Organizational behavior in Southwest Airlines Essay

organizational manner is a to a faultl that each(prenominal) organisation that wants to be successful must use in hostelry to attain its goals and objectives. Organizational behavior interprets all the relationships in an g ein truthwherenment activity and manipulates them in order to attain the organizational objectives. The relationships that be assessed include the relationships between the organization and a person, mess, groups and the society in general. The study goal of organizational behavior is to improve all these relationships so that in the process, the organizational objectives ordure be straind.It is a broad concept that endure be viewed from different dimensions. Organizational behavior has many elements which are dictated by the circumspections betterment to trading operations of an organization. The approach used determines the culture in an organization. elaboration is the means in which an organization carries out its activities, including the c ommunication links, moderateership style, and an early(a)(prenominal)(prenominal) dynamicals which carryers derive their motivation from. The motivation determines the performance and growth of the organization. cardinal modellings are usually used within organizations, and the model used is firm by the management dodging. The first model is the autocratic model and it vests actor with the management, according to Davidson (2003). He says that the employees are required to obey the chain of affirmation and that this approach does not usually yield high performance results. The act model is the custodial model and it is geared towards rewarding the employees according to the performance. This example of approach does not yield optimum performance results as employees sustain with the management passively.The third model, he nurture explains, is the supportive model and this model stresses the need for a leadership structure that supports employees in terms of performance . This approach locomotes the employees to achieve optimal performance. The last model is the collegial model and this emphasizes team run among employees in performance of their duties. It encourages discipline and responsibility consequently achieving admit performance results. It is meaning(a) to note that most organizations use a gang of the models to achieve their goals.Organizational structure sou-west skyship canal was started in 1971 by herbaceous plant Kelleher and Rolling King, according to Harris (2001). The reasoning behind the idea, he says, was that passengers would use an air hose if the skyway reached the destination on time, was reasonably priced and if passengers enjoyed their flights. That idea is what has propelled south-west airlines to be the among the top four largest airlines in the United States. Every year, the airline transports over 60 million passengers across 30 states using over ccc air-crafts (Cohan, 2003).The airline specializes in the br oken-fare transport and it has a model that is so heroic that it is creation emulated by other airlines. The success of southwestward skyway can be attributed to the organizational approaches that are used in the daily operations of the airline. The organization uses certain concepts of organizational behavior that help the management achieve the goal of the airline. One of the concepts that Southwest air duct uses is the organizational structure. This is the nature of relationships on the hierarchical structure of the organization.The organizational structure usually determines how the operations of the airline are carried out. This is because it guides the share-out of responsibilities among the employees according to their ranks. In the Southwest air duct, some wad describe the organizational structure as a pyramid that is inverted. This implies that the the great unwashed that are at the top levels of management go to the bottom levels to motivate the employees. This is a characteristic that is featured in the supportive model. When the managers talk to the people at the lower levels of management and listen to their views, they end up motive their employees.Herb Kelleher, hotshot of the founders of Southwest Airlines is reported to ingest stayed in a bar until the wee hours of the morning so that he could talk to his artisan and hear his views concerning the airline. His leadership style ensures that everyone participates in the fashioning of a decision. This is beta since it ensures that everyone is bound by decisions they make as opposed to decisions being obligate upon them. Kelleher tries to motivate his employees to be open minded and to express themselves freely without constraints such(prenominal) as ranks between themselves.Kelleher is at the forefront of practicing what he believes in and is say to know names of almost all of his employees. This organizational structure is reflected eve in the board where the directors are electe d by shareholders. This enables all stakeholders to have confidence in the running of the airline as they have a right to choose the people who run the airline. The management of Southwest Airlines is very keen to reduce bureaucracy as it is aware of the negative do it has in an organization. This is done through decentralizing responsibilities to the employees.The Southwest airwave organizational structure is in such a way that employees have admission charge to information. The rationale behind it, is that it is important for employees to have unlimited information so that they can make independent decisions, which is vital in a dynamic industry like aviation. This structure also takes care of the call for of the clients. in that location are links available in the airlines website that seeded player up to any complaints and suggestions that the clients may have. There are also avenues where customers hold open garner expressing the same, and the management makes sure all the letters are replied to.In fact, customers write over one thousand letters every week and each letter gets a reply within one month. At times, the document of flights may be changed in order to cater for the needs of normal fliers. Motivation. This is the focus of energy towards the achievement of a certain goal. The motivation of somebody to do something may arise from internal forces such as interests and beliefs or external forces such as danger. There are several things that the management can do to motivate employees. One, the management should align the goals of the organization with the needs of the employees.This means that the nature of jobs that the employees do should be aligned with their beliefs. For example, if the participation conducts its personal matters in a fraudulent manner, the employees are also likely to take out fraud against the company. The company should also reward good behavior since it will motivate the employees to work harder. The rewards ne ed not be big, a thank you note is sufficient. The senior managers should set good examples to their employees by obeying the rules they set so that the employees can also do the same.Another factor that brings motivation to employees is ontogenesis of morale and team spirit. This means that the working environment should be lovable to the employees and they should look forward to going to work. The employees should also identify with the company. Participation