Question One: Adding Value
Southwest Airlines Co. gives travel a personal perspective and seeks to make its customers enjoy traveling . In most cases, travel is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Many travelers will thus consider it a necessary evil that they look forward to getting over with. Southwest understands this and seeks to ensure that this necessary evil becomes as pleasant as possible and whenever possible, even enjoyable. This is done while at the same time, the company maintains the lowest possible prices.
Question Two: Competitive Priorities
According to Mouawad (2010) Southwest’s competitive priority is seeking to charge so cheaply that it attracts the customers then offer such a good service that the attracted customers remain loyal. Most modern airlines seek to make as much as possible per customer so that it can remain profitable. Southwest does the exact opposite by seeking to be so efficient that they can still make money while charging much less than the competition (Tully, 2015). Eventually, Southwest finds itself operating at a price range that almost lacks competition.
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Question Three
Southwest is not for all fliers. All customers who would rather have a traditional super-serious working environment will not fit in Southwest as they will find the mannerisms of the flight crew too informal.
Question Four: The Interview
According to Herb Kelleher, when he started the company in the late 1960s, there were well laid out minimum prices for air travel but the same were superintended at the federal level. Kelleher opted to start interstate so that he can charge much lower than the federal minimums. He even got sued for it but stuck to lower prices to create value for his customers (Cote, 2017) . His prices were based on a simple calculation on how much it would cost to fly the customers to their destinations plus a minimal profit margin.
Question Five: Importance of Humor
The article by Kahn (2014) indicates the nature of humor that is involved in Southwest flights. This humor seems important both to the customers and the employees. It enables the employees to enjoy their work by avoiding making it dull and repetitive. It also enables the customers to relax and enjoy even the scary parts of flying such as being told what to do in case of an emergency. Humor makes flying, which is ordinarily dull, to be enjoyable for both staff and customers.
Question Six: The Luggage Issues
Almost all leading airlines in the USA charge for luggage ad have made profits in the recent years. Southwest does not charge for luggage but has not made losses, even in the harshest of industrial climates (Bachman et al, 2016). This means that Southwest had done better without charges for luggage than those who have. Most probably, when fliers find themselves with a larger luggage, which is most often than not, they prefer flying Southwest. Thus by charging for luggage the competition markets Southwest Airlines.
Question Seven: Attribution for Success
Southwest does not have a human resource department. Instead, it has a people department that ensures that all those who work for the company are treated as treasured people and not merely a source of labor (Weber & Moore, 2014). These people dedicate themselves to the company and go out of their way to give the best services to customers. The customers respond to this warmth and Southwest keeps making money and growing. People are, therefore, the key to the success of the airline as the people within attract the people outside the company (Gallo, 2013).
Question Eight: Future Challenges
An airline cannot operate in exclusivity especially on the international arena. It has to share airports and sometimes lounges with the competition. According to Curtis (2016), not many competitors like sharing with Southwest, perhaps because of its pricing regimen. This is the greatest challenge that Southwest will continue to face in the future as it continues expanding into the international markets. Some players such as Delta who cannot be able to compete with Southwest Airlines from a price perspective will always try to box it out of shared amenities.
References
Bachman, B. J., Press, A., Skift, S. A., Sumers, S. B., & Sasso, B. M. (2016, August 16). Why Wall Street isn't happy with Southwest’s 43 straight years of profits. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from https://skift.com/2016/08/16/why-wall-street-isnt-happy-with-southwests-43-straight-years-of-profits/
Cote, R. (2017). Vision of effective leadership. International Journal of Business Administration , 8 (6). 1-10
Curtis, B. (2016, December 16). Southwest CEO talks hopes, concerns for 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/Southwest-CEO-Talks-Hopes-Concerns-for-2017-406987535.html
Gallo, C. (2013, September 10). How Southwest and Virgin America win by putting people before profit. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/09/10/how-southwest-and-virgin-america-win-by-putting-people-before-profit/#2b842bbd695a
Kahn, M. (2014, June 20). Flight attendant with soaring sense of humor. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/flight-attendant-soaring-sense-humor/story?id=24233358
Mouawad, J. (2010, November 20). Pushing 40 , Southwest is still playing the rebel . Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/business/21south.html.
Tully, S. (2015, September 23). Southwest bets big on business travelers. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://fortune.com/2015/09/23/southwest-airlines-business-travel/
Weber, J. M., & Moore, C. (2014). Squires: Key followers and the social facilitation of charismatic leadership. Organizational Psychology Review , 4 (3), 199-227
