Running Head: FINAL CASE ANALYSIS 1

Final Case Analysis

Francisco G. Perez

South Texas College

FINAL CASE ANALYSIS 2

Southwest Airlines has demonstrated to have a path-goal leadership style. Their embrace of

almost family-like relationships in the company, gives SWA staff the inspiration to continue

working with the best character possible. The Path-Goal Theory states that leaders are

responsible of motivating their followers in order to reach a goal (McKee, 2014). This

organizational culture is the reason SWA has been one of the most successful airlines. All

employees are constantly reminded of the importance of leadership through briefings, bulletins,

and many other forms of communication (Nahavandi, 2015).

We hire attitudes; we develop leaders; hire people who match your culture, said Howard

Putnam, former CEO of Southwest Airlines (Howard, 2008). SWA takes pride in its staff,

carefully selecting employees who demonstrate a true passion for helping others. Caring about

others, authenticity, and maybe most important, a sense of humor, are prerequisites for being

successful at Southwest (Nahavandi, 2015). It is important that everyone within the business

communicates this behavior and inspires one another. A Culture Committee was formed in order

to enforce this behavior throughout the company, ensuring that all customers will be greeted and

treated to the set standards.

The Path-Goal Theory is a perfect fit to Southwest Airlines because of the self-inspired

attitudes many employees and leaders carry throughout the company. Often we rely too much

on job descriptions and education when we basically need somebody with a good attitude who

really wants to be a part of the organization (Howard, 2018). Experience and knowledge grow

with time; attitudes on the other hand, are tougher to change. Although you have a very

knowledgeable and skilled employee, he wont be of any use if he has no interest in helping the

customers. This theory states that employees need to motivate themselves further to complete

their jobs (Nahavandi, 2015).

FINAL CASE ANALYSIS 3

Fiedlers Contingency Model, on the other hand, does not match Southwest Airlines

leadership style. This model is based on whether a leader is relationship-oriented or task-

oriented. In my opinion, SWA cannot be categorized under either one of these styles. Colleen

Barrett, former CEO of SWA stated, we are very disciplined about hiring mentoring and

coaching Were a very forgiving company in terms of good honest mistakes, but were not

forgiving about attitude and behavior and demeanor (Nahavandi, 2015). SWA shares traits from

both styles, as can be seen in the previous quote. Employees are expected to complete their tasks

effectively (task-oriented) and with a great attitude (relationship-oriented).

This model also states that the leader must match the situation, or company leadership

style, in order to be effective. This aspect may hold some truth within Southwest Airlines, as the

CEOs are always actively involved in inspiring and engaging the employees. While Colleen

Barrett headed the company, she also had the title of Queen of Hearts for sustaining a culture that

is fun, spirited, zesty, hard-working, and filled with love; The new CEO, Gary Kelly, seems to

be carrying on much of the tradition (Nahavandi, 2015). Where this part of the theory differs

with SWA is that relationships are held just as important as the tasks at hand.

Southwest Airlines also reduced the power distance within the company under the

direction of Howard Putnam (Howard, 2008). By doing so, he was giving lower level employees

the ability to communicate with senior level staff and administrators, furthering their chances to

grow into administrative positions themselves. We would pick a pilot, a flight attendant, a ticket

agent, a sales person, and put them together as a team and tell them figure out whats going

on whatever the problem was, and come back and tell us what we need to do. You quickly got

to see what kinds of thinkers you had on the front line said Putnam (Howard, 2008). With this

quote, we can also associate SWA with the Normative Decision Model.
FINAL CASE ANALYSIS 4

The Normative Decision Model states that participative decision making leads to

employee commitment to their work, naturally leading to the development of new leaders

(Nahavandi, 2015). This chance for growth, I believe, has allowed the Southwest Airlines staff to

stay focused and wanting to delve further into institutional issues. In addition to supportive

culture Southwest is deliberate about developing leaders and leadership (Nahavandi, 2015).

These employees know that there are possibilities to grow within the company, and it drives

them to engage and serve as best as they can.

The Southwest Airlines staff has confidence in the administration of the company and

have gained trust in them. This was possible due to the CEOs understanding that employees

need their space. They need to feel protected and heard. This is why SWA has unions. I believe

you can have unions and have good customer relations and good employee relations. But it has

to start with the CEO and the board of directors. They have to be committed 24/7, and not say

their people are the most important asset without believing it (Howard, 2008). With this mutual

trust, the company has continued to grow and offer the same friendly culture and high quality of

work in which they so strongly believe.

These theories and models explain the overall company culture that forms Southwest

Airlines. As a family like organization, they work together with mutual trust and respect to bring

the best experience to their passengers. The staffs confidence if further encouraged by the

administration and all employees are given the same opportunities for growth and development.

This gave growth opportunities to a lot of people who today are senior vice presidents with the

company, said Putnam (Howard, 2008). SWA relies on a contingency approach to leadership,

building up strong interpersonal communication, relationships, inspiration, and individuality to

reach the companys goals (McKee, 2014).

FINAL CASE ANALYSIS 5

References

Howard Putnam: Leadership in turbulent times. (2008). hfm (Healthcare Financial

Management), 62(12), 42-46.

McKee, A. (2014). Management: a focus on leaders (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Nahavandi, A. (2015). The Art and Science of Leadership (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson Education Inc