Rating: 
Summary: Enormously influential and immdiately useful
Review: After I read a business book I don't store it by subject or author. Instead I put it in one of three sections (four if you count the recycling bin).
The first is for important manuscripts that I'm glad I've read and may go back to someday. The second is for the authors who've surprised me with an idea or phrase earning a page flag or a highlight. And the third is a messy stack (within arms reach) of books with numerous flags, dog-eared corners, notes in the margins and even a news clipping or three.
I consider this third section my decision making "arsenal". I go to there often to get the firepower I need to keep myself or my clients moving in the right direction.
I just added them up. Jody Hoffer Gittell's "The Southwest Airlines Way" has six flags, 29 dog-eared pages, about a hundred paragraph highlights. That's after my first reading (on the plane to New York). Next week I'll go through it again and (I'm sure) add some more. Then I'm confident it will deserve a place along side "The Service Profit Chain", "Maslow on Management", my collection of Mary Parker Follett's writings and 15 or 20 others (it's too messy to be exact) in my decision making arsenal for 2003 and beyond.
I can't give anything five stars so don't hold that against the author (it's all those years of strict Catholic education). But if you are like me, trying to figure out how to create the requisite level of accountability without losing any of the switched on, highly adaptive, problem solving kind of teamwork you see in the best service organizations "The Southwest Airlines Way" will give you great firepower. 4 and one half stars!
Laurence Haughton
author of "It's not the big that eat the small...It's the FAST that eat the slow"
Rating: 
Summary: Boundry Spanner Supervisor
Review: As a 27 year insider@SWA, I had so many note's I had written to myself, different comments on, how how did she(Jody)get that angle. She has a witty and insightful perspective that is well reflected in this easy to read book. If you in the Commerical Aviation business as a LCC or Legacy, want insight into SWA, or just a good business practices (fortune 100)junkie, ya gotta have this one.
Rating:
Summary: Packed with Knowledge!
Review: If you've wondered what's behind Southwest Airlines' uncommon success, wonder no more. Author Jody Hoffer Gittell lays it all out in The Southwest Airlines Way. Gittel, a university professor, explains that at Southwest Airlines, relationship building and collaboration aren't just given lip service - they're a condition of employment. This is an excellent case study of the airline and its competitors, wherein Gittell reveals the characteristics that make Southwest shine, traits other airlines have tried hard to emulate. She makes a compelling case for the power of relationships inside, outside and at all levels of the corporate hierarchy. Meticulously researched and offering abundant industry testimonials, this corporate exploration doesn't feel like yet another marketing book. We think this excellent exposition is just the ticket for corporate leaders who want to know not just how Southwest did it, but how they can do it too.
Rating:
Summary: Great research;super book on facing competitive challenges i
Review: Many business owners often ask the question: How can my business become more successful, more profitable like some specific business they may know of or have read about in a business periodical. There are numerous books published in the "how to" area; Jody Hoffer Gittell's book, The Southwest Airlines Way, is, in my opinion, THE book for any manager in any type of business to not only read but to implement any number of the suggestions made in the book to face competitive challenges faced in their own business. After reading the book I was particularly impressed with the amount of and time spent gathering research for this impressive business book. The author explains very well many practices that Southwest utilizes in it's business that has sustained it's success of 30 years of growth and profitability.
As I read the book, and unlike many books that one reads a few pages at a time, I could hardly wait to turn the page to continue reading about the superior theory of relational coordination as developed by the author. I suppose the author could have chosen some other type of industry and company to research and write about but in a time that many many airlinesare bleeding "red ink", going out of business or filing for bankruptcy, the author writes about perhaps the most successful airline ever in the USA. In the book the author writes: "However, the Southwest model is still not well understood." I can understand why: not enough managers have read this exceptional book! Therefore my conclusion can be stated as: Memo to Managers: If you "Don't Get It"-Get It! -this book. As the Executive Producer and host of the highly acclaimed business tv show, "Business Beat Live" on which Jody Hoffer Gittell was a guest, I have read hundreds of business books and interviewed their authors; in my opinion this book ranks a "10". Read it and you'll see why.
Rating:
Summary: Great research;super book on facing competitive challenges i
Review: Many business owners often ask the question: How can my business become more successful, more profitable like some specific business they may know of or have read about in a business periodical. There are numerous books published in the "how to" area; Jody Hoffer Gittell's book, The Southwest Airlines Way, is, in my opinion, THE book for any manager in any type of business to not only read but to implement any number of the suggestions made in the book to face competitive challenges faced in their own business. After reading the book I was particularly impressed with the amount of and time spent gathering research for this impressive business book. The author explains very well many practices that Southwest utilizes in it's business that has sustained it's success of 30 years of growth and profitability.
