WestJet Airlines Ltd. (WestJet) is a Canadian high-value, low-cost airline company. WestJet was founded by four entrepreneurs, Clive Beddoe, Don Bell, Mark Hill and Tim Morgan, in 1996. They started the business with two cost- effective planes offering travelers low prices from Calgary to Vancouver. However, WestJet continued to grow and surpassed market capitalization of the country’s leading airline company Air Canada in 2001. The founders agree that the key elements of their success are company culture, such as generous profit margin sharing with employees, efficient management resulting in low fare and low cost, employee involvement environment, and executives’ empowerment actions. These all created the excellent performance…show more content… WestJet thought it was an opportunity for them to expand. Although their planes increased from two airplanes in 1996 to twenty one in 2001, they ordered an additional 36 aircrafts for business growth. Also, they have a plan to offer better customer service and merge with JetBlue in the future. However, under the big growth expansion plan, WestJet confronts the problem of whether they have to expand the company or maintain the culture. In the article, Bell pondered about their expansion plan, “Bell knew that tremendous growth at WestJet would put pressures on its unique culture. He wondered how WestJet grow and maintain its vibrant culture” (Mark 2001). If they expand the company, they will change their incomparable culture and develop a bureaucratic organization because they need to control the big company. It means they have to give up their fun, relaxed, youthful culture which used to contribute to the creativity and innovation of the company. If they continue to sustain their culture, on the contrary, they might lose their great opportunity to grow