Southwest Airlines (SW) has a business strategy that is not common in the commercial airline industry. Southwest does not offer assigned seats, which is an easy way for competitors to charge different prices for different seating and potentially make more revenue per flight. Southwest's reasoning for not allowing reserved seats is that it decreases boarding time. What strategy is Southwest employing in this practice and what impact does it have on their industry? Low Option Product. This hurts SW because they are missing out on potential revenue from customization of seating arrangements and charges that go along with it. Good management of firm resources. This benefits SW because they can spend more time flying and making money, and less time wasted in boarding procedures. Product customization minimization. Lack of customization of a product is always beneficial because it makes products more attractive to buyers. Poor management of firm resources. SW should be using their resources to develop automated systems that can accommodate seating arrangements to capitalize on the opportunity. Cost strategy. Since they offer a similar service with no differentiation from the rest of the industry, this is an effective way of lowering costs