As I read the book, and unlike many books that one reads a few pages at a time, I could hardly wait to turn the page to continue reading about the superior theory of relational coordination as developed by the author. I suppose the author could have chosen some other type of industry and company to research and write about but in a time that many many airlinesare bleeding "red ink", going out of business or filing for bankruptcy, the author writes about perhaps the most successful airline ever in the USA. In the book the author writes: "However, the Southwest model is still not well understood." I can understand why: not enough managers have read this exceptional book! Therefore my conclusion can be stated as: Memo to Managers: If you "Don't Get It"-Get It! -this book. As the Executive Producer and host of the highly acclaimed business tv show, "Business Beat Live" on which Jody Hoffer Gittell was a guest, I have read hundreds of business books and interviewed their authors; in my opinion this book ranks a "10". Read it and you'll see why.
Rating:
Summary: Research shows that relationships fuel high performance
Review: Much has been written about the legendary company, Southwest Airlines. As a former insider, I often wondered why other organizations couldn't duplicate Southwest's business model. There really weren't any secrets, but while other airlines and companies tried, few succeeded. In many ways Southwest defies conventional business thinking. Based on extensive research, Jody Hoffer Gittell's The Southwest Way is filled with actual examples of business process at Southwest as compared to other airlines. The reader can easily see how basic practices based on internal values at Southwest, such as, investing in leadership development and people have made such a big difference. In fact, the findings from eight years of research of the airline industry reveal that Southwest's success is due to building high performance relationships with their people, customers, unions, vendors and suppliers, and the public in general. Dr.Gitell includes real-life inspiring stories from insiders, which makes the book a more entertaining read versus your typical analytical reference text written by an academic. But, this is not a touchy feely book based on anecdotes, it is academic and the ideas presented are fact-based. The reader gets a glimpse into day to day practices and people who run the company and work on the frontlines, but also Gittell has compared and contrasted these practices and people to those of competitor airlines and other industries. This is where the reader can easily see why Southwest's basic values have given the airline a significant competitive advantage. And, this is where readers can see Gittel's theoretical premise in action. The Southwest Way is a book that will most certainly appeal to general business audiences, to airline leaders, and to any business person who is engaged in efforts to build a legendary organization and organizational culture. Human resources professionals will identify secrets to creating value in organizations through people practices, leadership development, conflict resolution, work-life balance initiatives, performance management, and building a culture that fosters productivity, innovation and organizational success.
Rating:
Summary: The Southwest Airlines Myth
Review: Professor Hoffer-Gittel demystifies the successful Southwest Airlines business plan and in the process debunks the myth that Southwest's success is attributable to a non-union work force. In fact Southwest Airlines is one of the most highly unionized airlines in the U.S. Southwest is successful, in large part because they recognize the value of good relationships with their customers, their vendors and with their employees. Recommended reading for all managers, in particular airline managers who are seeking some inspiration and a plan to successfully emerge from the current economic crisis in the industry.
Rating:
Summary: The Southwest Way Revealed
Review: Several books and countless articles have been written about Southwest Airlines. They highlight its structure, its culture, its CEO, its low fares and other reasons as to why it is the bright spot in an otherwise dismally performing industry. None, however, have completely captured the real explanation of why Southwest succeeds. In this book, Dr. Gittell has managed to identify and even quantify the powerful formula of Southwest's success. Simply stated, it is the company's ability to achieve high performance relationships by sharing goals and information in a climate of mutual respect. This allows the coordination and communication necessary to attain efficiency and customer service in the complex and multi-functional environment of an airline. Lest this appear too simple or 'soft', Dr. Gittell provides detailed analysis of Southwest's approach. She identifies ten specific practices used by the people of Southwest to achieve their incredibly consistent performance. These practices range from those that might be expected in a successful company such as credibility of leadership, emphasis on hiring and training, and positive relationships with unions and suppliers, to those that are contrary to today's accepted wisdom such as increasing frontline leadership positions and creating human 'boundry-spanners' as opposed to relying on electronic interfaces. The good news is that Dr. Gittell clearly identifies and explains each of these elements in a highly readable way that is also backed with data. The hard part is that these are not quick fixes and that the evidence indicates that most, if not all, of the practices must be adapted/adopted if another organization is to duplicate the success of Southwest. Nevertheless, thanks to the author, the lessons are revealed for all to benefit. I would recommend that the value of this book not be limited to the airline industry. These concepts and practices are applicable to any organization or industry that is striving for quality, efficiency and customer service in a complex, competitive environment.
Rating: 
Summary: Good data poorly developed construct
Review: The book provides a lot of really useful information about Southwest Air. The problem is that the 'relational coordination' construct has no theory. Southwest is successful for lots of reasons from a clearly defined product, well specified work, good structure, a focus on 'set-up' time (which is what Toyota excells at)...all of these are useful specifics. But when the concept/construct of 'relational coordination' is developed all those situational details are stripped away. The result of this are 10 well described but abstracted practices that hold little value in guiding what a firm should do first/next.
Rating:
Summary: Hit The Nail Right On The Head
Review: The professor has provided a true and meaningful explanation of what has made Southwest Airlines THE great American corporation. Every manager should read, digest, set their egos aside and put into practice the people skills described is this book.
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