Organisational culture is the norms, values, beliefs and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organisation. The aim of this essay is to evaluate whether or not a strong organisational culture must have customer service at its heart.
One point which suggest a strong organisational culture perhaps must have customer service at its heart because, customer service can help a business differentiate (porter) from competitors in a very intense (porter) climate. As with Southwest, who are known for their culture of ‘goofiness’ and putting their employee and customers first, allows their staff to feel empowered so are able to create a customer service experience that is unique. For example, some staff rap, others tell jokes in attempt to entertain customers, this helps create a unique culture which helps Southwest achieve high levels of customer service, which is a critical success factor in the airline industry as Southwest deliver a service, so it is vital for Southwest to deliver good customer service as it could lead to repeat sales which would positively result in their performance, but Southwest’s culture allows them to deliver outstanding customer service. As the culture of Southwest has influenced staff to effectively execute stage 4 of the marketing plan, implementing the strategy, as staff are motivated to achieve the target of being the lowest cost carrier in the market, which has resulted in Southwest being profitable since they started trading in 1971, never made a loss. Which highlights that a strong organisational culture must have customer service at its heart, as Southwest are the only airline making a profit, yet they operate in the same 1* market as their competitors but why they are profitable is mainly due to their culture which is unique and cannot be copied, so allows Southwest to differentiate from competitors. As a business can duplicate the strategy of another business, but they key issue that...