Question

Southwest Airlines: (Questions were in one, but separated to make easier to read.) Research on Southwest Airlines

1.Relate Southwest’s Strategy to Michael Porter’s basic strategy. What strategic position are they seeking to obtain and hold? What are the key policies, procedures, operating practices, and core values underlying this strategy?

2.What are the key elements of Southwest’s culture? Does culture make a difference in their relative success as a business?

3.What weaknesses or problems do you seat Southwest through the case presentation?

4. What strategic recommendations would you make to the CEO and management team to carry them into the next decade?

Answer 1

Answer 1) Southwest generic strategy (Porter's model) for competitive advantage ensures product/service attractiveness for successfully implementing the strategy.

A competitive advantage is what makes an entity 's goods and services superior to all of the customer's other choices. The strategies work for the country, business in the competitive market.

Competitive strategy is a basic strategy that works on the emerging, mature, decline, and fragmented industries. Porter's strategy has 4 imporatant elements that are cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, Focus strategy(low cost), Focus strategy (differentiation).

Southwest's competitive advantage is to reach it's highly competitive positions and has focused on 4 main strategies: low cost, employee-driven,future-minded and differentiated.

Southwest does simple things differently. Southwest uses its strategy in a different way such as-

1)Simplify operations by using one and only one aircraft that is the Boeing 737. In this, every pilot and mechanic is capable of working on any plane in any fleet.

2)Avoiding nonessential services such as flight meals in order to cut costs and enhance the efficiency of operations.

Southwest is seeking to obtain a competitive strategy and going different as compare to its competitors.

Southwest's long term strategy is to tailor-make a unique set of short term activities that will maintain tp remain its reputations to deliver its low-cost convenient service to its customers. A couple of activities includes limitations of flight to a short distance, and to fly in midsize cities and secondary airports in large cities. Southwest has managed to implement organizational innovations and technological innovations on a continuous basis while maintaining its stake in the market.

Answer 2) Southwest has its own definition of culture -

"The development, improvement, and refinement of the originality, individuality, identity, and personality of a given people."

The unique, fun, loving culture of Southwest is the core competence of its success. The airline encourages its employees to innovate, communicate, understand and care. Every employee is responsible for promoting and preserving our culture. They also have a culture service department through which every employee is known that she or he matters to the company.

The Southwest has its organizational culture for human well being. As a result, the company has various programs, policies and motivation activities for the employee.

The culture of any firm directly affects its success. And the same goes for Southwest airline, being highly competitive and employee-centric.

Answer 3)Weakness of Southwest airline-

1)Limited presence in the international commercial aviation market.

2)The thin profit margin to cost leadership.

Southwest Airline's weakness that corresponds to limiting the company revenue sources to its current air travel markets, especially in the U.S. The low-cost strategy enables the company to offer low-cost airline service, but also minimize profit margin.

Answer 4)Recommendations-

1)The company should expand its operations to the international market.

2)The company should develop new alliances with other airlines or complementary nonairline business, as a way to increase the company's reach to the global market.