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The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The Southwest Airlines One Reporta??


In 2009, Southwest Airlines produced its first integrated annual report, the Southwest Airlines One Report, combing financial and nonfinancial performance information. This case examines Southwest's environmental and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports produced in the two years preceding 2009 and follows the company's decision to transition to a new reporting format. Preparing for the 2010 report, the Southwest reporting team contemplates how to improve the One Report. The case also allows for debate on the future of integrated reporting, including its impact on internal management processes, integrated audits, and mandated nonfinancial reporting.

Authors :: Robert G. Eccles, Beiting Cheng, Susan Thyne

Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tags :: Change management, Financial management, Innovation, International business, Operations management, Social responsibility, Sustainability, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The Southwest Airlines One Reporta??" written by Robert G. Eccles, Beiting Cheng, Susan Thyne includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Southwest Reporting facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Financial management, Innovation, International business, Operations management, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Southwest Airlines One Reporta??


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Southwest Reporting, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Southwest Reporting operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.




SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix


SWOT analysis of The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Southwest Reporting
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Southwest Reporting




Strengths The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Southwest Reporting in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? Harvard Business Review case study are -

Organizational Resilience of Southwest Reporting

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Southwest Reporting does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Southwest Reporting has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry

– The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Southwest Reporting to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Southwest Reporting to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Training and development

– Southwest Reporting has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Southwest Reporting digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Southwest Reporting has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Innovation driven organization

– Southwest Reporting is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Southwest Reporting has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field

– Southwest Reporting is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Southwest Reporting in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Southwest Reporting has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Diverse revenue streams

– Southwest Reporting is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Southwest Reporting has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Southwest Reporting has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Southwest Reporting in the sector have low bargaining power. The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Southwest Reporting to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.






Weaknesses The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? are -

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Southwest Reporting has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Southwest Reporting has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Southwest Reporting is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Southwest Reporting has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta??, in the dynamic environment Southwest Reporting has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Southwest Reporting has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Southwest Reporting, firm in the HBR case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Southwest Reporting 's lucrative customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta??, is just above the industry average. Southwest Reporting needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Southwest Reporting is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Southwest Reporting needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Southwest Reporting to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? HBR case study mentions - Southwest Reporting takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Southwest Reporting has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Southwest Reporting even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.




Opportunities The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? are -

Leveraging digital technologies

– Southwest Reporting can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Southwest Reporting can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Southwest Reporting can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Southwest Reporting can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Southwest Reporting can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Southwest Reporting to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Southwest Reporting to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Southwest Reporting can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Buying journey improvements

– Southwest Reporting can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Southwest Reporting in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Manufacturing automation

– Southwest Reporting can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Southwest Reporting has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Southwest Reporting to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Developing new processes and practices

– Southwest Reporting can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Southwest Reporting can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Southwest Reporting has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Southwest Reporting to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? case study. Southwest Reporting can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.




Threats The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? are -

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Southwest Reporting needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Southwest Reporting with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Southwest Reporting can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Southwest Reporting can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? .

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Southwest Reporting has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Southwest Reporting needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Southwest Reporting will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Southwest Reporting business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Environmental challenges

– Southwest Reporting needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Southwest Reporting can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta??, Southwest Reporting may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Southwest Reporting.

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Southwest Reporting in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? Template, Example


Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of The Southwest Airlines One Reporta?? is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Southwest Reporting needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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