Southwest Airlines
Strategic Concepts & Mechanics
Primary Evidence
"Consider the original Apple ad for the Mac that ran during the 1984 Super Bowl—it helped create a cadre of loyalists that have kept the company alive for 20 more years, despite the fact that for years, Apples were slower and more expensive than comparable PCs from Dell, HP, or IBM.96 It is not uncommon to read postings on the Mac Internet forums urging people to buy some accessory or software “to help support Apple.” Similarly, many people drive the 300 mile roundtrip from my home in Atlanta to Birmingham, Alabama, to fly Southwest Airlines, and…"
"One of the things that we do is continue to emphasize that we value our people as people, not just workers. Any event that you have in your life that is celebratory in nature or brings grief, you hear from Southwest Airlines. If you lose a relative, you hear from us. If you’re out sick with a serious illness, you hear from us, and I mean by telephone, by letter, by remembrances from us. If you have a baby, you hear from us. What we’re trying to say to our people is, “Hey, wait a second, we value you as a total person, not just between eight and five.”2 Intelligent"
"John H. Patterson —National Cash Register Simon Marks —Marks & Spencer Sol Price —FedMart & Price Club Les Schwab —Les Schwab Tire Centers Herb Kelleher —Southwest Airlines Chester Cadieux —QuikTrip F. Kenneth Iverson—Nucor 3G partners —Garantia, Lojas Americanas, and Anheuser-Busch InBev"
"What I remember is a story about Thomas Watson. This is what we have followed at Southwest Airlines. A vice president of IBM came in and said, “Mr. Watson, I’ve got a tremendous idea.” (Of course, this was long ago; the original Mr. Watson.) “And I want to set up this little division to work on it. And I need ten million dollars to get it started.” Well, it turned out to be a total failure. And the guy came back to Mr. Watson and he said that this was the original proposal, it cost ten million, and that it was a failure. “Here is my letter of resignation.” Mr. Watson said, “Hell, no! I just spent ten million on your education. I ain’t gonna let you leave.” That is what we do at Southwest Airlines.8"
"Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg, Nuts!: Southwest Airlines ’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success (Austin,"
"the problem with pragmatism is that it rapidly becomes a habit, and short-term gratification – expressed in profits, cash and the praise which goes with them – becomes a drug that drives out long-term customer-related aspirations. It takes a rare visionary – people such as Henry Ford, Ray Kroc of McDonald’s, Ingvar Kamprad of IKEA, and Southwest Airlines’ Herb Kelleher – to insist on rock-bottom prices; or, as with Steve Jobs, fantastic products and a simple, intuitive customer experience. It takes an exceptional person to take on the risk of this approach – the risk of going bust."