SW Airline Analysis Assignment

Southwest Airlines Analysis Assignment

· APA format

· At least 5 in text citations

· Must include a SWOT analysis at the beginning. Strengths must include firm’s market share and weakness include the firm’s cost trends.

· Each paragraph should answer each of the bullets.

· What do you find impressive about Southwest Airlines? Four examples needed

· What would you grade Southwest’s management strategy, what do you dislike or like about the strategy, do they have a winning strategy, explain.

· Key policies, operating practices, procedures, and values underlying Southwest’s efforts to execute and implement its low-cost strategy.

· Is Southwest a strong-culture company? Explain. What are key elements to Southwest’s culture? What problems do you see for Gary Kelly in sustaining the culture now that Herb Kelleher has departed?

· What grade would you give Southwest management for the job it has done in implementing and executing the company’s strategy? Which of Southwest’s strategy execution approaches and operating practices do you believe have been most crucial in accounting for the success that Southwest has enjoyed in executing its strategy? Are there any policies, procedures, and operating approaches at Southwest of which you disapprove or that aren’t working well?

· What weaknesses or problems do you see at Southwest Airlines as of mid-2010?

· Does the AirTran acquisition make good strategic sense for Southwest?

· What strategic issues and problems must Gary Kelly and Southwest executives address as they proceed to close the deal with the AirTran acquisition and contemplate how best to integrate AirTran’s operations and AirTran’s employees into Southwest?

· What recommendations would you make to Gary Kelly and Southwest executives as the company heads into the next year?

No minimum word/page. MUST BE ORIGINAL