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Organizational Behavior and Communication Paper Com/530

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Southwest Airlines, Inc.

Introduction

Southwest Airlines was established in 1967 by entrepreneur Herb Kelleher. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas the name Southwest Airlines was adopted in 1971. Southwest Airlines today has set the bench mark for many other Airlines trying to catch up to the innovation that has taken place over the last 35 years. Several of the key elements of Southwest’s success is their Mission Statement “Low Fares and Spartan Service” and their dominating Philosophy of “Peanut Fares, Peanut Meals, and Peanut Jokes.”

So what does Southwest Airlines value? Like most companies the answer to this question would be our customers of course, but not Southwest Airlines they value their employees, they see their employees as their number one customer. Which brings us to the interesting topic of Southwest’s culture.
Southwest Airlines Culture is unlike many of numerous companies in the USA where they have implemented and formalized “quality management programs” and they failed because they were “programs of the month.” At Southwest Airlines implementing “quality” throughout the company is not the result of a formalized program but required cultural change in the way they conduct their daily activities. The main requirement of “doing it right the first time” is integrated into the daily activities or culture of the company. The chairman of the board and president of a company has established the tone for quality in not only what they communicate but also in their daily actions. (by Herb Kelleher, Chairman of the Board, and his management team.) Now that we know what Southwest Airlines culture is based on “doing it right the first time” do all the Southwest employees value this?
What are Southwest Airlines’ Values?

First, let’s look at and define the Espoused Values of the company. Their Mission Statement, Philosophy and Management style make up

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