Southwest Airlines Ethics & Employees

The organization that will be discussed in this proposal is Southwest Airlines. This company is a revolutionary organization that has truly adapted the model of an innovative and creative company. By utilizing the power of their employees and focusing on things such as attitude and personality over experience in the hiring process, the organization has solidified itself as a model company over the past two decades (Gini & Green, 2013). History, Industry, and Market Position Southwest Airlines started out in the late 1960s as an airline which only flew within Texas, in a bid to avoid strict federal regulation of aviation (Gittell, 2003).

As the legal climate shifted, however, and made it increasingly impossible to avoid federal regulations, Southwest became a national airline. Currently, it is the largest low-cost airline in the world as well as the largest domestic airline, though it also offers some flights abroad (Gini & Green, 2013).

Southwest operates in the airline industry, which is extremely competitive. Consumers traditionally show little brand loyalty among airlines, particularly in the subsector of low-cost carriers, mostly choosing flight options based on ticket price (Lauer, 2010).

The industry is also characterized by competition based on flight offerings. Airlines will often modify or add on destinations based on the location market being underserved by competitors (Lauer, 2010). As such, the industry is extremely attentive to geographical location. As mentioned above, the airline is a low-cost carrier, which means that it achieves market share by offering low prices on airline fares. It has cut a lot of the frills and comfort aspects that other airlines provide in order to offer low costs (Lauer, 2010).

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However, this is not the only way that Southwest distinguishes itself from competitors. The company also emphasizes internal efficiency in its operations, and boasts top-of-the-industry ratings for flight delays, cancellations, accidents, and customer satisfaction (Gini & Green, 2013). This internal efficiency has allowed Southwest to build brand loyalty even among the highly disloyal consumer base in the low-cost industry (Lauer, 2010).

Staff, Relations, Corporate Culture, and Mission Southwest takes its staffing very seriously, from the bottom to the top. The interviewing process is highly selective, and for good reason. Southwest is consistently named a top workplace by corporate journals and industry analysts (Lauer, 2010). The organization fully understands the value of creating a strong workforce with employees that are motivated and feel intrinsically connected to the company. Whereas most organizations focus primarily on experience, knowledge, and expertise, Southwest actually prioritizes something else much higher than these factors. That is, personality. By trying to find employees whose personality fits the organization, Southwest creates a culture full of friendly, hardworking, and accepting people (Gini & Green, 2013). The mentality of the hiring process is that anyone can be trained for a job, but it is much more difficult to change who a person is (Gini & Green, 2013). The company also grants even the lowest level employees a great deal of autonomy in their job.

Desk clerks, for example, can offer customers flight upgrades, hotel rooms, and other perks without having to seek approval from a manager (Lauer, 2010). This inherent trust in employees to make good decisions has resulted not only in the organization having fantastic customer satisfaction ratings, but also for employees of the company to have a great degree of job loyalty and intrinsic motivation to do well in their job (Lauer, 2010). Furthermore, Southwest encourages open communication from employees and is very interested in ensuring that employees are happy within their roles (Gittell, 2003). By listening to employees about their duties and suggestions for company improvement, Southwest allows the organization to build through contributions from all of its members. It also directly addresses one of the primary contributors to low job satisfaction: that employees feel they are not making a difference (Gittell, 2003). According to the organization’s website, 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” (Southwest Airline Co., 2015).

Given objective measures of company success and customer satisfaction, Southwest is fulfilling its mission on a consistent basis. Sustainable Initiative Rationale There are several reasons why Southwest should implement a sustainable initiative. First of all, the collective conscience has developed over the past decade or so to place a large emphasis on environmental sustainability (Jacobsen, 2011). Climate change and the effects thereof have transformed the way that consumers analyze business desirability. Businesses who show disregard for the environment often face public scrutiny and a loss of reputation which translates to very tangible profit losses (Jacobsen, 2011). Organizations that go above and beyond in maintaining sustainability help build brand recognition and loyalty. A sustainable initiative would improve Southwest’s already stellar reputation and could mean more profits for the organization. This could even help create a competitive advantage for the company, as few other airlines have shown similar environmental awareness (Lauer, 2010).

Furthermore, implementing a sustainable initiative could help Southwest cut costs. Building and maintaining airplanes is, as one might imagine, extremely expensive. Using recycled materials, however, could greatly cut down on the costs of construction and maintenance that are tied to operating an airlines as large as Southwest (Lauer, 2010). Finally, Southwest Airlines is a company that has demonstrated outstanding ethics in its nearly 50 year history (Gini & Green, 2013). It seems that while the organization does appreciate the reputation benefits of being ethical, that it is also simply wants to do the right thing. A sustainable initiative would exemplify great corporate social responsibility and align with the stellar ethics the company has been known for. As such a large organization with great impacts on the natural world, Southwest has a responsibility to do what it can to lessen its impact and fight the effects of climate change (Jacobsen, 2011).

References

1. Gini, A. & Green, R.M., (2013). Ten Virtues of Outstanding Leaders: Leadership and Character. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Gittell, Jody, (2003).
2. The Southwest Airlines Way: Using the Power of Relationships to Achieve High Performance. New York: McGraw-Hill. Jacobsen, J., (2011).
3. Sustainable Business and Industry: Designing and Operating for Social and Environmental Responsibility. Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press. Lauer, C., (2010).
4. Southwest Airlines (Corporations that Changes the World). Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group. Southwest Airline Co., (2015).
5. Mission. Southwest.com. Retrieved from https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/.