Evaluating And Analyzing Southwest Airlines' Strategy Essay, Orchestrated Ecosystem, And Big Data Analysis.

Strategy Mapping

This paper will evaluate and analyze the Southwest Airlines way of doing things from the bottom to the top. The main idea being to examine and documenting the process for Southwest Airlines. Also discussing the services offered as well as the impacts they have on the execution of the processes. Orchestration effect and the business process compliance monitoring and resolution issues. This is evaluating and analysing their strengths and weaknesses, the cultures, the people, the business processes that are related to human resources.

The report also aims at reviewing all events that are significant and affects human resources, events that synthesizes the concerns of the employee, provision of outcomes, delivering in terms of both qualitative and quantitative, and lastly nationally and globally.

The main idea brought about by strategy mapping of the existing service being offered by Southwest Airlines and the strategy mapping proposed for the better services to be offered. For mapping Southwest Airlines as an existing market, the opportunity or it as an industry one have to understand the value drivers for mapping.

For easy mapping seeking of needs that were over, under and not served. Mapping a new product or service offered against the industry. Most innovation always occurs when products are addressing the needs which are under, over or even unserved. Through identification of the needs which are under, over and unserved innovations will always take place making this to become a “blue ocean”. By innovating we have understood what Southwest Airlines values and contrast and compare what the company thinks is the best and valuable to them.

There is a need hierarchy in coming up with a good strategy map. Needs have to be examined and get the solutions more carefully. To understand more a greater approach which is more fine and addresses the strategy map as it is supposed to be. The approach follows as below:

• Under-met needs
• Over-met needs
• Un-met needs
• Undiscovered needs

Over met needs are needs that provide more solutions or functionalities that are high or more compared to what the customer needs. They provide more Offering than what is expected by the customer hence over meeting. Under met needs are those needs that not fully met by what they are offering currently or solutions they give does not satisfy the customer expectation fully. When both of this instances are situations in Southwest Airlines hence innovation is possible and a must. The following is a strategy map that was suggested by (margbourne, 2015).

 A strategy map identifying the over met and undermet needs in southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines has identified some segments of a certain population that rarely cares about frequent meals, the choices of seats and the meals they take. With this study there is a feeling that Southwest airline industry is more and over-focusing on these issues but many clients don’t care. Also Southwest Airlines identified some needs which were under met that they offered friendly service and with very fast speed but they were not address by the existing Airline industry.

It is good to note not only southwest airlines identified or un-met and undiscovered needs also frequent departures were identified which is amongst the value driver’s southwest airlines delivered. Southwest being built on the “fast turn” frequent departures that the majors are yet to understand about it. Using a strategy map and proposed a solution considering opportunities by innovating an existing market or the airline industry to discover the new opportunities (Mankins_M, 2013). 

Orchestrated Ecosystem Built on Orchestration

There are some actions actually four of them that must be considered when creating a new curve as shown in the diagram above for the proposed mapping:

• Reducing the delivery or giving’s emphasis about a factor
• Raising factors that are well above Southwest Airlines
• Eliminating factors as a team
• Creating new factors that has never been offered.

In the case of southwest Airlines industry, Southwest has to choose to:

• Eliminating seat choices, meals and hubs
• Reducing price.
• Increasing Friendliness and the speed
• Creating many frequent departures.

In Southwest airlines they will be need to build an open service ecosystem which is orchestrated. This ecosystem will also require stewardship that is continuous. For this to be achieved in the right and promising way where it can be understood by the majors and minors Southwest Airlines has re-evaluate its old truths. This is indeed to all almost to all firms as crisis mostly from finance leads to them re-valuating the model of the business they perform.

When the truths which are old and the methods which are proven are seen to not producing what is expected then this will require the Southwest Airlines to look outwards and identify the opportunities which are new and collaborate with partners who are key in ecosystem business.

There are some major five distinct levels that Southwest Airline will have to understand to know this orchestrated ecosystem development progresses. This distinct levels are neither separated nor mutually exclusive. The five levels that need to be understood by Southwest Airlines are as follows.

Level 1: Southwest Airlines should have an experience with the future. In this level the basic is need to recognition in engaging in dialogues which are open with multiple stakeholders and make an agreement on the views of the world and priorities of the future. Major tool for this is scenario building.

