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Sw Airlines
Southwest Airlines - Company Motivation Profile
Sam George Daher,
BUS 6351 Business and Society
Professor Fernando Garza
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2006
Abstract
Southwest Airlines is one of the most desired employers. The company 's unique corporate culture has been established since Southwest Airlines first started. In addition, Southwest Airline 's mission statement, organizational structure, and decision-making strategies are also important to Southwest 's culture. Southwest Airline uses many motivational strategies to keep its employees motivated. From the benefits, free airfare, profit sharing, to the job design and leadership styles, Southwest is a company almost anyone would be willing to work for.
Southwest Airlines - Company Motivation Profile There are many successful, leading edge corporations in the world. Some of them are Federal Express, Microsoft, and the Disney Corporation; however, none of these corporations compare to Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines is one of the most desired employers. "In 2003 alone, Southwest received more than 202,000 resumes of which only 908 were selected for employment" (Ivie, n.d., para. 7). One of the reasons that Southwest Airlines attracts so many potential employees is because of the benefits it offers. The benefits are not just monetary in nature, some of the most attractive benefits stem from the way Southwest Airlines treats its employees. The history and background of Southwest Airlines helps explains how the corporate culture of the company came about. The corporate culture remains the way it was first established because of the type of motivational strategies that Southwest Airlines uses to keep its employees motivated.
Background
Southwest Airlines was started in 1967, but at that time, it was under the name Air Southwest. Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, co-founders of Southwest Airlines, decided to form the airline because they wanted to provide a low cost, no frills type of air travel service.



References: Barrett, C. (1988, January). The mission of southwest airlines. Retrieved on July 17, 2005, from Southwest Airlines web site: http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/ mission.html. Davidson, L. (1999, July). The power of personal recognition. Workforce 78(7), 44-47. Retrieved July 20, 2005, from ProQuest database. Freiberg, K. and Freiberg, J. (1997). Nuts! Southwest Airlines ' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success. New York: Broadway Books. Heard and overheard from Southwest Airlines ' Leaders. Retrieved July 19, 2005, from Southwest Airlines web site: http://www.swamedia.com/swamedia/speeches/ 040921_overhead.html. Hill, C. and Jones, G. (2005). Just plane fun. Retrieved on July 17, 2005, from www. http://college.hmco.com. Ivie, J. (n.d.). Southwest Airlines – like no other. Retrieved June 24, 2005, from Grab Airline Tickets web site: http://www.grabairlinetickets.com/southwest-airlines.html. Leavenworth, S. (n.d.). Southwest Airlines Co. Retrieved July 18, 2005, from Institute for Virtual Enterprise Web site: http://www.ive.cuny.edu/downloads/ Southwest%20Airlines%20Co.pdf. Southwest Airlines (n.d.). The Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved June 24, 2005, from TSHA Online web site: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ articles/SS/eps1.html. Southwest Airlines Co. 2004 annual report (2004). Retrieved from Southwest Airlines web site: http://www.southwest.com/investor_relations/swaar04.pdf Southwest Airlines fact sheet (n.d.) Southwest Airlines, simply good business (n.d). Retrieved July 18, 2005, from http://student.vwc.edu/~ldellis/Southwest%20Paper1.htm. Star of the month (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2005, from Southwest Airlines Web site: http://southwest.com/careers/stars/stars.html Suarez, R Tripp, T. (n.d.). Best practices case study: Best perks, southwest airlines. Retrieved June 27, 2005, from Vault web site: http://www.vault.com/nr/ newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=400&article_id=19258&cat_id=1261. Webb, R. L. (2003). Leadership trends. Retrieved on June 27, 2005, from Motivation Tools web site: http://www.motivation-tools.com/workplace/ leadership_trends.htm

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