...CEO Gary Kelly: Introduction During the past decade, the airline industry has experienced economic challenges. Some of the examples of these economics challenges would include the sluggish economy and the fuel crises. Legacy airlines such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and US Airways are struggling to maintain profitability. These legacy airlines have to compete with airlines that practice low-cost business level strategies like JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, AirTran, and Spirit Airlines. Low-cost airfare is leading by Southwest Airlines, and they also make it affordable for the average American to air travel. Since its existence, Southwest Airlines has been a profitable company. To maintain the airline’s profits in the sky, Gary Kelly assumed the role of Southwest Airlines’ newest CEO on July 2004. Personal and professional background Before joining Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly was a CPA for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and as a Controller for Systems Center, Inc. In 1986, Gary Kelly started his career at Southwest Airlines as a Controller. During the years 1989 to 2001 he was promoted to Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer. From June 2001 to July 2004 Gary served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In 2004, Gary Kelly assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer and has served as the Company Chairman of the Board in May 2008. In July 2008, he was elected as the Board’s President. Gary Kelly...
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...What is APA Style? The acronym “APA” stands for “American Psychological Association.” The APA is a professional membership organization, whose members work or have degrees in Psychology. Many years back, some leaders in this organization created a format for papers, so that they would be more readable. Their style caught on with non-psychologists, too. Eventually, APA Style became widely used, especially in colleges and universities. APA Style is a format for writing papers. This format describes proper margins (one inch at the top, bottom, left, and right sides), the font size (12 points), the font types (Times New Roman or Arial fonts only), and the spacing (papers are double-spaced). In addition, there are formats for the title page (see example) and for the list of sources used for a paper (called “citations” or “references” or “reference list”). This handout provides examples, so that you will know what the standards are for papers at the university level. In case you feel you need extra help, here are links to the Writing Labs or Writing Centers of other universities. Help with APA Style for Citing References From the APA Style Web site and blog (URLs are below each entry) Sample papers http://search.apastyle.org/?query=&facet=stylecontenttype:Sample%20paperRecommended Web sites that will assist you in creating correct APA style Reference List citations: You put in the information for your sources, and this Web site creates your references in APA...
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...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...
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...Southwest Airlines: Using Human Resources for Competitive Advantage 1. What are the key elements of Southwest Airline’s history? Why are these elements important to understanding Southwest? First of all, from its inception, Southwest has encouraged its employees to identify with others at the company, deliver great customer service, and have fun. Secondly, Southwest’s strategy was to pursue a low fare. So the company concentrated on flying to airports that are underutilized and close to a metropolitan area and also emphasized point-to-point routes, with no central hub and an average flight time of 65 minutes. This paid off in shorter turnaround times and higher equipment use. Thirdly, consistent with its strategy of low costs, low fares, and frequent flights, Southwest also kept its fares simple. The company typically offered only two fares on a route, a regular coach and an off-peak fare. Through looking at these key elements of Southwest Airline’s history, we got an idea of how Southwest Airlines ran its business and why this company has been profitable in every one of the last 21 years, a record achieved by no other major U.S. airline. The best way to understand the current situation of a company is to look back at important things that happened in this company in the past. 2. What is Southwest’s business/operational strategy? Southwest’s operational strategy is to fly just one aircraft type to cut down on training and maintenance costs, use smaller, less congested...
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...QUESTION 1: What is the strategy of Southwest Airlines? Southwest’s strategy has two overarching themes: 1) Operate as a leading low-fare carrier, and 2) their mantra, “Happy employees make for happy customers.” There are several components to each, which are described in detail below. 1) OPERATING AS A LEADING LOW-FARE CARRIER There are several factors to this strategy: Low fares: SWA had the lowest fares in the industry and endeavored to keep it that way. Low costs: Southwest had the ability to charge low fares in part due to low overhead. Lost cost measures included the following: * Identical fleet of airplanes: This minimized the number of parts required for upkeep and maintenance, and it reduced carrying costs. It allowed SWA to simplify and harmonize training and operating procedures. Finally, not only was inventory “interchangeable” across the organization, staff could have moved freely from one location to the next with little to no training time required. * No meals on flights: A savings of $40 per passenger. * No seat assignments: No staff resources were required to maintain or change seat assignments, and no electronic system capacity was required to track/record such transactions. Simplified approach: Southwest kept the fare structure simple. * Only two types of fares: Regular and off-peak fares (no business class, first class.) * Consistent “within state” fares: For instance, a passenger can fly anywhere within...
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...hardly making financial records, how has it been possible for a small company such as Southwest Airlines to completely satisfy their customers since 1971? (Bovier, 1993). What lessons has the management of Southwest Airlines learned in such a relatively short time period? How have these lessons enabled the company to capture such a portion of the market? (Bovier, 1993; George and Jones, 1996) Southwest Airlines began its service in 1971. Since then the killer-whale painted planes have become familiar to their customers and to corporate America. Besides being profitable, expanding constantly and defending its high place on the Fortune 500 list, Southwest has a very special trait: attitude (Bovier, 1993). The Southwest perspective stems from CEO Herb Kelleher and Southwest’s employee motivation. The purpose of this article is to discover the sources of success of Southwest Airlines as a company with high employee motivation. Three factors will be addressed: (1) Southwest as an “excellent” company; (2) the source of employee motivation in this “excellent” company; and (3) whether lessons learned can adequately address potential future problems for Southwest. The authors Ulla K. Bunz and Jeanne D. Maes are based at the University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA. Abstract In an era in which adapting to change means survival, it is important to study what successful organizations have done. While the airline industry in the USA has not made thriving financial headlines, one small...