Level 2: The second level is Southwest Airlines to set the priorities in to a context understood by the customers and customers who are engaged deeply with these activities which are joint and those that will assist in developing the new offerings. Innovation which are semi-open is a tool that can be applied by southwest Airlines. Resources which are external are always needed in provision of offerings that meets the customer wants fully.

Level 3:  The new offerings representations is done by how the external resources In southwest Airlines are combined with internal resources. A tool such as 3D offering can be applied

Level 4: This level is achieved when Southwest Airlines is able to make new collaborations of settings institutionalized. Southwest Airlines is then orchestrating actively in a collaboration with partners who are in a network that is semi-open. A capability map will be the tool that will be useful in defining the roles and duties.

Level 5: The southwest Airlines after being institutionalized it may ask for many years to have recognition in the market. If this is achieved the ecosystem is represented actively by the Orchestrator who built it, for it to serve itself and its customers in the best possible ways. It is referred to as the level of collaboration.

NB for Southwest Airline to have An orchestrated network they must give in and allow innovations opportunities to take place (Synocus, 2015).

Southwest Airlines of latest has been highlighted to be one of the Airlines that uses big data in delivering services which are excellent to the customers. 

Orchestrated Ecosystem Levels

Southwest Airlines is the one of the low-cost carriers from Dallas and very admired globally. It was established in 1971. Southwest Airlines has employed over 45,000 workers and transports 0ver 100 million passenger per year who travels to over 97 destinations with over 696 Boeing jets. They are known from their excellent services they offer to customers.

This has made them gain a lot of benefits and advantages which are very competitive with usage of their core business data.

In recent updates Southwest Airlines has announced the heading to clouds with a suite that is new with contacts of customers and their workforce optimized with solutions. The big data will be used to provide air safety of the customers. It’s good also to note that the algorithm they apply has the capability to analyse vast large amounts of data by finding anomalies. They do this with the help of NASA.

If Southwest Airlines want to be more innovative then usage of latest technology and technicality have to be applied in all dimensions for the improvement of the organisations by creating services which are better, making customer more satisfied and improving the safety of the Southwest Airline (Rijmenam, 2016).

In 2012 the change was that the merging with AirTran led to continuation of operations as they joined the southwest route map. In February same year both merged airlines received an approval from Federal Aviation Administration for single operating certificate.

In 2013 Southwest Airlines partners International firm known as points and announces that the members can buy, gift and transfer the rapid rewards points to friends & families through the centre created. In November same year use of Portable electronics devices was allowed in the airplane with an airline on-board Wi-Fi (swamedia, 2017). 

Strengths.

• Great climate or the employees culture
• Employees dedication(philips, 2016).
• Employees who are strong following grievances procedures
• Development of training and leadership
• Travelling for free and sharing the price

Weaknesses

• Cultural of the employees should be communicated
• Resolving the history of grievances but not on time

Opportunities

• For positive outcomes communications for labour relations should be increased
• The value of the merged Southwest Airlines and AirTran should be demonstrated to all employees
• Reassuring all Employees of AirTran equal access to all southwest employment opportunities
• Engaging AirTran employees in a timely that is comprehensive with all compensation and concerns especially the one for benefits such as the seniority, vacation, salary etc.

Threats

• Collective bargaining of union of similar nature 

Some of the human resources issues that will be encountered (Maxton.T, 2011)by SouthWest Airlines when extending globally will be as:

• It should be compliant with the international law
• Cultural diversity, Active programs which are affirmative
• Benefits and compensation that promotes work and life balance
• Development and training
• Pensions offered and sharing profit
• Language cultures overcoming and recruiting language barriers
• Understanding the culture with reference to time, negotiations when conflicts arose and agreements in contracts in collective bargaining (Bradley, 2014).

The low-cost or it being not expensive make it compete globally as its size can handle such costs. Quick or the low turn around which will be indicated by the plane type, the little variety available and the uniform process.  The short distance hauls or the point-to-point direct that allows people to board direct planes from origin to destination. Another competitive dimension that southwest airlines will enjoy the travelling between smaller airports which might be more convenient to some airports.

