the workers were also focused on protecting their interests and they cooperated and contributed to the building of a strong and solid entity that could meet all its goals and obligations. Leadership Type Suited for Southwest Airlines The organizational culture determines and dictates the right kind of leader that an organization can operate with. This implies that there are many elements and features that are important in determining the kind of leader appropriate to lead an organization on the basis of the requirements for the organization and its activities. In the case of Southwest Airlines, there is an informal culture that is based on viewing employees as partners and the satisfaction of consumers as the end. This makes it an organization that requires a transformational leadership, as opposed to a transactional leadership. This is because it has a system where it is important to identify the true requirements and expectations of consumers and workers. And this requires an air of informality and an obligation to go beyond just economic interests to social interests in order to achieve the highest levels of motivation on the part of employees and satisfaction on the part of consumers. A kind of leader that will not succeed in Southwest Airlines is a transactional leader. A transactional leader is one that sees human beings as a means to an end – which is almost always economic in nature. Such leaders look at how they can minimize their payments to employees and maximize returns from customers without any regard for their individual sentiments and views. On the other hand, the structures of Southwest Airlines require a continuous evaluation and review of the social needs of consumers. Therefore, a transformational leader that has a high degree of sensitivity to people is the most appropriate. Such a leader will ensure that several satisfaction measures that form the quality and the fundamental tradition of the airline are maintained at all times and in all situations and contexts. Necessary Change in Culture when Demand of Services Declines in Southwest Airlines The fundamental culture of Southwest Airlines is steeped in the concern for people and the provision of high quality services with an emphasis on employee satisfaction. Values like keeping 100% employment and avoiding the layoff of workers is fundamental and important to Southwest Airlines. Therefore, in cases where there is a fall in demand for the seats offered by Southwest Airlines, there will be the need to make some significant adjustments. In all possible adjustments, it might not be necessary to touch the fundamental end of consumer satisfaction. Rather, they should continue to find new markets and they must consider diversification from their traditional markets in order to ensure survival. This will be done by finding important things they can do to ensure that they maintain the tradition of attaining profitability and not laying off workers. Thus, one of the changes they will have to do is to move out of the traditional market of airline service and find other methods of making money in order to keep the firm liquid. Secondly, there might be the need to get workers to make sacrifices by giving back to the organization in terms of deferring dividend claims and other things in order to keep the reputation of the firm going. Finally, in situations where sales fall, there might be the need to cut down on their traditional survey systems and marketing budgets. They might have to find other means of predicting the markets and find other ways of satisfying clients and this could include outsourcing and making compromises in order to expand. Another culture that Southwest has not explored is the operation outside the United States which has so far not been explored by the airline. Bibliography Kel14: , (Kelly, 2014), Cam112: , (Campodonico, 2011), DeW14: , (De Witte & Van Muijen, 2014), Dav13: , (Davis, 2013), Fla13: , (Flamholtz & Randle, 2013), Read More