Westjet case study corporate culture

Kanwal 1

Shahina Kanwal

Qiumei “Jane” Xu

Management 370, sec 6

15 February 2015

WestJet Case Analysis

This report is on WestJet Airlines LTD. It will tell you about WestJet Airline strengths and weaknesses and its long-term strategy. Moreover, a critical analysis is given that will help you to understand .WestJet and its competitor’s position in the airline market by highlighting some important factors. And in the end, some alternatives and solution with the best of alternatives will be provided. Comment by Fac-Staff: You need to identify a major issue before you start your analysis and give your recommendation.

West Jet airline is an airline that is based in Canada and it has been the best airline ever. West Jet airline is the most preferable airline in Canada due the good services offered to their customers. This airline has been able to maintain the low fare prices and pleasant services. West Jet airline has always been successful due to the diverse culture they uphold. This airline offers low fare prices and incredible services to their customers compared to other airlines (Robert, 2003). The employees of this company are able to enjoy the peace of mind at work since all the employees are treated equal regardless of their race religion and professional qualifications. In this organization, the employees are respected in the same manner regardless of their titles. West Jet airline believes so much in teamwork, this is why employees of this organization can sometimes work outside of their job depiction in order to make sure everything runs smoother in the organization. The employees of this company are always concerned with the prosperity of the company.

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No doubt that WestJet Airline is one of the best airlines, but as we know nothing is perfect. A WestJet airline also has some imperfections. The problem in the case of west Jet is the plan they have to expand this company, which may hinder them to maintain their culture. The expansion of west Jet will force the hiring of new employees in the company to fill the vacancies that would be created. This step of hiring new employees may lead to ruining the company’s culture that is believed to have been built over the years that the company has been insistence. This could be proven the moment Beddoe hired Steve smith to take his position as the CEO of west Jet (Hildreth, 2003). Smith took over in the 1999 and he suddenly resigned from his job in the late 2000. West Jet believes that his sudden resignation was because he did not fit in with the cultures of west Jet. After smith resignation, Beddoe had to take over his CEO position. Comment by Fac-Staff: Elaborate beofre you give examples.

The time people feel uncomfortable in the work environment or in a situation, it becomes difficult for them to perform. The culture has always been the strength of the west Jet but it has also been a weakness because new employees can feel uncomfortable with it. The best way to deal with the problem of hire and retaining the employees is by hiring them and training them extensively. The training will be beneficial to both the employees and the employer. The employees will get to understand the company better and they will understand what is expected of them the moment they start working in that organization. The CEO of west Jet airline should be able to implement all the necessary steps that should lead to prosperity of the organization since people believe in him. Everything necessary should be tackled in the training session (Bercuson, 2000). The west Jet airline should be able to continue hiring people with enthusiasm and sense of humor that the organization is looking for. This can also affect the customer service, which can lead to giving way to their competitors. This can also affect the customer service, which can lead to giving way to their competitors. Comment by Fac-Staff: Focus on analysis before you state your recommendation. Comment by Fac-Staff: What is the focus on hiring and training? Comment by Fac-Staff: See above comment.

When an organization grow rapidly as the west Jet airline is planning, the new employees in the organization do not get enough time to adjust to the new culture. The west Jet airline will obviously need some staffs in the management and the management positions needs individuals with experience to make things easy and smooth to the organization. The west Jet airline is facing a big problem since they like hiring inexperienced individuals because their culture is new and they believe to train their stuffs. The only way to deal with this problem will be opening few branches at a time to deal with few new employees to avoid losing their culture (Robert, 2003). Expanding the organization by opening so many new branches do not mean that the organization will make lots of profit that way people in the business are always advised to commit themselves to what they can handle.

In this WestJet case there are three alternatives:

· Expansion by keeping their culture: I think WestJet Airlines should expand their airlines by providing its travelers international air services. But they make sure that they keep working with same long-term strategy. Comment by Fac-Staff: How??

· Facilitating passengers: By providing them with healthy snacks or food during their flight and by providing them with comforted seats and friendly staff. Comment by Fac-Staff: Does this relate to the problem you mentioned?

· Technology: By introducing different mobile apps and provide its customers with the latest technology on plane. Comment by Fac-Staff: See above comments.

The best ways to prevent all this from happening is by keeping the company small and stop from expansion plans. By stopping expansion plans, the west Jet will not have problem of worrying about losing its culture or even the hustle of hiring new staffs in the company. If the company stops from expanding, the company may continue making the usual profits or even less depending with the economy statues. The other alternative they have may be hiring the experienced individuals but they should shadow the company for some weeks to see if they are fit and if they can handle the company’s cultures. The person who does not fit in will chose to leave while the fitting ones will be profitable to the company by helping the company to prosper. The problem with the second alternative is that the two weeks may end up being the total wastes of time to the company, which may cause a lot of money, lose if the individuals do not fit in to the company. The last alternative is hiring new people and taking them through training before beginning. During training will be give cases to see how they solve problems on their own. The cases will be all about working with customers and the fellow employees. The cases will not be based on writing but acting to observe their reaction. The problem is that they may act nicely in training because they know some observations are being taken and act very differently when working.

The best alternative among the three alternatives is the one to hire new staffs in the company then put them under extensive training. The reason as to why I prefer this one is because the new people will not be stuck in their way from the previous employment. If the new staffs are new to the business, they will accept the culture willingly. The training will give them time to feel how the company is like, and if an individual does not feel comfortable, they can leave even before they start working (Hildreth, 2003). If they like it they will have known what to do once, they start working in that company.

The current CEO, Beddoe should be able to implement this because people already believe in him. He should also involve the entire employees of the company to make sure they agree. The current employee should make sure everything is covered in the training sessions and they should be the ones to conduct the trainings. The west Jet airline has all the capabilities of continuing being the successful if Beddoe continues making the right decision in the right way. If Beddoe is able to implement extensive training for the new prospective employees to the company, they are able to expand and maintain their success while keeping their culture alive (Bercuson, 2000). This way the company will be able to keep their employees happy and contented being associated with company.

In conclusion, the west Jet airline has all the capabilities of continuing being successful if they continue doing their thing right. By wanting to open many branches at the same time, they will be risking to lose their culture (Hildreth, 2003). If good and extensive training is conducted to the new employees they will continue making their employees happy and meeting their customers’ expectations. This will help the organization to continue being successful. Beddoe will be able to maintain the success of the company if the right decisions are implemented. The customer service will keep being the best if the employees are given the respect they deserve at work. the teamwork quality that is uphold in the west Jet will always the driving force of good performance to this organization. Good treatment from the company to their staffs will keep their employees happy and contented to be associated with company.

References

Hildreth, W. (2003). Case Studies in Public Budgeting and Financial Management, Revised and Expanded. Florida: CRC Press.

Bercuson, K. (2000). Singapore: a Case Study in Rapid Development. Washington: International Monetary Fund.

Robert, K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Singapore: SAGE Publications.