Executive summary
The purpose of this work consists in evaluation of the impact of four primary organizational components on effective realization of Southwest Airlines’ mission and strategy. Organizational design supports the mission and strategy by enhancing the decision-making process and helping create a special atmosphere that motivates workers to perform better. Control systems of a company allow it to change in accordance with the current market conjuncture. Hence, plans can be altered upon necessity in order to implement strategic decisions. Employees share the company’s mission and core values. Their professionalism and dedication allows Southwest Airlines to maintain its leading position on the market. The fourth component, which is the culture of a company, is the uniting force for other components. It is the most critical of all the factors. The primary recommendations in the given context concern, firstly, refinement of the mission statement and strategy, and, secondly, strengthening of the control function and development of back-up plans for generation of additional revenue.
Strategy Implementation
Effective implementation of a strategy is not possible without certain organizational components supporting it. Organizational structure has to correspond to the company’s mission and goals and give all the decision-makers the relevant power. Control is important for implementation of decisions and modulation of their positive outcome. Human resources are responsible for an accurate understanding of a mission and its actual realization. Finally, corporate culture either helps create an atmosphere where employees share a common goal or destabilizes the situation. At Southwest Airlines, these elements provide comprehensive support to the company’s mission and strategy.
Evaluation of the Relationship between Organization Components and Strategy
Southwest Airlines’ organizational design complements the company’s mission and strategy. First of all, the former is decentralized and creates an emphasis on informality without loss of focus on the common goals and objectives. As the company’s mission statement highlights such core values as warmth and friendliness, the above-mentioned approach to structure provides tools to create such an atmosphere within the organization. Secondly, individuality is also mentioned in the mission statement of Southwest Airlines. Though the most basic element of organizational structure is a team, rather than an individual worker, individual input is always recognized and appreciated by the management. Thirdly, organizational structure at Southwest Airlines is functional, transparent, not overly complicated (“Southwest Airlines,” 2012). It allows creating favorable pre-conditions for effective decision-making. The latter is critical for implementation of the company’s strategy. It also allows implementing decisions smoothly and maintaining necessary control of the quality of their realization by an employee of any rank. It is important to point out that due to decentralized nature of organizational design of the airline employees are encouraged to participate in the decision-making process. Such an approach is in line with the enterprise’s mission in the part of individual pride. Also, it supports the strategy by fostering creativity and transformation of an individual effort into the best customer service. Unlike other companies that often rely on a few high-ranked employees for …