Southwest Airlines make it simple and is very consistent.  Southwest Airline is Multi-tasking employees by training them to fit in everywhere to offer the best services to the customers. The unions that make the Southwest should have good relationships. The employees should be friendly and the Southwest Airlines rewarding programs, hence making it to have a competitor with its unique dimensions in all ways.

Southwest Airlines should give up on some things which include:

• Assigning of seats to passengers travelling to different parts.
• Flights to multitudes of multitudes for those  locations in major airports
• Offering of food and meals while on-board
• The baggage transfer case
• More upgrades
• The variety that are prioritized with different timeline

In SouthWest Airlines never had layoffs,also the point of price.The other approach is the one indicated as the Egalitarian Approach which deals with customers indicating that no customers who are on first class will have employees serving them taking multiple roles. This idea of no multiple roles bring rare cases where people are laid off.

Big Data Analysis

On the simplicity, how decent and how friendly didn’t satisfy all people served or catered by Southwest Airlines, hence this upfront to having no seats assigned.  Another cultural thing to note in SouthWest Airlines is the fun that is enjoyed while On-board as those customers who are involved in selection of employees shows some team orientation, there is mutual care between the passengers on-board and the attendants for the flight and this attendants approaches passengers in a friendly way. The other thing is that the attendant dresses casually.

The issue on team work is another culture that exists in SouthWest Airlines as people may take multiple roles and willing to help one another, hence rarely cases of people laid off. The customer service is not only being external but has been extended to internal. The SouthWest Airlines is work and family working place. SouthWest Airlines is focuses on sharing its goals because supervisors are willing to complete any job assigned.

SouthWest Airlines permits no layoffs. Better relationships among the unions are allowed. The benefit job design that is flexible is created. SouthWest Airlines should foster aircraft that are faster. There should be higher profit that is sufficient and the utilization of the aircraft should be greater.

This brings the term that frequent flyers are more important. The revenues raised from many customers covers the cost of fixation. The other revenue raised from the other number of people who are few is termed as the profit. Every minute used in saving turnaround is roughly equals to ten million dollars of having saved over a year of interest.

There are no much charges incurred while boarding. The cost is low to make this frequent customer happy and satisfied. This may lead to losing of customers if they don’t do that. In the other hand it is against SouthWest Airlines customs as they could lose other customers. Its good to note that customers are always cost sensitive. This will overall delay the process of boarding, making it less efficient in terms of delivering, hence it will create turnaround times which are longer and finally diminishing the competitive advantage in the central.

This is very expensive to all the customer who are frequent and to the SouthWest Airlines as a whole. SouthWest Airlines will lose a lot of revenue as customers will need to buy and also change tickets. This will lead to people developing a behaviour of coming late, which will indeed lead to increment of turnaround, time hence losing more money (Daniel_Chewl, 2017).

References

Bradley, j. (2014). International HR issues. Retrieved from Chron Small business: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/international-hr-issues-61937.htm

Daniel_Chewl. (2017). Southwest case. Retrieved from Operations Management Mid-Term: https://quizlet.com/73388574/operations-management-mid-term-flash-cards/

Mankins_M. (2013). The defining elements . Retrieved from Winning culture harvard business review: https://hbr.org/2013/12/the-definitive-elements-of-a-winning-culture/

margbourne, L. (2015). The concept seeks to map the “average” offerings in the industry on a number of value segments to identify overmet, undermet and unmet needs or requirements.

Maxton.T. (2011). Retrieved from https://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2011/11/southwest-airlines-airtran-pil.html/

philips, S. (2016, Feb 10). Southwest_Airlines_Human_Resource_Management_400_Phillips_Stan. Retrieved from Automotive Mobility Consultant at Mobility Works: https://www.slideshare.net/stanphillips96/southwestairlineshumanresourcemanagement400phillipsstan

Rijmenam, M. v. (2016). global top 10 Big Data influencer. Datafloq.

swamedia. (2017). Southwest Media. Retrieved from https://www.swamedia.com/pages/2011-to-present

Synocus, G. (2015). Building an orchestrated ecosystem. Retrieved aug 30, 2017, from https://www.synocus.com/index.php/ecosystem-orchestration/building-ecosystems.html