The success and organizational culture of Southwest Airlines
Introduction
During the 1990s, one of the biggest concerns the airline industry was to focus and consent to their best clients, so it was going through a very competitive time where the rivalry was very aggressive focusing primarily on winning more market, more clientele through moreVariety and quality of services, the more comforts and luxuries had an airline, the more customers it earned it;such as in some airlines reclinatory armchairs were offered that served as beds.
However, these services increased the costs of the airline which caused the price of tickets that was certainly detrimental to increase. What was attractive to customers was the punctuality of flights, kindness in low -prices services, so customers were not considered not to privileges but the aforementioned characteristics.
Developing
Southwest’s main strategy was to offer low prices with short journeys with a quality customer service through the selection of highly trained personnel to fulfill their functions, tasks, activities, mission and vision of the airline, in the same way I usean expansion strategy when buying another airline to expand its routes and allow you to continue growing towards new horizons. In addition, quote on the stock exchange. The workforce has a dedication to the company and that is why Southwest airlines use human resources as a competitive advantage.
This is because the company has always believed that a large part of its operation are in the people and how they develop and are treated. Another Southwest strategy is based is that it maintains a passage system in a simple way these do not depend on computer systems to maximize profits, however, they only offer their passages in two ways are: regular route and non -congested route;They do not focus on having first class and tourist class, but adapt to the client’s need.
Another advantage that they use is that of costs which derives from the productivity of the workforce such as that they have the review of the airplanes at the time that lands 15 minutes compared to airlines such as Continental and United that they useon average 35 minutes for review.
Causes of success:
- Transport passengers at very low prices to very close destinations.
- The principles of the company were founded to assess human resources, focus on customer and operational efficiency.
- They offered a first low cost service.
- Creation of loyalty ties between the airline and the client.
- I take advantage of short trips, establishing a niche market and taking full advantage of it.
- Implement a business model that was difficult to imitate by its competitors.
- Handles a good customer service policy at low costs.
- The company focused on maintaining good relations with its human resources, treating them as clients through incentives and motivations.
- Invested in the innovation and differentiation of their airline
- They were in constant innovation
- They reduced their boarding times from 60 minutes to 20 minutes.
- They differentiated themselves from the competition by implementing and converting the flight experience into something fun through games and competitions.
- Offers a high percentage of profits to its employees.
- They always inclined to provide accessible prices, since at that time that aspect is what customers always set.
- At the time of hiring people for their airlines, they were fixed primarily on attitudes that in skills.
The organizational culture plays a primary role in Southwest, since it is a culture oriented to the people who provide stability and security to the interactions that occur between clients, employees, partners or different collaborators, the loyalty that exists between workers, employees andThe company is a priority because this has allowed to increase the productivity of the company creating a difficult competitive advantage to copy. The manager is in continuous contact with employees and clients to clarify all his questions and doubts.
They recognize that people are the competitive advantage for what they grant resources and services that allow people to prepare and in this way are part of the growth and profitability that are had as a company, preserving the values. Every year they provide a lot of attention to the parties and celebrations assigned a budget for employees and their families, in each city in which the company is located, they carry out celebrations and competitions continuously where you can see how places full of photos of employees, trips and awards.
conclusion
To conclude, as a culture it is important to provide the workforce, since this is done in order to obtain enthusiasm in employees because it is considered that the level of external service must be equally good as the internal service. They need to make a constant innovation and that they adapt to new technologies and trends so that it is difficult to imitate what they offer. They must get customers to trust them by knowing that they acquire a better service at a reasonable price better than competition.
They are positioned in the market, so they can be maintained over the years, however, they need to make investment in research and development in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Due to its strategy regarding its workers, it is considered that constant training must be carried out in order to continue providing the good quality of customer service that is a feature that identifies and exceeds the company.
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