Case 23 Walmart

Students certainly ought to be able to point to a number of features that characterize and define Southwest's corporate culture. The "spirit of Southwest" has a number of important elements:

? A fun atmosphere and work environment—Fun at Southwest was exactly what the word implies and it occurred throughout the company in the form of the generally entertaining behavior of employees in performing their jobs, the ongoing pranks and jokes, and frequent company-sponsored parties and celebrations.

? A pep rally atmosphere and "can do" attitude—this is a company where people willingly pitch it to make things happen, to solve problems, to overcome adversity, and to celebrate the company's successes.

? LUV—evidence of the Golden Rule and a caring, supportive environment abounds in many places. The company has done a superb job with using LUV (and all that this means at Southwest) to create a strategy supportive culture and to nurture achievement of the company's customer satisfaction objectives.

? The culture is combative and feisty and a "warrior mentality" prevails—a carryover from the company's battle to survive in its early years and something that is reflected in its ads.

? A cost-conscious and thrifty approach to operating—both management and employees are attentive