Also, post your responses to both Discussion Questions. Other information can help you answer…
Also, post your responses to both Discussion Questions. Other information can help you answer each question, so be sure to include at least one additional source of information. Three-paragraph responses are required.
A Tale of Two Civilizations
Kelleher established Southwest’s terminal and instrumental values, which helped set Southwest apart from its competitors due to their high-quality, low-cost service, in order to develop a competitive advantage. Employees in Southwest company towns believe in the company and devote themselves to helping each other and providing outstanding customer service (a terminal value). In order to better understand the daily challenges faced by other employees, Southwest management rotates the employees through the various roles of baggage handlers, ticket agents, and flight attendants four times per year. Kelleher holds company cookouts every Friday at noon, typically in the company’s Dallas parking lot. The flat and informal organisational structure of Southwest encourages employees to be innovative and creative while providing employees with the tools to solve their own problems. An additional, important example is the impact on how employees dress on holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. During these holidays, they dress up in “fun uniforms” in order to please customers. While they are always looking for new ways to improve customer service and satisfaction, they are also continuously searching for new ways to improve customer service and satisfaction. Employees own over 22% of the airline’s stock, and everyone eligible for bonuses gets them. There are numerous plaques located in the lobby of the company’s Love Field headquarters in Dallas, recognising outstanding employees. This Southwest airline’s primary mission is to
providelow-cost, high-quality service, and that is why teamwork is so essential to its overall operations. Culturally, Southwest appears to be doing well because of its excellence. The route and profitability of Southwest has increased, and it has since become the world’s most profitable airline. Compared to Value Line, Southwest Airlines’ CEO and corporate culture are different. Employees reportedly loathed the corporate culture that Jean Buttner, Value Line’s publisher, had established. In order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, she instilled thrift and economy in her employees by poisoning their attitudes toward the company. The time employees had to log in each day was 9 a.m. and the time they had to log out each day was 6 p.m. They risk getting fired if they falsify their arrival or departure time. For an extended period of time, untidy desks were recognised as indicators of laziness or “unproductivity” at Value Line, which, in turn, required managers to regularly submit a daily “clean surfaces report” to verify that their staff tidied up their desks. 51 In addition to salary increases, bonuses and the company’s health-care and pension plans were closely monitored. The recognition of these values: What measures have been taken to reward them? Many highly skilled professionals left Value Line as a result of the hostility created by these “economic” values and work rules that devalued employees. as a result of the turnover, the company’s customers became dissatisfied and complained Although a majority of employees have positive feelings about Buttner, some of them believe that his management style has deteriorated to the point where they posted a notice on their bulletin board, criticising his style and even suggesting that the company may be in need of new leadership. Buttner took down the bulletin board in response to this message from a key stakeholder group. In light of these facts, it is obvious that there is no partnership between management and staff at Value Line.
Possible questions for you to contemplate
1-Bring out the differences between the Southwest culture and that of Value Line.
2-It is possible that the next CEO of Value Line will create his or her own company culture that resembles Southwest’s.
A Tale of Two Civilizations
Kelleher established Southwest’s terminal and instrumental values, which helped set Southwest apart from its competitors due to their high-quality, low-cost service, in order to develop a competitive advantage. Employees in Southwest company towns believe in the company and devote themselves to helping each other and providing outstanding customer service (a terminal value). In order to better understand the daily challenges faced by other employees, Southwest management rotates the employees through the various roles of baggage handlers, ticket agents, and flight attendants four times per year. Kelleher holds company cookouts every Friday at noon, typically in the company’s Dallas parking lot. The flat and informal organisational structure of Southwest encourages employees to be innovative and creative while providing employees with the tools to solve their own problems. An additional, important example is the impact on how employees dress on holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. During these holidays, they dress up in “fun uniforms” in order to please customers. While they are always looking for new ways to improve customer service and satisfaction, they are also continuously searching for new ways to improve customer service and satisfaction. Employees own over 22% of the airline’s stock, and everyone eligible for bonuses gets them. There are numerous plaques located in the lobby of the company’s Love Field headquarters in Dallas, recognising outstanding employees. This Southwest airline’s primary mission is to
providelow-cost, high-quality service, and that is why teamwork is so essential to its overall operations. Culturally, Southwest appears to be doing well because of its excellence. The route and profitability of Southwest has increased, and it has since become the world’s most profitable airline. Compared to Value Line, Southwest Airlines’ CEO and corporate culture are different. Employees reportedly loathed the corporate culture that Jean Buttner, Value Line’s publisher, had established. In order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, she instilled thrift and economy in her employees by poisoning their attitudes toward the company. The time employees had to log in each day was 9 a.m. and the time they had to log out each day was 6 p.m. They risk getting fired if they falsify their arrival or departure time. For an extended period of time, untidy desks were recognised as indicators of laziness or “unproductivity” at Value Line, which, in turn, required managers to regularly submit a daily “clean surfaces report” to verify that their staff tidied up their desks. 51 In addition to salary increases, bonuses and the company’s health-care and pension plans were closely monitored. The recognition of these values: What measures have been taken to reward them? Many highly skilled professionals left Value Line as a result of the hostility created by these “economic” values and work rules that devalued employees. as a result of the turnover, the company’s customers became dissatisfied and complained Although a majority of employees have positive feelings about Buttner, some of them believe that his management style has deteriorated to the point where they posted a notice on their bulletin board, criticising his style and even suggesting that the company may be in need of new leadership. Buttner took down the bulletin board in response to this message from a key stakeholder group. In light of these facts, it is obvious that there is no partnership between management and staff at Value Line.
Possible questions for you to contemplate
1-Bring out the differences between the Southwest culture and that of Value Line.
2-It is possible that the next CEO of Value Line will create his or her own company culture that resembles Southwest’s.
