Southwest Airlines to the Japanese

¶ … Southwest Airlines to the Japanese Work Organization and McDonaldization

Southwest Airlines, the Japanese Work Organization and McDonaldization

Today's buzzword is that of economic crisis, but before the crisis emerged, the buzzword was that of globalization, understood as the force by which certain values transcend boundaries to impact the cultures in other global regions. Probably the field which has been mostly impacted by globalization is the business field, as the economic agents have become able to transcend boundaries and take advantage of the comparative advantage of countries, but also to expand their market shares globally.

In spite of the criticism it raised for its promotion of an unhealthy living style through the consumption of fast food, from the business standpoint, McDonald's remains an icon of success. It has managed to expand its presence to over one hundred countries, in which it operates over 30,000 restaurants and serves over 50 million customers each day (McDonald's Website, 2010).

The aggressive expansion of McDonald's was only possible in light of the globalizing forces, which allowed the company to open more stores abroad. However, given the rapidity with which McDonald's has expended its presence in the global arena, the term globalization was assimilated into a newly coined word of McDonaldization. As a parenthesis, McDonaldization is a particularization of Americanization -- a concept coined to reveal the fact that globalization was generally occurring from the United States which imposed its American values on the rest of the world. The root of the term was constituted by westernization, a concept which implies that the western hemisphere is globalizing the countries of the eastern hemisphere.

The debate over who is more globalizing and who is more globalized continues and is not likely to be settled any time soon. Nevertheless, it is safe to argue that an economic agent who operates in the international arena is likely to be subjected to the influences of both west as well as east. The example of Southwest Airlines is highly relevant in this instance.

Southwest Airlines is an American operator -- in fact, they are the largest airline operator in terms of the number of passengers they carry annually. Southwest Airlines has been increasing its annual profits and it is one of most lucrative businesses globally (Website of the Southwest Airlines). The recipe for success as implemented by the American airline operator is that of proving its customers with low cost opportunities for flight services. In order to be able to provide these services the company has implemented a series of strategies, including:

Limited employee benefits

The payment of the employees not in fixed wages, but based on the trips they complete during one month

The use of a single type of flight vehicle (the Boeing 737), which is easier to upkeep and helps cap the costs

The commencement and end of flights in the secondary airports in the source and destination locations. This also reduces the costs by not forcing the company and the customers to bare the higher costs of collaborating with a first class airport.

Finally, a last strategic endeavor which has been implemented by the firm is that of offering quick and short distance flights. The company does not provide its customers with long distance, direct flights. It does nevertheless provide a wide array of flights to nearby locations. This strategy ensures an increased efficiency, an increased demand as well as helps reduce costs.

The strategic view implemented by Southwest Airlines borrows several elements from both concepts of McDonaldization, as well as Japanese work organization. In terms of the McDonald's strategy, the commonalities refer to the following:

The focus on presenting customers with low retail prices

The focus on creating customer value for a low retail price

The aggressive expansion to various global regions.

Another means in which Southwest Airlines resembles McDonald's is given by the very use of the Ronald McDonald House for charity events. McDonald's has been developing charity actions through sustained donations to the charity houses for nearly four decades now (Website of the Ronald McDonald House Charities). As of 1983, when a Southwest Airlines pilot lost his daughter to leukemia, the airline operator has also been annually donating money to the charity. Additionally, the company also volunteers employees to help in the charity houses (Airline Industry Information, 2005).

These actions of Southwest can be assessed from two distinct angles -- both similar to the angles of assessing the charity decisions of McDonald's. In this order of ideas, the first angle is constituted by the fact that the companies become respectable members of the community. They show their support to community causes and they are socially responsible by giving back to the community and helping those in need. On the other hand, the second angle is constituted by the organizational gains the firms register from the charity actions. In this order of ideas, when they support the community, the firms improve their perceptions and gain more public support. Subsequently, their reputations improve and so do the demands for their products and services. Southwest Airlines for instance issues an annual advertisement in which they reveal their support for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

"During the holiday season each year, Southwest runs a television advertising campaign highlighting its Ronald McDonald House partnership. The original commercial was filmed at the Fort Worth House and features children and families from the Ronald McDonald Houses as well as Southwest Employees, including Southwest President Colleen Barrett" (Airline Industry Information, 2005).

But Southwest Airlines also reveals some features emergent from the Japanese work organization, materialized primarily in the emphasis on operational efficiency and the treatment of the staff members.

a) The emphasis placed on operational efficiency

The Japanese work organization is often praised for its emphasis on operational efficiency. As part of this effort, the economic agents break down their greater tasks in smaller size tasks, which can be completed in a quick and efficient manner. The process is however complex as it requires high levels of planning and scheduling. Southwest Airlines has nevertheless managed to master the system and has created and implemented a program of numerous, short distance and efficient trips to and from numerous global locations.