Kurt Archer

Westjet has long been the flight carrier of choice within Canada. The staff is characterized by their friendly, fun and humorous attitudes that is sure to keep your spirits as elevated as you will be physically, in the air. Westjet has demonstrated exemplar service and is a role model business practice in the aviation community, not only in Canada but all over the world. The difference is that Westjet capitalizes on its people, and deriving the shared value of their people, makes it a employee of choice. Given this type of market leadership, I believe the true potential for Westjet to really take off is on the horizon yet.

When an airline decides to lower their prices, the first things to go out the window is usually food quality (or food period), and then service. In Westjet’s case, the first was scenario was true, and now any food on board must be purchased from a third party provider, beverages however remain complimentary. Westjet’s success in maintaining high quality service is really thanks to their core values as an organization. Humour replaces luxurious pampering, and that is seen through their genuine care and growth approach to staff and clients. It goes a long way to describe what individuals value, and it is not being treated like royalty, but treated like important individuals.

So what then could be next on the horizon for Westjet if they plan to stay the course as market leaders in the industry? Well in order to come full circle as an organization committed to triple bottom line results, Westjet must now complete the circle through their conscious impact on the community and environment in which they operate. Based on my observations, I have made three suggestions that could truly go a long way for an organization like Westjet.

Read the rest of this entry »

My Choice! is a project that aims to raise awareness among the youth about Sustainability. We offer a holistic understanding of sustainability taught through a simple model known as Society, Economy and Environment.

The Environment is impacted by our human footprint; this footprint is the result of diverse community interactions (economy, leisure, family) in any given society. Social activism, or civil society, is shaped by embedding values in the people that are part of the society and who will take up responsibility for that society. It is therefore vital for youth to grab this inclusive picture of sustainability to ensure a positive future generation of prosperity and increased quality of life.

Read the rest of this entry »

In other news, Delhi announced recently that they’ve banned plastic bags altogether to fight our dependency on this polluting convenience. After the Oct 2nd nation wide ban on smoking, India is taking even more bold steps on the fight against climate change.

Plastic bags have become such an item of dependence that shop keepers simply don’t know what else to use for their goods and liquids. Rightly so, it will be an uphill battle, but the government is more sure than ever that this is the right step, and it will take time to adapt, however after the initial two month period, shopkeepers caught providing the bags could be fined upwards of 1 lakh rupees (roughly $2,000 USD) or upto 5 years of jail term.

With such a move we will begin to see a demand for cloth and glass making a comeback in India, as these two are the most viable alternatives to plastic bags. No doubt this would also spin off some R&D on bio-degradable plastics and weaning off of petroleum based plastic for the more carbon neutral alternative of bio plastics (soy, vegetable oil, corn stalk).

I wonder what the world would be like today if Ford was able to organize the plastics industry to build exclusively from soy and bioproducts rather than petroleum oil. Needless to say, world war 1 kick started the oil dependency in plastics movement.

A famous quote comes to mind that is so fitting, attributed to an ancient chinese proverb.

“When the winds of change are blowing, some people are building shelters, and others are building windmills.”