Southwest's Mission Statement

464 Words2 Pages
Business Policy MG550 / 74 Wednesday 530p – 1015p Chapter 3 Question 1, pg. 105. Southwest Airlines’ mission statement is, “The Mission of Southwest Airlines is dedicated to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride and Company Spirit”. I believe that this mission is carried into their business model. I would characterize their business model as keeping operations simple and consistent. Gary Kelly, the CEO of Southwest Airlines (SWA) is quoted as saying, “Our people are our single greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage”. The employees of SWA are just one example of how SWA business policy differs from other airlines. SWA has a best in the industry employee to ratio, the only hire 3% of those interviewed. They also offer profit sharing which encourages the employees to help make SWA successful. Outside of their employees, SWA operates only one type of aircraft. This reduces the need to store additional parts and eliminates the need to train pilots and technicians. Lastly, they fly point to point, rather than from hubs, which reduces delays and captures demand as larger airlines might not fly from smaller airports. File 3. pg. 104 I believe that a good example of a company that has demonstrated a sustained competitive advantage for more than 10 years would be Philip Morris(PM), the producer of Marlboro cigarettes. I am not a smoker and do not advocate it but you have to admit, they have been successful despite much of the negative publicity that cigarette smoking has received in recent years. Much of PM’s competitive advantage can be attributed to, Altria, their parent company’s mission statement and policies to achieve the corporate mission. Altria's mission is to own and develop financially disciplined businesses that are leaders in responsibly

More about Southwest's Mission Statement

Open Document