SWOT Analysis of the Company's Communications
According to Rutherford (2010), Southwest Airlines' communications approach converges public relations, employee communications, and emerging media. A SWOT analysis reveals the effectiveness level of this approach. Regarding strengths, Southwest Airlines engages all stakeholders in its communications, which is crucial in achieving its mission. Also, the company uses both traditional and modern media forms to reach a bigger audience. Regarding weakness, Southwest Airlines is increasingly focusing on modern forms of communications such as Social Media, which means its focus on the older generation is dropping. Regarding opportunities, Southwest Airlines can continue engaging its current and potential clients through new social media platforms to reach a bigger audience than its current situation. Regarding threats, Southwest Airlines should be careful not to infringe on customer's privacy in its communication platforms.
Effectiveness of the Communication's Approach on Internal and External Stakeholders
The communication strategy used by Southwest Airlines is very effective in properly engaging both internal and external stakeholders. As aforementioned, the company has integrated public relations, employee communications, and emerging media. In doing so, it has managed to centralize its communications, which means it is easier to manage the needs of all stakeholders. More so, it is possible to see trends in the market and communicate seamlessly with all stakeholders involved to ensure that the company is at par with its competitors and offers the best service possible. Additionally, its active use of social media has enabled the company to cut on communications costs and actively engage its audience remotely.
Impact of the Communications Approach on the Organization's Culture
The systems theory approach perceives institutions as open social systems, which have to interact with elements in their environments for the purpose of survival (Davis, 2007). Based on the description of Southwest Airline's communications strategy, it is clear that the approach is grounded in the systems theory approach. Consequently, the culture of the organization is one that supports the morale, motivation, satisfaction, and involvement of employees to aid the achievement of its vision and mission. By taking care of its employees, the company benefits a lot since these employees actively engage all the partners of Southwest Airlines to solve problems collaboratively.
Ways, the Communications Approach, Could Inhibit Growth
The problem with the open nature of Southwest Airline's communication strategy is that over-communicating can have adverse effects on the productivity of the employees. Constantly engaging employees with communication can result in time-wasting since employees get distracted time after time. Additionally, with so many communication channels, there is the possibility of communication breaches occurring. For instance, third parties can breach the company's social media platforms and leak confidential client information. In such cases, the results can be disastrous to Southwest Airlines and inhibit the organization's growth.
Organization's Approach to Ethics
Southwest Airlines has a Code of Ethics, which it strictly implements to ensure integrity, personal responsibility, and honesty among its employees. This code is vital in ensuring that the communication facilitated by the company is done in a manner that does not hurt all the stakeholders involved. For instance, things like confidentiality and privacy are taken seriously by the company. Additionally, the communication channels are well-structured to avoid unethical practices such as insider trading.
References
Davis, A. (2007). Mastering public relations. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Rutherford, L. (2010). Southwest Airlines shares tips on shaping your team to strengthen your brand. Cision. https://www.cision.com/2010/11/southwest-airlines-tips-strengthen-brand/