Internal Analysis and SWOT Analysis of Southwest airlines Term Paper

Internal Analysis and SWOT Analysis of Southwest airlines - Term Paper Example Southwest Airline started its operation in 1971 in the United States of America, and their aims have been focused on being different from the other airlines and to provide better services at a lower cost. Southwest airline is a healthier and a more composed airline company in the United States which has gained a large amount of revenues even in the hard times of recession. The weaknesses include the absence of Southwest airline in the international market and the unavailability of the business class seat arrangements. The strengths of the company overpowers its weaknesses therefore, the company is far ahead of its competitors in the competition race. It is recommended to the Board of Directors and the CEO that Southwest Airline has the leading market share in the competition but it cannot solely compete on the basis of low cost but it has to develop some further core competencies in order to compete in the market. The airline firm must always make their employees productive and fuel hedging should be avoided. Introduction: Southwest Airline began its operation in 1971 in the United States of America, and their aims have been focused on being different from the other airlines and to provide better services at a lower cost (Southwest Airline, 2012). This report is a proposal to the Board of Directors and CEO of the Southwest Airline which focuses on the internal analysis of the Southwest Airline. The paper would accomplish the task of analyzing the performance of the company and synthesizing the int ernal analysis with the external analysis of the Southwest Airline. Finally, the paper provides the results and findings about the company’s overall SWOT analysis and provides recommendations to the responsible authorities about Southwest Airlines performance. Strengths Rating Southwest airline is the low-cost carrier operating in the United States 5 The company remains higher ranked airline in terms of customer satisfaction 4 The airline hires the best people, best people for the best job 4 It was the first airline to introduce online ticket 5 Southwest has over 550 Boeing aircrafts which reduces training cost 4 Fuel hedge contract helps in managing the fuel cost effectively 4 Total 26 Weaknesses Rating The absence of Southwest airline in the international market 5 The seating arrangements are not classified for the business class 3 The aircrafts could not carry a large amount of freight 3 The airline tickets are directly available through the internet without intermediary 3 The flexibility in the fare is limited 3 Total 17 Results and Analysis: Southwest airline is a healthier and a more composed airline company in the United States which has gained a large amount of revenues even in the hard times of recession. The airline has innovated many processes as online ticketing and airfreight delivery and has been operating domestically in 42 states but however the company has not achieved its greater heights because of showing resistance in expanding the business internationally. Apart from that, the Southwest airline is considered to be the leading airline in terms of revenues and customer satisfaction (Lauer, 2010). Resource-based view framework: This is a management technique which is used to determine the competitive advantage of a company. In order to achieve success, a company must have operations and resources which should be distinctive from its competitors. In the first step, resources of Southwest airline should be identified in order to understa nd the core competencies of the company (Gittell, 2003). Tangible Resources: Southwest airline consists of 550 Boeing aircrafts which are operated in 97 destinations domestically. The company has a large amount of expert managers and technicians which are considered to be their assets. The company has a total assets worth of $18 Billion (Southwest Airlin