Which personality typology will best fitting to Kelly as per Holland theory, Then Discuss one example of the influence tactics that he might use to influence his subjects
Airlines have faced tough challenges in recent years as rising fuel costs are taking a toll. Discount carriers such as Jet Blue, Air Tran, Spirit, and Southwest, whose strategy is based on low fares, have increased fares, in some cases making them higher than the major airlines’ fares for some routes. As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly has no easy job. When he took over as Southwest’s CEO in 2004, he had huge shoes to fill. Founder and former CEO Herb Kelleher revolutionized the airline industry through his vision of bringing cheaper travel to the masses and by developing a culture where employees thrived.With its strong culture of “employees first, customer focus, and cost containment,” Southwest has continued to prosper under Kelly. The airline began flying in 1971, turned a profit in 1973, and has remained profitable ever since, a feat no other airline has matched.Southwest now flies more passengers in the United States than any other airline.
The Southwest strategy can be expressed simply: Dominate the markets it chooses, keep costs down, fly only one plane--the Boeing 737--to keep parts and maintenance costs low, treat customers like kings, and treat employees even better. Southwest has always had a strong service orientation and traditionally ranks first in customer service rankings, despite the risky nature of the business. Employees rank the company as a very positive place to work. The first airline to start a profit-sharing plan for employees, Southwest focuses on building excellent relations with its workforce, which is more than 80 percent unionized. People at competing airlines have taken pay cuts to work at Southwest.
Kelly lives the culture daily. A flight to his ranch in Austin from headquarters at Love Field, Dallas, with his wife, Carol, is a good example. Kelly greets many employees by name. Gary Kelly is considered conforming, efficient and practical. He sits in the back of the plane and enjoys mingling with passengers, telling them, “I’m just a guy who works in the office.” The former high school star quarterback was an accountant before he became Southwest’s chief financial officer, a position he held for 15 years. As CEO, Kelly has earned the confidence of his workforce who is always willing to achieve the SW goals. Keeping with Southwest’s strategy of being the lowest-cost producer in the industry, Kelly shrewdly locked in fuel-hedging contracts which enabled the airline to pay less than competitors for its fuel. The fuel contracts gave Southwest a competitive advantage for several years, but as they expire, Southwest has faced the rise in fuel costs that hit other airlines years ago. Rising fuel costs coincided with rising labor costs since 9/11. Experiencing lower profits, Southwest decided to make major changes and measure their effects through greater emphasize on performance management and more formal reporting throughout the company. Gary Kelly is always proud of his people who are capable. Those people who are always confident about their careers. Gary Kelly who is a believer in quick feedback on people actions never said Southwest employees—33,000 of them serving 63 U.S. cities—would not have to work hard and make sacrifices. Employees, whose job security and prosperity are tied to the company’s prosperity, have been asked to increase productivity. Heading to Austin with his wife, Gary Kelly looks like just another airline passenger, and it is this everyman quality combined with business acumen and tolerance for risk that may help him navigate Southwest through economic turbulence.
Question
Q.1 Which personality typology will best fitting to Kelly as per Holland theory, Then Discuss one example of the influence tactics that he might use to influence his subjects
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps
