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ScanFlyer Mile High Club
High-flying WestJet morale put to test
(Source : Globe and Mail, November 25, 2005)
When WestJet staff received their profit-sharing last week, co-founder Donald Bell stayed upbeat about its vibrant corporate culture, one that is being stretched as the airline hits some rough patches. The airline prides itself on its peppy and 'egalitarian' outlook. It has carefully crafted a quirky environment where top executives self-deprecatingly dub themselves Big Shots and no one, not even Bell and CE Clive Beddoe, has an assigned parking spot. But WestJet's highly touted culture has been facing headwinds over the past 20 months, including concerns about its rapid expansion, a slumping stock price and a bitter court battle against Air Canada over WestJet's alleged spying. 'WestJet is at a critical point right now,' said a business professor. 'Indoctrinating and reinforcing the corporate culture is an investment up front, but rapid growth is a threat to WestJet's culture. It's a risk point because the culture may not spread successfully with expansion.'
Full Story: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051125.wxrwestjet25/BNStory/Business/
(Source : Globe and Mail, November 25, 2005)
When WestJet staff received their profit-sharing last week, co-founder Donald Bell stayed upbeat about its vibrant corporate culture, one that is being stretched as the airline hits some rough patches. The airline prides itself on its peppy and 'egalitarian' outlook. It has carefully crafted a quirky environment where top executives self-deprecatingly dub themselves Big Shots and no one, not even Bell and CE Clive Beddoe, has an assigned parking spot. But WestJet's highly touted culture has been facing headwinds over the past 20 months, including concerns about its rapid expansion, a slumping stock price and a bitter court battle against Air Canada over WestJet's alleged spying. 'WestJet is at a critical point right now,' said a business professor. 'Indoctrinating and reinforcing the corporate culture is an investment up front, but rapid growth is a threat to WestJet's culture. It's a risk point because the culture may not spread successfully with expansion.'
Full Story: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051125.wxrwestjet25/BNStory/Business/
