Axia College Mgt 245 Southwest Airlines

All You Need Is Luv: Southwest Airlines OB Concepts {text:bookmark-end}

Angela D
Axia College of the University of Phoenix
MGT 245
Julius Berry
February 8, 2009

Introduction
As presented in the Encyclopedia of Leadership, leaders of successful organizations are egoists (Locke, 2004). However, contrary to this terms’ sometimes bad rap, Kelleher’s rational egoism, according to Locke, finds its roots in the trinity of: morality, virtue, and leadership (Locke, 2004). A slightly different spin on the airline’s leadership success argues altruism, rather than egotism is what drives Kelleher, and therefore the organization and its people at SWA (Quick, 1992). Perhaps these two experts on organizational theory are talking semanticists based upon how each describes the feeding of a healthy ego by its need for altruistic nourishment (Locke, 2004; Quick, 1992).
    By adhering to the continual development of Kelleher’s highly successful luv-based organizational culture, everyone doing business with or on behalf of SWA could expect to fall in luv with the organization, its people, its on-time service record, its discount pricing, and its charitable generosity (Quick, 1992; Singh, 2002; Smith, 2004). How has the SWA organizational culture thrived on luv as its primary focus when humans often proclaim love is fragile, fleeting, and fickle? SWA’s success with infusing Kelleher’s version of loyal and lasting luv is a self evident and organizational wide truth. This student researcher believes a parallel can be drawn between SWA’s organizational culture and three famous tenants first presented by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address. SWA’s organizational luv-culture successes are representative of Herb Kelleher’s philosophies. Therefore, this research paper attempts to answer a single question. Can an organizational culture modeled on its luv of people, by luving people, for the people being luvingly served survive as well as thrive?

Methodology...