is another factor that can increase motivation. This means that the employees participate in the making of decisions and solving of conundrums to ensure that they feel as part of the process and are thus bound by it. Southwest Airline was the first airline in the United States to begin a profit sharing plan, with its employees.It began sharing its profits with its employees in 1974 and has done it since then. In the year 2000, Southwest Airline tallyered its employees $138 million in the profit sharing plan (McConnell, 200 2). This is a major motivation to the employees since they feel appreciated by the airline. This incentive also motivates them to work harder so that the following year they can get higher benefits. also these benefits, there are other incentives and awards, like employee of the month award. However, an unusual way of praising employees is visible in a bill board at Southwest Airlines headquarters in Dallas.The billboard praises the employees of Southwest Airline for making Kellehers dream come true. The corridors are further lined with photographs of parties that employees attended in order to complete the picture. In chance of illnesses or child birth, the employees are given presents by the airline (Cohan, 2003). every(prenominal) this demonstrates to the employees that they are the most important assets of the the company. Southwest Airline goes a stride further and trains over twenty thousand employees every year in its own university.The university teaches the employees va lues of the airline and encourages open minded thinking. Southwest Airline is also very supportive of its employees in terms of encouragement to come up with new ideas or doing the same things, differently. An example is walk a mile in my shoes program where co-workers exchange jobs with their colleagues from different departments for one day in order to experience what the other employees go through. Lastly, the superior motivation from the airline comes from Kelleher.He has a great sense of humor, he has hands on style of leadership and has a vision that inspires employees to work harder to achieve. Some people actually regard Southwest Airline as the most friendly airline in the United States. Power and regime Politics is present in all aspects of society. Politics creates causation and thus an impact that is felt by everyone in the society. It is virtually impossible to disassemble governance from society (Hessian, 2000). Politics is present in educational institutions, in religion and other elements of a social network. Eventually, politics finds its way into the crinkle world.It is important to prevent politics from interfering with the operations of a company as this prevents the company from achieving its goals and could lead to its downfall. There are however incontrovertible aspects that come about as a result of power and politics in an organization. Large companies are able to seal deals, merge with other companies, borrow the smaller companies and so on. Others are the economies of scale, that include the ability to acquire loans from banks, discounts from suppliers due to buying in bulk and the goodwill that attracts customers to the company as a result of being a brand name.Southwest is a very big airline, and the fact that it is among the four largest airlines in the United States guarantees that it is powerful. Its strategy to cater for low cost customers has seen it grow and own over trey hundred air-crafts, all Boeing models. The po wer means that the airline is susceptible to political interference. This is something that the board should guard against. Unfortunately, there have been a a few(prenominal) weaknesses in the airline as a result of power and politics. Southwest Airline offers coach seats and it does not offer in-flight meals, it just offers snacks.This is as a result of the growth that it has experienced due to investment in the low cost model. Unfortunately, other airlines have imitated the model due to its popularity. This is unfortunate since in the near future, the model will have become so unwashed that passengers will no longer associate it with Southwest Airline. Another problem associated with the lack of in flight meals is that other airlines are taking near advantage of it when advertising since that is the only area that they are superior to Southwest Airline.Either due to power or politics, the airline does not pay off attention to these perceived minute, but major details that may lead to its downfall. According to Brown (2001), regulators allowed Southwest Airline to violate safety regulations, on numerous occasions, without facing consequences. This arose because of the power that the airline has that enables it to have a fill relationship with Federal officials. The report by the inspector general revealed that Southwest Airline had violated more regulations than it had been thought.The report also revealed that managers of the Federal Aviation Administration had negligently given the airline a pardon. It finally became outdoors that the airline violates safety regulations repeatedly. Further investigations revealed that the airline has violated at to the lowest degree eight regulations including an error that cost $10 million in all rights. The fine led to some employees facing compulsory leave but that in many peoples opinion, is a case of too little, too late. This cannot be acceptable since flouting such regulations is not only maneuver with the a irlines goodwill that has taken years to build, but it is shimmer with peoples lives.Such negligent acts can be attributed to power and politics and should be avoided at all costs. The airline has also confront numerous lawsuits ranging from accusations of failure to inspect the plane before take off to negligently allowing a crash landing, in Illinois in 2005 which led to fatalities. It is important to note that before passengers choose an airline, they check the safety record. This is the reason that passenger traffic reduced after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In light of this, disregardless of whether the airline is a major player or not, it will overleap its customers if these kinds of allegations continue being reported.That will be the downfall of an airline whose genius took years to build. The airline should be very wary when dealing with the lives of its passengers and should not take its power and support for granted. Conclusion. Southwest Airline has been transform ed from being a simple idea to being one of the top players in the aviation industry. It has become evident that for an airline to succeed, it should target a proper(postnominal) class of customers and that it should take the welfare of its employees very seriously.Some of the best ways of motivating employees are inexpensive, a pat on the back can do a lot in raising the self obedience of an employee in an organization. Motivating the employees will help them achieve their potential. Bureaucracy should be eliminated to ensure free flow of information. Managers should work with the lower cadre employees in order to make them feel appreciated. Lastly, politics and power should be regulate to prevent interference with the workings of organizations. Southwest Aviation should correct the few weaknesses that it experiences and it will hopefully become the biggest airline in the United States in future.