SOUTHWEST

Southwest Airline

Southwest Airline

Introduction

Southwest Airline is American low cost airline which headquarters base on Love field in Dallas, Texas. Company enjoy large market share in terms of passenger. Southwest maintain the 3rd largest passenger among all the world commercial airlines. Southwest operates around more than 350 flight daily (Gittell, 2005).

Southwest airline has claimed that customer they carried more customer for both domestic and international passenger. Southwest airline also is one of the most profitable organization in the world which posting a profit for consecutive 39th year till 2012. Southwest airline is a successful business model that involves quick trips to the secondary airport of the major market, flying multiple short and using just single aircraft type, Boeing 737 (Gittell, 2005). This paper discuss the effectiveness of Southwest Airline leadership its competitive advantage, potential challenges and potential growth strategy for organization.

Discussion

Effectiveness of Southwest Airlines Leadership

Gross & Schroder, (2007) indicates that effective leadership develop a level of self awareness and create a capacity to monitor their own development and learning because they know leadership attributes defined as learning, improving, practicing and passing strategy to others. Southwest Airline has effective leadership. Organization use hand on approach where top level management is effectively and actively involved in every single and small aspect of the business with lower level management.

Southwest Airline, Kelleher is considered a visionary leader who engaged in inspiring the employees at different level through intimately involved in activities of daily basis. His individual personality and commitment with business make organization as a fun and exciting place to work. Employees are completely motivated and willing to put more than 100% efforts towards success of business. Study indicates that leading organization prefer to use effectively their human resources and have a clear vision on it (Gross & Schroder, 2007). Southwest Airline top level organization respect ideas from their employees that help them to use their talents through accomplish there efforts. All managers and supervisor are well trained to coach and involved others in their respective jobs thereby empowering junior's employees to grow. This effective leadership strategy of Southwest Airline allows organization to become stronger and share a large share of market.

Competitive Advantage and Potential Challenges

Competitive Advantage

In order reach its high competitive position, major focus of Southwest airline is one being low cost, differentiated, future minder and employee driven.

Low Cost

Southwest low cost focuses on fast and no frills service. Organization has never offered meal to its customer and does not offer advance seat reservation and use only Boeing 737 airplanes. This decision of Southwest airlines helped them to be flexible in the recent decrease of airplane passengers since attack of 9/11 and world economic crisis. Issue of world crisis does not lead Southwest Airline to make dramatic change in their organization because they already operate a lower cost carrier (Shumsky, 2006). On the other hand, its competitors try to cut their cost by firing large portion of employee from their organizations. Southwest employees on same time agreed that they would ...