Southwest Airlines is one of the United States’ significant airlines. The airline is the world’s largest low-cost carrier airline and has its headquarter located in Dallas, Texas. The carrier has 111 scheduled service destinations in the U.S. and other countries. This section of the paper seeks to evaluate the organizational culture of South West Airlines as a competitive advantage. The airline is the only large U.S. carrier that is also a low-cost airline and is flexible than most other U.S. airlines. Southwest Airlines has a functional organizational structure, which uses its business function as the foundation of grouping activities and resources, like marketing and finance.
Any organization that operates in the airline industry must strengthen and maintain several aspects of competitive advantage over its business rivals. Consequently, Southwest Airlines has a considerably efficient organizational culture that gives it a competitive edge over other airlines. The airline uses the functional organizational structure, promoting employee well-being, recognizing that adequately taking care of employees supports high productivity. Lumen Learning (2018) states that the available organizational structure defines the employees’ behavioural expectations, core values, beliefs, and philosophy.
The carrier’s business model is grounded on efficient operations, innovative logistic solutions, and low pricing costs. Moreover, the airline’s stratagem also entails a profound concentration on customer experience and projecting the future. Lastly, the organization ensures that its employees are motivated through support, motivation, morale, and satisfaction from high performance concerning the vision and mission. As a result of this sound strategy, the airline has achieved several competitive advantages that have permitted it to remain relevant in the fast-changing aviation industry.
Southwest Airlines has been known over the years as a thriving organization that operates when most airlines are struggling to make profits. This part of the paper compares South West Airlines to JetBlue Airlines. It suggests how South West airlines can improve its services or business strategy, mainly focusing on customer service, marketing strategies, and business models. JetBlue Airlines is another American low-cost carrier headquartered in New York City’s Long Island City (Morente et al., 2018).
The basis of this comparison lies in the different brand personalities of the two carriers, especially concerning customer satisfaction, customer service, and general organizational success. Both airlines are low-cost airlines priding themselves on considerable profitability (Roberts and Griffith, 2019). JetBlue Airlines is a high-end, low-cost airline, which offers amenities like free WiFi, personal seat screens, and in-flight entertainment.
JetBlue has a much higher average flight cost than Southwest because JetBlue’s strategy focuses on charging higher prices for a packaged service (Morente et al., 2019). On the other hand, Southwest Airlines focuses on customer satisfaction and cost-efficiency operations through its large fleet of aircraft. According to Roberts and Griffith (2019), Southwest carrier’s internal branding offers particular behaviours to enhance employees buy into its culture. This aspect of marketing is the hallmark of its internal marketing strategy building employee motivation leading to higher quality service levels, higher profitability, and customer satisfaction (Schleckser, 2018). Southwest Airlines has a unique business model, which is the hallmark of its success in the aviation industry:
- It is the most flexible large airline
- It is the only sizeable low-cost airline
- Its strategy focuses on motivating and recruiting the right employees
- It continues to improve on its operations and business model
These unique propositions may allow the airline to survive the topographical business challenges most likely.
References
Lumen Learning. (2018). Principles of Management. New York: SUNY OER Services. Web.
Morente, F., Ferràs, X., & Zizlavsky, O. (2018). Innovation cultural models: Review and proposal for next steps. Revista Universidad y Empresa, 20(34), 53-81.
Roberts, D., & Griffith, J. C. (2019). A tale of two airlines: A comparative case study of high-road versus low-road strategies in customer service and reputation management. International journal of aviation, aeronautics, and aerospace, 6(2). Web.
Schleckser, J. (2018). Why Southwest has been profitable 45 years in a row. Inc. Web.