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...Organizational Behavior and Communication Paper ‘The phrase “The customer is always right” was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s department store in London in 1909” (Bonnell, 2009). This phrase is used by a number of businesses to portray an image to the public that customers will receive quality customer service, and is also unfortunately used by customers to abuse and exploit employees. Southwest Airlines has adopted a different strategy, one that is unique and sought after by many organizations developed by their founder Herb Keller who started the company in 1971 (Smith, 2004). The Mission Statement of the company is twofold and first addresses the customer. Second the statement addresses its employees. The customer’s message “Mission of Southwest Airlines” states, “The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.” The second portion of the mission statement titled “To Our Employees” states, “We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.” “The company’s...
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...(Adair, 2005). Thus, leadership is the ability to successfully exploit and incorporate the existing resources in an organization for the achievement of the objectives and targets of such organization (Northouse, 2004). Gary Kelly is the CEO of Southwest Airlines. He has a leadership style and a set of values that has helped Southwest Airlines emerge amongst all the other airlines in the business. This report analyzes the leadership style and philosophy of Gary Kelly and how his style of leadership aligns with the culture. This report also examines his personal and organizational values and evaluates his set of values that are likely to influence ethical behavior within the organization. Finally this report determines his greatest strengths and weaknesses and discusses the quality that I believe contributes most to this his success. Background of the CEO Gary C. Kelly is the CEO and chairman of Southwest Airlines. He started his career in 1986 as a controller at Southwest Airlines. In addition to working for this airline, Kelly sits in the board as Independent Director of several trade associations and corporations. In 1989, he was promoted and served as Chief Financial Officer from 1989 to 2004. He served as Vice President of Finance from 1989 to 2001. Kelly served as a Vice Chairman of the Board of Southwest Airlines, from July 15, 2004 to May 2008. Prior to working at Southwest Airlines he worked as controller of Systems Center Inc. and as an Audit Manager of Arthur Young...
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...and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. Therefore, it does not take a “manager” to lead. Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, has a set of values and a leadership style that helps Southwest Airlines stand out amongst any other airline in the industry. Background of the CEO Gary Kelly is a 28-year Southwest veteran who began his career at Southwest Airlines as a Controller. In addition to working for Southwest Airlines, Kelly sits in the board as Independent Director of several corporations and trade associations. Kelly was promoted to CEO and Vice Chairman of Southwest in 2004 after serving as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Finance, then Executive Vice President and CFO. Gary is a lifelong Texan, having received a B.B.A in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Gary was a Certified Public Accountant for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc. CEO’s Leadership Style and Philosophy Gary Kelly’s leadership style would be that of transformational. According to Bernard Bass (1985), transformational leadership occurs when leaders broaden and elevate followers’ interests and stir followers to look beyond their own interests to the good of others. Kelly mentions that the culture of Southwest Airlines is not a program or initiative; rather it is the sum of the hearts of their people (Spirit Magazine,...
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...one of the most profitable companies in the United States and this is not by accident. This company has risen above its competitors with strong leadership, communication, and organizational structure that encourage success. This paper will evaluate the Google Company paying close attention to the leadership traits of CEO Larry Page. This paper will also explain why teams play such an import role into the success of Google as a leader within the industry. Finally, Google’s organizational structure will be explained to show the characteristics of the company that lead to its current success. DISCUSSION: What leadership style best represents Google’s CEO Larry Page? The text defines leadership as the process of influencing others to facilitate the attainment of the organizationally relevant goals (Ivancevich). Leadership styles are the different ways in which leaders influence others to motivate a group or team to attain organizational goals. These leadership styles include telling, selling, participating, and delegating. CEO Larry page uses all of these styles to a certain degree depending on whom he is communicating with and when he is communicating. When the CEO is communicating with members of his team he has been known to use the participating style, which is where leaders and followers share in the decision s about best to complete a high-quality job. This style was evident when Larry Page urged his team to “dream big” at the Google Faculty Summit in 2009. He told his team...
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...McMichael Dr. Ofori Boateng BUS 520 Leadership and Organizational Behavior December 12, 2014 Gary Kelly serves as the Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Southwest Airlines. Under Gary's leadership, Southwest has grown to become the nation's largest airline in terms of originating domestic passengers carried and is a mainstay on Fortune magazine's list of the most admired companies in the world, ranking seventh in 2013 (About Southwest, 2014). Gary's biggest source of pride is the fact that Southwest Airlines has never had a single furlough in the airline's 43-year history. Gary is pioneering the airline's transformation through several key initiatives, including the integration of AirTran Airways and launching international destinations in 2014 for the first time in Southwest's history. Gary has been named one of the best CEOs in America by Institutional Investor magazine three times and he was selected as Dallas Business Journal's CEO of the year for 2011. Gary is a lifelong Texan and received a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. As a proud alumnus, Gary has served the University in a number of capacities, including on the McCombs School Advisory Council. Gary is a Certified Public Accountant; serves on the Board of Directors of the Lincoln National Corporation and is Chairman of Airlines for America (Southwest, Gary C. Kelly, 2014). Southwest Airlines would not be the company it is without having a superb leader. It...
