Servicemarketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Servicemarketing - Case Study Example It is one of the most profitable and successful airlines in the world. It is known as an unusual company because it does not operate in the same way as all the other airline companies. Southwest Airlines, Inc. is a low fare airline based in Dallas, Texas. It is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically for any one year. Southwest Airlines carried more customers than any other U.S. airline in August 2006, marking it the first time that Southwest Airlines topped the monthly list for combined domestic and international passengers. Southwest Airlines is one of the industry's most profitable airlines and in January 2007, posted a profit for the 34th consecutive year. Its reputation of having low prices and a fun filled atmosphere has made it an icon of pop culture. In May 1988, it was the first airline to win the coveted Triple Crown for a month - Best On-time Record, Best Baggage Handling, and Fewest Customer Complaints. Since then it has won the award thirty one times, as well as five annual Triple Crowns for 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996. In 1967, Southwest Airlines was a vision by an investment advisor Rollin King and his lawyer Herb Kelleher, they wanted to start a different kind of airline. Rollin King already had a small charter that ran between the smaller Texas cities. They began with one simple notion, If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make certain that they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline. This new airline at first was to fly between the three largest cities in Texas, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Because of the fact that, U.S government was imposing very strict regulations regarding commercial airlines by regulating airline route entry and exit, passenger fares, mergers and acquisitions, and airline rates of return, the primary idea was to focus on a single state area (avoiding governments interfering) and to a substitute market (local) where major operators weren't giving the proper attention.T he next year in 1968 the Texas Aeronautical Commission approved their planes to fly between the three major cities. In early 1971, Air Southwest changed its name to Southwest Airlines, and the first flight was on June 18, 1971. Its first flights were from Love Field in Dallas to Houston and San Antonio. It offered short hops with no-frills service and a simple fare structure, features that became the basis for Southwest's popularity and rapid growth in the coming years. In the next couple of years the company went off to a flying start and by the next couple of years it had acquired four planes and employed about 200 people. In the first year of operation the company lost over $3.7 million dollars. It wasn't until the next year and a half that it was able to turn a profit and ever since then has been doing tremendous. By 1978, Southwest was the most profitable airline in the industry, and had already carried its 5 millionth passenger. The stock for Southwest was listed in the New York Stock Exchange as "LUV."Herb Kelleher, in 1982 took over as President, CEO, and Chairman of the board. He was well respected in his position focusing on employee and customer satisfaction. By 1996 the market had added Florida and California to expand in their services. By the year 1999, in the

DIscussion questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DIscussion questions - Assignment Example Getting paid more than your fellow employees gives you a psychological advantage and one is made to believe that is getting treated special. But keeping in mind the tasks I had to deliver and the number of hours I was forced to work in order to meet deadlines never gave me personal satisfaction. I had friends in others companies in the same industry and they were getting paid almost as much as me but there was one major difference. The difference was that they were only responsible for accounts related work. They had a separate tax department that handled tax related works and had a storage supervisor who was responsible for checking and maintaining the stock level. So that meant I was doing task of three people all alone. Although the level of pay made things look reasonable, the level of commitment, focus and hard work always made me feel that I was being over worked and the incentive giving me was comparatively less. This feeling and heavy schedule went on forcing me to resign fro m work and opting for a different place. Technology has really made it easier for us to gather information on compensation; explore the Glassdoor website at http://www.glassdoor.com Click on the Companies and Reviews, then Best Places to Work feature and check out some of the company reviews and salary information, remembering that this is unsubstantiated, anonymous information. What did you find on this site? How useful do you think it is? The website contains a vast number of things related both, to the companies and the employees. The overview of the company is given along with a list of salaries being taken by employees at different positions. The average salary and the range of salaries for each department/position are given. This gives a fair idea of what starting pay should one expect and as time goes on how much raise in pay scale should be expected while staying at the company. A percentage of number successful, unsuccessful and waiting list (neutral) candidates are also gi ven. A prospective employee may analyze his chances of getting through in the interviews. Reviews of employees is also an important aspect, as one may get to know how well a company is treating its employees and understand whether he/she can adjust to such an environment. The number of jobs and positions available along with the job description helps one to assess whether to apply for the job or not. The thing that I found most useful was the information and split in categories of how people manage to get an interview. Most prospective employees don’t know how to apply and what is the best mode of applying. Some may simply use the online portal while others may try getting a referral in a company before they even apply. They may be some individuals who go straight up to recruiting agencies and ask for their help and guidance. By analysing the information on people actually getting an interview, the possibility of managing to get an interview becomes much higher. Using Table 1 2.1, which two programs for recognizing employee contributions do you feel are most worthwhile from an employee motivation standpoint and why? Table 12.1 Employee Motivation Merit Pay Incentive Pay Profit Sharing Owner-Ship Gain Sharing Skill-Based Design features Payment method Changes base pay Bonus Bonus Equity Bonus Change in base pay when skill Frequency at payout Annually Weekly Semiannually or annually When stock sold Monthly or quarterly When skill or competency Performance measures Supervisor’