Southwest Airlines Case

The foundations of strategies that drive Southwest's competitive advantage rest with its employees and how they were managed. Successful human resource practices are a key essential for this to be accomplished. Southwest has encouraged its employees to recognize with others at the company to deliver exceptional customer service and to have fun at the workplace.

One possible reason Southwest outperforms other airlines serving the same customers and market is their strategy of low costs, low fares, and frequent flights. Southwest also keeps its fares simple. Unlike other airlines that rely heavily on computers and artificial intelligence to maximize flight revenue, Southwest normally offers only two fares on a route, a regular coach fare and an off-peak fare. Overall, Southwest Airlines has been profitable in every one of the last 21 years from when the case study was written.

The HR practices that served as sources of Southwest success start with hiring the right people into HR to begin with. Southwest transformed its Human Resource Department from "a police department" to a "People Department." Southwest recognized that their people are the competitive advantage. They deliver the resources and services to prepare their people to be winners, to support the growth and profitability of the company, while preserving the values and special culture of Southwest Airlines. "The company is only as good as its people." Southwest constantly reinforced that theme, which is why it has an advantage over their competition.

Southwest's attention to congruency starts with recruiting the right people for the job. During the interview process, People Department representatives analyze candidates through a group interview looking for teamwork in a team building exercise. Teamwork is critical. They were encouraged to loosen up. The entire process focuses on a positive attitude and teamwork. Teamwork is a key component that creates effective performance and behavior. The People Department explains, "If you don't have a good attitude, we don't want you, no matter how skilled you are. We can change skill levels through training. We can't change attitude."

Given the emphasis on selecting candidates for their attitudes and fit and the importance of culture, it follows that training is an important part of Southwest also. Overall, it is clear that training is an important form of two-way communication. Not only are the values of hard work, fun, and cost consciousness instilled, but the training is also used to get internal customer feedback. Herb Kelleher, is an extremely gifted labor-relations talent, and has managed