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...1. Provide a brief background of the CEO. Founded March 15, 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines is currently the biggest domestic carrier by number of passengers serviced (Southwest Airlines, 2014). As of May 2013, the company has a market cap of approximately $9 billion (Forbes Magazine, 2013). Gary Kelly, who joined Southwest as controller in 1986, is the company’s current chairman, president, and CEO. Gary was born and raised in Texas and received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas as Austin. Gary originally wanted to study oceanography but changed his mind and decided to study accounting simply because his father was an accountant. Before joining Southwest’s team, Gary worked as a CPA for Arthur Young and Company. He and Carol, his wife of 38 years, have two adult daughters. 2. Analyze the CEO’s leadership style and philosophy, and how the CEO’s leadership style aligns with the culture. Gary Kelly’s leadership style fits most closely with the servant and ethical styles of leadership. Schermerhorn (2012) defines a servant leader as one who “helps others discover their inner spirit, earns and keeps the trust of their followers, exhibits effective listening skills, and places the importance of assisting others over self-interest” (p. 322). Ethical leadership has a very high focus on interactional transparency, fairness, and awareness of others (p. 323). Gary is a relaxed and playful leader and believes that "good leaders...
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...up their fairs. In some instances, even making them higher than the major carriers on some of those roots. In this week's destination CEO, Jeff Flock, sat down to talk with the man of the controls of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly, to find out how in these turbulent times he's able to keep his company at a safe cruising altitude and as the most profitable airline in the country. Thank you, Gary. How are you doing, Kevin? Gary Kelly may not know the names of all 32,000 Southwest employees-See you, Troy. --but walk with him through the airlines, Love Field home base in Dallas. Althea, I'm Gary Kelly. And you get the impression he knows most of them. Jimmy, how you doing man? The 51-year-old Kelly and wife Carol are headed to their ranch near Austin for some rare R&R. Kelly always sits in the noisiest most cramped back row of the plane. The paying customers get the good seats and when he flies he likes to talk to them. I'm not a flight attendant. I'm just a guy that works in the office. The 6'3 former high school star quarterback was an Arthur Young accountant in 15 years as Southwest CFO he never sought the big job. I've never had any aspiration to be a CEO. 1 Why? I don't know. I guess I just perceived that stresses, and the strains, and the anxieties were something I didn't want deal with. Is that true? No. Kelly gets credit for locking up fuel hedging contracts that has Southwest paying far less for Jet fuel and it's competitors, but even tougher...
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...Southwest Airlines Case Study Allen Washington November 15, 2013 Management 5590 Fall 2013 Introduction This paper is to discuss the concept of Southwest Airlines and how it related to certain aspects of reading in the text. Areas that are discussed are culture, personality and emotional intelligence and how they relate to Southwest Airlines. Also, discuss how the CEO of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly, concepts relate to the text and if they are good or bad for Southwest Airlines. Culture What is organization culture? Organization culture is the pervasive system of values, beliefs, and norms that exists in any organization. The organization culture can encourage or discourage effectiveness, depending on the nature of the values, beliefs, and norms (Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2011). How is Southwest’s culture and how does it impacts employee performance? The culture at Southwest Airlines is a strong one and that is due to the former CEO, Herb Kelleher. He was the kind of leader that worked well with his employees even when we was traveling on business to make sure that they kept a good relationship with one another ((Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2011). As stated in the text “The atmosphere at Southwest shows that having fun is a value that pervades every part of the organization. Joking, cajoling, and prank-pulling at Southwest Airlines are representative of the special relationships that exist among the employees in the...
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...Mr. Gary C. Kelly has been the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President of Southwest Airlines Company since July 2001. The 58 year old executive has been with the company since 1986 being hired in as controller working his way to Chief Financial Officer and the finally to the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Kelly attended the University of Texas where he received a bachelor degree in accounting. Southwest Airlines is a very unique company in as they have never had a non-profitable year, they continue to serve as the country’s largest discount airlines, they have a straight forward philosophy of taking care of their employees, great customer service, and having fun. While other airlines have failed, actually almost all of the large airlines have failed, Southwest continues to grow and at the head of the company is Gary Kelly. Mr. Kelly has been with Southwest for most of the companies’ existence, and together, they have developed a unique culture and style. Most of which he inherited when he took the office of CEO. The former CEO and co-founder Herb Kelleher, was a very aggressive leader that like to lead in a very unorthodox style. His management was quick and to the point, always thought of himself as the underdog. Kelleher cared greatly for his employees, for his customers, but most of all, having fun. In the seventies, the airline had its stewardess dressed in hot paints, and sing songs to the guests. Today they still are very casual and continue to have...
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