Southwest airlines case

Q. In the current scenario, what should the company do to ensure its future success?

Southwest airlines’ success is remarkable. Through cost leadership strategy, they were able to
remain one of the only companies in the industry to report profits for the past 21 years. They
have a competitive advantage over other airlines owing to the ‘southwest spirit’. The
company culture led to the high productivity of its workforce. Their leverage lies with the
employees. The intracompany family spirit of the company helped the company in adverse
situations, like the oil crisis of 1991. This atmosphere of trust, as well as meaningful
interpersonal connections, go a long way to foster motivation and a sense of job satisfaction.
This kind of culture is difficult to imitate by the competitors as seen in the example of
Continental and United Airlines.

Presently, the company is facing a competitive threat, as many are trying to replicate its
strategy. Furthermore, the company is growing, and with this it could hamper family feeling.
The founder of southwest played a crucial role in its culture, and it leads to the tricky problem
of succession. It is necessary to deal with these issues as it will affect the success of the firm
in the long term.

Any company could imitate the strategies of Southwest Airlines. However, it was challenging
to replicate culture prevailed in the organisation. The ongoing training and recruitment
measures have been highly successful in instilling a sense of belonging and ownership in the
employees. A sense of healthy workplace conditions and work satisfaction go a long way in
boosting the morale of the employees and enhancing their productivity.

This, coupled with a pronounced emphasis on a succession strategy wherein potential

candidates are groomed under the tutelage of existing top management, would help keep the
organisational culture alive.

Continued emphasis on company values and strategic alignment of all operations of the
company would ensure that the culture remains intact and productivity of the works remains
high. However, it is necessary to continually implement relevant changes in the policies as
per the external environment to ensure success in future. Continual focus on fostering
trustworthy relations with the stakeholders would ensure the company’s success.