Westjet Airlines Case Study and Analysis

The sample essay on Westjet Case Study deals with a framework of research-based facts, approaches, and arguments concerning this theme. To see the essay’s introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion, read on.

Jet Airlines is a Calgary-based discount airline founded in 1996. Starting with only three aircrafts in 1996, the company is now “Canada’s leading high-value low-fare airline. ” The management of WestJet Airlines assumes that the success of the business is anchored in the culture of the corporation and the welcoming service provided to its customers.

Beddoe, the president and the CEO of WestJet, is proud of the airlines performance and the customer service it offers. He believes that the corporate culture was the key to success and the company’s attainment.

WestJet’s culture is very entertaining, hassle-free, unperturbed, and relaxed. The ratings of the customer satisfaction are higher than those of the other airlines. Top management trusts and values its employees. It is assumed that having content, cheerful personnel results in a first-rate customer service.

WestJet is a company that is managed “from the bottom up. ” As Beddoe states, “We set some standards and expectations, but don’t interfere in how our people do their jobs. Due to the fact that the employees and the management work as a crew, WestJet management saves money on hiring additional human resources. There is no need for supervisors because the employees supervise themselves and work together towards the organization’s goal. The corporation culture is what led WestJet to their “victory. ” With the success, the company came to a decision about expanding its market.

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With the development strategy, the risk of the culture of the company being vanished draws closer. This is the foremost problem that WestJet might face.

Westjet Hiring Process

In view of the fact that culture is what made the company successful, with it being misplaced, it would be hard for WestJet to accomplish their purpose – customer satisfaction. The involvement culture of WestJet helped it in achieving high employee performance, increasing revenue, and escalating customer service satisfaction. WestJet’s culture is based on trust and respect among all employees. Everyone is treated equally, without exceptions, regardless of the function they perform in the company. The work atmosphere is fun and enjoyable.

The culture is the source of the management and the workers happiness, contentment, and what is most important the guests satisfaction. Nevertheless, what brought success to the company, may become a threat when it does not meet the employee needs. With a greater expansion, the management of WestJet would have to hire significantly more people in order to operate the company efficiently and effectively. Some people, like the example of Steve Smith, may be used to different managing style and might find it difficult or impossible to adapt to a new culture.

Given that the culture is a main source of WestJet’s success, the weakening of the employees’ performance would benefit other airlines competing with WestJet. Fast expansion indicates less time for new workers to adjust to the corporation values and beliefs. This creates a problem. In order to improve the situation, WestJet would have to get to the bottom of it and implement a reasonable solution. Top management would have to decide whether it should expand the airline or not. One of the alternatives could be offering instruction and coaching the newly hired personnel.

Beddoe asserts that their culture is new and hiring people who have no past experience with the airline industry is the preeminent option. While being unfamiliar with what to expect, it is easier for a prospective employee to adapt to the corporate culture and become an efficient member of the workforce. WestJet Airlines already provide coaching to their employees so they would become aware of the consequences of decisions they make. Furthermore, when precedents take place, supplementary training was supplied.

Therefore, in order to sustain the corporate culture, while expand the industry, it is important that WestJet Airlines continues making additional training and coaching available to their newly hired staff members. A drawback of this alternative might be the waste of the organization’s time and money. The potential employees may seem to perfectly fit the culture of the company but then after being hired they might decide that this is not the kind of job they want to perform. This would be a sunk cost to WestJet.

In addition to that, WestJet Airlines could implement a hiring process through which they could verify if a particular individual is well suited for a specific job. WestJet already endows with a special employment process using practical job previews, job simulations, and behavioral interviews for which the prospective employees cannot prepare due to the fact that such interviews test whether the person is presentable and what characteristics of his or her behavior would benefit and satisfy the needs of the company.

While hiring more people needed for a fast growing industry, it is recommended that WestJet pays additional attention to the process of employing. Defining whether an individual is a perfect fit for the company determines the future success of the corporation. This option however has a drawback; during a job simulation people might act different than while performing their job due to additional stress and pressure that arises in demanding situations that come with performing specific job duties.

Another alternative would be stopping or slowing the expansion down. Keeping the same size of the company would prevent the culture from being petered out. Nonetheless, different problems might arise, such as higher competition. Other airlines that base their success on various aspects other than culture grow constantly gaining a higher market share. Expansion would bring them higher profits that would allow the airlines offer their customers unbeatable ticket prices, loyalty programs, and other numerous deals.

Moreover, without implementing the expansion plan, WestJet would not be able to gain higher revenues. Therefore, the corporation would remain in the same position it is now while losing the market share. With time, the WestJet’s guests might switch to their competitors who would offer them better deals and wider travel destination selection. Taking into consideration the alternatives I proposed, the one that would benefit WestJet the most would be offering coaching and training to new employees.

It is a great opportunity for both the company and the employees to have a “fresh start. ” No previous experience, no particular habits and tendencies would make it possible for the new staff members to adjust to the corporate culture faster and easier. Obtaining the most qualified individuals with special mannerism and attributes that meet the required criteria for a position at WestJet should be an imperative part of the hiring process. Picking the right employees would guarantee the WestJet’s culture to continue.

The employees and the top management would be happy and that would provide a superior communication process. Great communication process means no missed opportunities, faster and efficient issue solving procedure, and leading the company effectively towards its main goal – customer satisfaction. All things considered, WestJet is a very successful company that has a potential to keep growing yet bigger and enhancing its accomplishment. In order to reach to company’s objective, they need to sustain the most important factor leading to its success – happy employees and happy guests.

This can only be achieved if the business protracts its corporate culture. With the purpose of doing so, it is recommended that WestJet implements the training and coaching strategy when hiring new staff members and makes sure that the individuals the hire fit the company’s beliefs and values. As soon as they reach that goal, the process of expansion should not have any effect on the success of the company.