The Southwest Airlines Way : Using the Power of Relationships to Achieve High Performance

Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 17
PART 1 High Performance Relationships......Page 19
CHAPTER 1 From Love Field to the World’s Most Successful Airline......Page 21
Quality......Page 24
Controlled Growth......Page 25
Demand for Reliable Low-Fare Travel......Page 26
Competitive Threats......Page 27
Success Factors—Leadership, Culture, Strategy, and Coordination......Page 30
Behind These Success Factors—High Performance Relationships......Page 34
The Productivity Disadvantages of Short-Haul Flying......Page 36
Coordination through High Performance Relationships......Page 40
Other Possible Responses to the Same Challenges......Page 41
Summing Up......Page 42
CHAPTER 3 Southwest versus American Airlines......Page 43
Communication......Page 44
Relationships......Page 47
Coordinating through Relationships......Page 53
Southwest versus Continental, American, and United: Relational Coordination Pays Off......Page 56
Findings......Page 57
Improving Both Quality and Efficiency......Page 59
Why Relational Coordination Works: The Power of Collective Identity......Page 60
The Challenge of Coordinating Patient Care......Page 62
Performance Effects of Relational Coordination......Page 64
Findings......Page 65
When Relational Coordination Matters Most for Performance......Page 66
Summing Up......Page 69
PART 2 Ten Southwest Practices for Building High Performance Relationships......Page 71
CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER Lead with Credibility and Caring......Page 74
Leadership at Southwest Airlines......Page 75
Leadership at Continental Airlines......Page 77
Leadership at United Airlines......Page 80
Leadership at American Airlines......Page 81
Southwest’s Leadership Transition......Page 86
Southwest’s Top Management Team......Page 87
Summing Up......Page 90
CHAPTER 6 Invest in Frontline Leadership......Page 91
Supervision at Southwest Airlines......Page 92
Benefits of High Supervisory Staffing Levels......Page 94
Supervision at United Airlines......Page 95
Supervision at American Airlines......Page 97
The Case for Reduced Supervisory Staffing......Page 99
The Case for Increased Supervisory Staffing......Page 100
Summing Up......Page 101
CHAPTER 7 Hire and Train for Relational Competence......Page 103
Hiring and Training at Southwest Airlines......Page 104
Benefits of Hiring for Relational Competence......Page 109
Hiring and Training at United Airlines......Page 110
Hiring and Training at Continental Airlines......Page 113
Hiring and Training at American Airlines......Page 114
Summing Up......Page 117
CHAPTER 8 Use Conflicts to Build Relationships......Page 119
Conflict Resolution at Southwest Airlines......Page 120
Conflict Resolution at United Airlines......Page 123
Conflict Resolution at Continental Airlines......Page 126
Conflict Resolution at American Airlines......Page 127
How Conflict Resolution Evolved at Southwest......Page 128
Summing Up......Page 130
CHAPTER 9 Bridge the Work/ Family Divide......Page 132
Encouraging Employees to Be Themselves at Work......Page 134
Recognizing Personal Pain and Triumph......Page 136
The Culture Committee......Page 137
Giving to the Community......Page 138
Efforts to Bridge the Work/Family Divide......Page 139
Summing Up......Page 140
CHAPTER 10 Create Boundary Spanners......Page 142
Boundary Spanning at Southwest Airlines......Page 144
Benefits of the Boundary Spanner Role......Page 146
Boundary Spanning at Continental Airlines......Page 147
Boundary Spanning at American Airlines......Page 148
Southwest’s Boundary Spanners in Action......Page 150
Summing Up......Page 155
CHAPTER 11 Avoid Finger Pointing—Measure Performance Broadly......Page 157
Performance Measurement at Southwest Airlines......Page 158
Benefits of Cross-Functional Performance Measurement......Page 159
Performance Measurement at United Airlines......Page 160
Performance Measurement at Continental Airlines......Page 162
Performance Measurement at American Airlines......Page 164
Accountability versus Learning......Page 167
A Different Approach to Performance Measurement at Southwest......Page 170
Summing Up......Page 171
CHAPTER 12 Keep Jobs Flexible at the Boundaries......Page 173
Job Flexibility at Southwest Airlines......Page 174
Job Flexibility at Continental Airlines......Page 176
Job Flexibility at United Airlines......Page 178
Job Flexibility at American Airlines......Page 180
Why Flexible Boundaries Are So Uncommon......Page 181
Summing Up......Page 182
CHAPTER 13 Make Unions Your Partners, Not Adversaries......Page 183
Labor Relations at Southwest Airlines......Page 186
Labor Relations at Continental Airlines......Page 190
Labor Relations at United Airlines......Page 192
Labor Relations at American Airlines......Page 196
Summing Up......Page 199
CHAPTER 14 Build Relationships with Your Suppliers......Page 201
Partnering with Airports......Page 202
Partnering for Security after September 11, 2001......Page 204
Partnership Challenges......Page 205
Partnering with Air Traffic Control......Page 207
Partnering with Aircraft Manufacturers......Page 208
Benefits of Partnering with Your Suppliers......Page 209
Summing Up......Page 211
PART 3 Building High Performance Relationships—And Keeping Them......Page 213
CHAPTER 15 How the Ten Southwest Practices Reinforce (or Undermine) Each Other......Page 215
Lead with Credibility and Caring......Page 217
Hire and Train for Relational Competence......Page 218
Use Conflicts to Build Relationships......Page 219
Bridge the Work/Family Divide......Page 220
Measure Performance Broadly......Page 221
Keep Jobs Flexible at the Boundaries......Page 222
Build Relationships with Your Suppliers......Page 223
Summing Up......Page 224
CHAPTER 16 Learning from Southwest......Page 226
Efforts by Other Airlines to Learn from Southwest......Page 227
American Airlines......Page 229
Continental Lite......Page 233
The United Shuttle......Page 237
JetBlue Airways......Page 240
Summing Up......Page 246
CHAPTER 17 Thriving under Pressure—Southwest’s Response to September 11 and Other Crises......Page 248
Resilience in the Face of Competition......Page 249
Resilience in the Face of Growth......Page 251
US Airways’  Response......Page 254
American Airlines’  Response......Page 257
Continental Airlines’  Response......Page 259
Southwest Airlines’  Response......Page 260
Layoffs as a Response to Crisis......Page 261
The Role of Financial Reserves......Page 262
Summing Up......Page 265
CHAPTER 18 Implementing High Performance Relationships in Your Organization......Page 268
Lead with Credibility and Caring......Page 269
Invest in Frontline Leadership......Page 270
Hire and Train for Relational Competence......Page 271
Use Conflicts to Build Relationships......Page 273
Create Boundary Spanners......Page 274
Measure Performance Broadly......Page 276
Keep Jobs Flexible at the Boundaries......Page 278
Make Unions Your Partners, Not Adversaries......Page 280
Build Relationships with Your Suppliers......Page 281
Maintain Financial Reserves......Page 282
Summing Up......Page 284
Appendixes......Page 285
Endnotes......Page 305
Index......Page 329