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Analysis of Southwest Airlines

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Analysis of Southwest Airlines
Analysis of Southwest Airlines

Module: Business Management

Vanessa Eelma
Alyssa Julianna Farkas
Thomas Schillinger
Peter Lukacs
Attila Radvanszki
Adam Radvanszki

29th November, 2010

Word Count : XXXX

Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Literature Review 4 2.1 General Introduction of Theories Used 4 2.2 SWOT Analysis 4 2.3 External Factors 4 2.4 Organizational Structures 4 2.5 Hofstede’s Theory 5 2.6 Cultural Elements 5 2.7 Motivation 5 3 Analysis of Southwest Airlines 5 3.1 Industry 5 3.2 Company’s Overview 6 3.3 SWOT Analysis 7 3.4 External Analysis 8 3.5 Organizational Structure 8 3.6 Hofstede’s Theory 9 3.7 Organizational Culture 9 3.8 Motivation 10 4. Conclusion and Recommendations 11 5. References 11 6. Appendices 13

1. Introduction
The chosen company for the analysis is called Southwest Airlines. It’s operating in the tourism industry, providing air travel. The company’s main differentiating attribute from its competitors is the main reason for our choice. The business is known for its cabin crew and outstanding customer service. This is proven by numerous prizes and awards that the company has won in the last three decades. In 2008, TIME.com ranked the company as the #1 Friendliest Airlines.
According to their website their aim is: “To get the passengers to their destination safely and comfortably with a laugh or two along the way”. It is their attitude that caught our attention and encouraged us to analyze it in a deeper matter. The organization allows their employees to be innovative and individual with their daily tasks and duties. This ensures a pleasant work environment for the employees who then provide a good service to the customers.
One of the qualities of Southwest airlines is „to do things differently”- meaning - for example - the explaining of safety regulations is made more entertaining by the cabin crew’s rapping while the customers are clapping along with


References: [Accessed on November 24. 2010] 1 2. Naylor, J. (2004), Management, Prentice Hall Financial Times, the United Kingdom 3 4. Nelson, B. (2002) “Motivation Matters : Southwest Employees LUV their job” Available from : ‹http://meetingsnet.com/corporatemeetingsincentives/meetings_motivation_matters_southwest/› [Accessed on November 24. 2010] 5 7. Southwest Airlines (2010) Available from: <http://www.southwest.com> [Accessed on November 23. 2010] 8 Available from: <http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/SummaryQuote.asp?symbol=LUV&selected=LUV> [Accessed on November 23. 2010] 9 10. Heynold, Y. and Rosander, J. (2006) “A new organizational model for airlines” Available from: ‹https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/A_new_organizational_model_for_airlines_1700› [Accessed on November 23. 2010] 11 12. “Organizational Culture and Management at Southwest Airlines” (2009) Available from: ‹http://www.docstoc.com/docs/9480710/Organizational-Culture-and-Management-at-Southwest-Airlines› [Accessed on November 23. 2010] 13
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