An Overview of the Strategic Planning of Southwest Airlines Essay

Strategic planning must take many elements into account. Some of these elements are the companys mission, vision, values, goals, critical success factors, and differentiation strategies. Southwest Airlines approaches strategic planning from a very different point of view than other airlines. Where other airlines boost profits through extra fees and amenities, Southwest prefers to go with the quantity and affordability approach instead. Southwest Airlines has a transparent vision, mission, goal plan, and strategic implementations in accordance with their strategic planning.The core strategy of Southwest Airlines is to get passengers to their destinations on time at the lowest rates possible while ensuring the customers enjoy themselves to ensure customer loyalty (Heskett Sasser, 2013). The differentiation strategy of the airline is that it focuses locally and on a smaller scale than other airlines. While other airlines focus their marketing and efforts globally, Southwest focuses on more local flights that are shorter routes. Furthermore, Southwest enjoys a laid-back atmosphere that is family friendly whereas, other airlines offer luxury upgrades and more complimentary items such as full meals. Some of the major challenges of strategic planning, especially for large, complex organizations like Southwest Airlines are finding a way to gain a competitive edge, finding the appropriate differentiation strategy, and ensuring the implementations through strategic planning do not burden the company, but rather boosts the productivity, loyalty, and profits. Finding which elements may be offered and others that must be dropped is a unique balancing act. Although Southwest offers the Bags Fly Free policy, they cannot cost effectively offer complimentary meals on their flights. Finding a unique balance in the strategic planning is very complicated and difficult at times.Leaders must make the best decisions based on their knowledge, experience, and information given to them. Their decisions affect not only the companys profitability and long term health, but also the employees and customers of the organization. The price fluctuations of such items as petroleum for the airplanes causes the ticket prices...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Character Analysis of Basil Hallward in The Picture of Dorian Gray, a Novel by Oscar Wilde Essay

The main character in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian, is a man too easily influenced by his surroundings. He is quoted as saying, Basil Hallward is what I think I am Lord Henry is what the world thinks me Dorian is what I would like to bein other ages, perhaps (Wilde). This comparison falls in line with the moral of the story because Dorian is stuck with eternal youth and beauty even though he has a wicked soul. This causes different views of him by people who observe his daily life. Dorian is a sponge throughout the novel that absorbs everything and allows it to shape his personality, morals, and actions. Dorian Gray takes influence from Lord Henry, Basil Hallward, and the culture of society during which the novel was written. Lord Henry is the epitome of a wealthy, hedonistic gentleman seeking only pleasure, with little regard to cost or consequence. Lord Henry Wotton outwardly propounds hedonism, but it is his extreme egotism that drives him to manipulate both Basil Hallward a
Read more

Religious Symbolism in The Blessed Damozel, a Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti Essay

Dante Gabriel Rossettis poem The Blessed Damozel is full of religious symbolism. There is talk of saints, and the poem itself takes place in heaven. But underneath the religious symbolism is a deep sensuality, that makes one wonder if the white rose of Marys gift referred to in line nine is the gift of Mary the Virgin, or the somewhat less virginal Mary Magdalene. While the Damozel is in heaven, her appearance in heaven, her behaviors in life, and what happens when she and her lover are reunited suggest some less than virginal dealings, yet the damozel is blessed and resides in heaven. Rossetti was the child of liberals kicked out of Italy a heavily catholic country for their extreme political views. While Rossetti himself was not political, he may have espoused similar views regarding politics and religion as his parents. In the poem The Blessed Damozel, Rossetti was given the chance to essentially create his own heaven. Most everything he wrote seems to show that Rossetti espoused
Read more

An Analysis of the Character of Chichikov in the Poem, Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol Essay

Dead Souls takes place in the Russia of the late 1800s, where, unlike in America, one must be born into a prosperous family in order to have opportunities. The main character, Chichikov, is clever enough to develop a scheme in which he can rise from being a petty clerk to a respected landowner. In order to do this, Chichikov moves into a new town, pretending to already be a landowner, and begins a quest to buy the names of dead serfs who have not yet been officially reported dead. Each person that Chichkov presents this offer to has a different reaction, starting with the shy and introverted Manilov. Though he does not understand Chichikov's need for the names of these dead serfs, Manilov is a character that is so desperate for company that it does not take any effort to trick him into selling his dead souls cheaply. However, as Chichikov continues his journey, he starts to deal with more clever landowners who become suspicious of his scheme. Chichikov finds that the townsmen know
Read more