OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the symbolic frame
2. Apply the symbolic frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

Southwest Airlines is one of the four major United States airlines and the world largest
low-cost carrier with headquarter in Dallas, TX. My role in the organization is external.
The airlines industry has been reporting a steady growth over the last decade, but the
COVID-19 pandemic changed the entire game causing a huge impact on airline industry.
Southwest business model contributed to its success during the pandemic and they were
able to turn in a profit faster than other legacy airlines. While everyone else relies heavily
on fees to turn in a profit, Southwest was able to come back faster from the damage
caused by the pandemic and they were able to generate a better profit sooner. In addition
to that, international travel was uncertain during 2020, but Southwest which specializes in
domestic flights was able to focus on their loyal customers (Cournoyer, 2021).

2) Describe how the symbols of the organization influenced the situation.

For years, Southwest has branded itself as an airline with heart. A heart logo is
prominently displayed on the belly of the plane and mounted on the bulkhead inside. It’s
stock ticker symbol LUV which is a reference to its home airport at Dalla’s Love Field.
There are legendary stories of flight attendants going out of their way to make customers
smile through humourous public address announcements. Equally important is the
monthly column in the inflight magazine where customers have written compliments to
sing the praises of employees who went above and beyond to take care of elderly family
members, reunited lost children’s toyrs, or drove a passenger home. Southwest has some
significant symbols that feed into the myth of how the airline is like a family that loves its
customers. Myths are collective dreams that explain what the airline is about and in this
case make it a beloved brand. (Bolman, 2017). In fact this family feeling is something
that starts with the company taking care of its employees. CEO Gary Kelly is treated like
a cultural hero and his words of wisdom are oft repeated in company literature. He
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 frequently brags about how the company has never had to lay any employee off.
(Stevenson, 2016). That helps to create a family feeling that is permeated throughout the
company.

Southwest drew on these symbols during the COVID economic crisis. They tapped that
family feeling to get a whopping 25% of employees to commit to early retirement,
voluntary separation, or unpaid furloughs in order to save the company. They also tapped
the scrappy warrior spirit that the company originated with in order to fight through the
recovery. The company has a legendary startup story during which they had to fight a 3
year lawsuit from the legacy carriers plus a restrictive federal law that restricted interstate
flights, in order to even get off the ground. (Bolman, 2017). This sort of scrappy spirit
story was deployed as the airline fought to return to profitability.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

“The essence of a visionary company comes in the translation of its core ideology and its
own unique drive for progress in the very fabric of the organization.” (Bolman, 2017). In
Southwest’s case, their ideology is centered in being a low fare airline. And they very
effectively sell that in their marketing with an emphasis on low fares, bags flying free,
and no change fees. In fact they give up hundreds of millions of dollars every year by
refusing checked bag fees that give other airlines significant profits. Ideology like this
makes for very loyal customers. As an alternative course of action during the COVID
crisis, there was a good year where planes were generally flying pretty empty. At the
sametime, there were many customers who had to tighten their economic belts. One of
the things that Southwest could have done is leaned into their low cost symbolism to spur
travel demand sooner. Emphasizing the low fares and no bag fees goes a long way in
customer choice. Similarly at a time when customers are wary of losing money on a flight
if the pandemic conditions change, then Southwest has an advantage with their no change
fees. This symbol is a competitive advantage that that would have been an effective
marketing tool.

Another alternative symbol that could have been deployed would have been the use of
LUV to offer free flights to healthcare workers as a public thank you. That would be
communicating who the brand is, which is an airline full of love and caring people.
Similarly, the company could have extended more love to the employees who worked
during the 3 meltdowns the company had in 2021 by sharing stories of how their
employees worked heroic shifts over those days as they tried to get stranded passengers
to their destinations. Praising employees as warrior heroes like this goes toward
maintaining solidarity.

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 4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

I think that Southwest is hitting all of the right notes in terms of employing symbolism to
reinforce the company’s position with employees and customers. They effectively
conveyed that they treat their employees like family by offering generous severance
packages. Their CEO is a cultural hero who struck the right balance of empathy and
treating employees and customers like human beings during difficult situations. The heart
symbol is on the outside and inside the plane and both customers and employees are
frequently reminded about the joy and caring attitude that make the airline successful.

An aspect of Southwest that endures is their legendary scrappiness. Their story of being
an upstart airline that had to fight all the way to the Texas Supreme Court for the right to
fly is oft told. That warrior attitude got them through their initial years where irreverent
promotions such as flight attendants in shorts and alcohol with business fares helped
create a culture where employees are willing to go the extra mile to help the company try
to survive the pandemic. “Rules, either in policy manuals or on signs, can be intimidating. But
the morals in stories are invariably inviting, fun, and inspiring. Through storytelling our people
can know very clearly what the company believes in and what needs to be done.” (Bolman,
2017). The moral of the story is that Southwest is still a scrappy little airline with a can do
attitude that even though it is now the leading airline in the U.S. Southwest is effectively using
symobols to transmit their values and I would keep doing the same things that they are doing.

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 Reference or References
Bolman, Lee G. “Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership” July 24, 2017.
Jossey-Bass

Cournoyer, A. (Ed.). “Southwest airlines: The low-cost strategy prevails through the pandemic.”
(2021, August 20). Seeking Alpha. Retrieved October 17, 2021, from
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4450791-southwest-airlines-the-low-cost-strategy-prevails-
through-the-pandemic

Stevenson, Abigail. “Southwest CEO shares the secret to why they’ve never had to layoff a
single employee, or cut pay.” December 7, 2016. CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/07/southwest-ceo-shares-the-secret-to-why-theyve-never-had-to-
layoff-a-single-employee-or-cut-pay.html