The Similarities and Differences of Cultural Values in Southwest and Airtran

Founded in 1967, Dallas-based Southwest Airline has became the largest domestic American carrier in 2003 and has maintained the ranking ('Company Overview'). On 2011, Southwest merged with AirTran, which has increased the airlines presence in the major cities like New York via LaGuardia airport, and Washington D.C. via Ronald Reagan National Airport as well as in the international market (Pearlson & Saunders, 2013, p. 97). This merger has also given Southwest access to the world’s busiest airport, which used to be a principal hub of AirTran: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Pearlson & Saunders, 2013, p. 97). AirTran’s values “total commitment to safety, technical excellence, continuous learning, fun and profit” (Pearlson & Saunders, 2013, p. 97). Culture is a “shared values and beliefs” of an organization that defines how the organization reacts to various environments (Pearlson & Saunders, 2013, p. 89). Warren Buffet shared a memorandum to Berkshire Hathaway’s managers where he mentioned that the rulebooks of a company do not define how the organization performs but the culture of the organization determines the performance of an organization. ('Full text of Warren Buffett's memorandum', 2006). The culture is a very important part of a company that governs the success and failure of an organization. When a company merges with a different and unique company, their culture and values merge as well.

As the case has mentioned Southwest’s cultural values are “A Warrior Spirit, A Servant’s Heart, A Fun-Luving Attitude” (Pearlson & Saunders, 2013, p. 97). A warrior spirit means Southwest strives to be the best by never giving up and always displaying a sense of urgency. A servant's heart means they follow the Golden Rule, which means treating others with respect and embracing Southwest family. The Fun-LUVing Attitude means to be a passionate team player and always celebrating success ('Culture | Southwest').

Southwest values their customers and maintains very close ties to customers by communicating and treating them as a valued client. Southwest performs well in their baggage handling area, takes customers’ complaints seriously; their on-time performance is better than their competitors (Rhoades, 2006). AirTran is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for customers. The company values their employees equally by providing a fun environment for continuous growth and knowledge. In return, the employees provide incredible customer service. (Pearlson & Saunders, 2013, p. 97). Both Southwest and AirTran value their customers and strive to provide excellent customer services with low-cost fares. Both airlines value their employees by providing an environment to learn and have fun, are obsessive about great customer service and are running a great service.

The merger was finalized in 2011 but Southwest took time to fully integrate AirTran into its system. According to Gary Kelly, the president, chairman, and CEO of Southwest, the integration of AirTran was done gradually and was fully integrated by the end of 2014. (“Southwest retires AirTran brand”, 2015). Southwest and AirTran had significant similarities and some differences in their organizational cultures. The leadership of Southwest recognized these differences, and allowed gradual integration of the two companies, thus avoiding any sudden cultural crash and facilitation a slow structural and cultural integration.

Recommendations

Company mergers can be a difficult time for leadership of the companies, their employees and possibly loyal customers who are habitual of certain style of an organization and values demonstrated by the organization. In addition to financial and structural merger, a merger of company may also mean a merger of two different cultures, leadership styles, and way of doing business. To maintain the success of a business and optimally take advantage of the merger, the leaders and employees of the companies have to be culturally competent, as well as understand, accept and learn from the values and culture of the two organizations. Recognizing and adopting best practices and useful cultures from both companies are crucial to maintain reputation of the organization, satisfy customers and maintain their loyalty, avoid conflicts among various stakeholders, and ensure smooth transition to a new business model. While sudden change in organizational structure and inappropriate handling of cultures differences can jeopardize the merger process, careful analysis of culture similarities and differences in the two companies, display of respect and welcoming attitude to positive culture can have long-term impact on the growth of a business.