Southwest Airlines: A SWOT Analysis Case Study by scribbler
Southwest Airlines: A SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis of Southwest Airlines.
# 152958
| 839 words
| 5 sources
| APA
| 2013
| 
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Description:
The paper reviews the history of Southwest Airlines and looks at the organization's mission statement. The paper then identifies the two main strengths and two main weaknesses of the company and discusses them in detail. Finally, the paper addresses two opportunities and two significant threats facing this airline.
Outline:
Organization History, Including a Mission Statement
Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses
Organizational Opportunities and Threats
Outline:
Organization History, Including a Mission Statement
Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses
Organizational Opportunities and Threats
From the Paper:
"The firms' operating strategy that seeks to standardize logistics, service and support of its flight operations and jet aircraft is the company's greatest strength and distinctive competence. There are many examples of this strength evident in the company's financial statements and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. One of the most significant has been the mean-time-to-repair (MTTR) a Boeing 737 in the Southwest fleet, which is 60% less competitors (Kumar, Johnson, Lai, 2009)."A second greatest strength and distinctive competence the company has is the ability to hedge on oil futures with exceptional accuracy and skill (Carter, Rogers, Simkins, 2006). While its competitors on average hedge oil at 20 - 30%, Southwest hedges oil at 80% or higher, a tremendous risk on earnings yet one that given their unique strategy in this space, has turned an exceptional cost savings (Kumar, Johnson, Lai, 2009). This strategy is credited with keeping the company profitable in the midst of the 2007 - 2009 recessions, the most severe to hit the airline industry in its history (Lu, Chen, 2010).
"The company's greatest weakness is the exceptionally heavy dependence on passenger revenues alone in its business model. Southwest continues to seek new avenues for growth including freight forwarding, express package shipping and logistics services yet none of these services have yet to gain significant market share in the industries Southwest is targeting."
Sample of Sources Used:
- Christopher P Ball. (2007). Rethinking Hub versus Point-to-Point Competition: A Simple Circular Airline Model. The Journal of Business and Economic Studies, 13(1), 73-87,116.
- (Carter, Rogers, Simkins, 2006)David A Carter, Daniel A Rogers, & Betty J Simkins. (2006). Does Hedging Affect Firm Value? Evidence from the US Airline Industry. Financial Management, 35(1), 53-86.
- D'Aurizio, P.. (2008). Southwest Airlines: Lessons in Loyalty. Nursing Economics, 26(6), 389-92.
- Sameer Kumar, Kevin L. Johnson, & Steven T. Lai. (2009). Performance improvement possibilities within the US airline industry. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 58(7), 694-717.
- Lu, J., & Chen, C.. (2010). Effect of oil price risk on systematic risk from transportation services industry evidence. The Service Industries Journal, 30(11), 1853.
Cite this Case Study:
APA Format
Southwest Airlines: A SWOT Analysis (2013, May 01)
Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/case-study/southwest-airlines-a-swot-analysis-152958/
MLA Format
"Southwest Airlines: A SWOT Analysis" 01 May 2013.
Web. 29 March. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/case-study/southwest-airlines-a-swot-analysis-152958/>