Laveda Mitchell
Principle of Management
Southern New Hampshire University
3/14/2021
Introduction
Management is a vital peripheral in an organization. Organizations depend largely on management for daily functioning and strategies to achieve organizational goals using the available resources (Williams, 2015). If a company has effective management, it has clearly set goal and clear strategies of achieving these goals and vision (Williams, 2015). Southwest Airline is an organization that we love to embrace it management strategies. Not only is it thriving in innovation , the company has a management structures that beliefs that has clearly set up goals, promoted strong labor relations and high performance a phenomenon that has made the company not only profitable and have a strong brand but adaptive the changing airline business.
Southwest Airline Profile
Southwest Airline is one of the largest airline in the US and the largest low cost airline in the world. Its headquarters are in Dallas, Texas and has 111 destinations in the United States and 10 in the surrounding countries; Canada, Mexico Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. As of 2018, Southwest Airline had carried more domestic passengers than any other airline in the US (Gittell & Fields, 2019). Southwest Airline was established in 1967 by Herb Kelleher as Air southwest company but changed to its current name Southwest Airline co. in 197 after it become a intrastate operating airline, operating from Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Currently South airline 111 routes in US plus 10 in the surrounding countries, more 35,000 employees, has 3,300 fights per day and average revenue of $10.5 billion per years since 2017 (Gittell & Fields, 2019).
How Southwest Airline Has Communicated Its Vision and Mission to the Stakeholders
Written broadly in the official website and their various marketing platforms “dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit” and vision “become the most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline in the world” (Gittell & Fields, 2020), Southwest Airline has embedded it mission and vision to its employees and stakeholder. The airline has maintained a high level or employee and aircraft productivity with low cost. This has been achieved through adoption of leadership in management, good employee management relations and transformation change management when adapting to new business changes (Carpenter et.al, 2019). To other stakeholders it has ensured sustainable use of resource to preserve the environment, maintain social responsibility and technology.
Management Role
Southwest Airline management has played a significant role in providing leadership, strategies and decision that have found success in the aviation industry. Starting from the airline’s CEO. Gary Kelly, the airline top management has servant and transformational leadership philosophy that has encouraged strong bond between other organization bodies with management (Carpenter et.al, 2019). This has encouraged innovation and employee initiated strategic moves that have kept the airline afloat and leading. The management has been customer focus by not only creating low cost flight but also for understanding the changing customers’ needs in air travels. For example, Southwest Airline has slowly shifted from leisure carriers to business carriers but still maintaining low cost (Gittell & Fields, 2020).
Management influence on organization culture
It starts with top-notch management to influence good culture and values within an organization something that Southwest Airline top management have done it best. Apart from the strong management –labor relations that the management emphases through horizontal and bottom to top decision making structure, the management has exclusively increased employee satisfaction with the organization through compensation and reward systems that favor hard working and smart employees (Gittell & Fields, 2020). This has influence a culture of honesty working, high performance and individual career satisfaction a culture that has greatly increased the organization productivity (Carpenter et.al, 2019).
The pivotal management decision making model that has made organization successful
Southwest Airline management has enhanced strong management –labor relations and employee satisfaction through horizontal and bottom to top decision-making structure. Horizontal or functional structure means though the organization is one under the chief executive officers, different departmental heads can make independent decision but cohesively align their decision towards the general organization goals and objective (Carpenter et.al., 2019).. Bottom to down decision-making means that what is implemented at top has come from the employees and other important stakeholders (Williams, 2015).
Functions of management that has adhered to the ethic principles
Management functions are staffing, organizing, planning, controlling and so. Though it a mandate that all management functions fall with the ethical principles for effective management, one eminent management function that adhere to the ethic principle in Southwest is staff (Batten et.al, 2017). Apart from non-discriminatory employment, Southwest Airline is one organization that is very ethical when dealing with their employees. In 2020, as all organization were firing and sacking employee due the corona virus pandemic economic strain, south west did not fire any employee what it did It ensured voluntary early retirement and salary cut to accommodate the economic strains brought by corona. Many employees felt that the organization management was just and benevolent in its staffing function (Gittell & Fields, 2020)
Human resource and personnel development
To achieve high quality organization performance, Southwest Airline management believes that people must be trained and mentored (Torrington & Hall, 2018). Human resource has been instrumental in training, coaching and mentoring workers to perform at their best. There are quality training, customer care training, effective Supply chain management training, hospitality training and many other training in the organization. Additionally, the HR has maintained a reputation of identify and recruiting top talents and highly qualified people
Conclusion
It vividly management principle like leadership, focus on customer needs, employee stratification, innovation and communication accounts to southwest success in the aviation industry. these management principles has enable identification of appreciate decision making strategies that has enhances strategic and effective management within the company but also strong management- labour relations that encourage high employee performance and productivity
References
Batten, J., Hettihewa, S., & Mellor, R. (2017). The ethical management practices of Australian firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(12), 1261-1271.
Carpenter, M. A., Bauer, T., Erdogan, B., & Short, J. (2019). Principles of management. Washington, DC: Flat World Knowledge.
Gittell, J. H., & Fields, A. (2019). The southwest airlines way. McGraw-Hill Audio.
Torrington, D., & Hall, S. (2018). Human resource management and the personnel function. london: Routledge.
Williams, C. (2015). Effective management. Cengage Learning.
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