The POSTOFFICE Ltd in UK, a subsidiary of Royal Mail Group Ltd, obtained its separated personality in 1987 POSTOFFICE in UK is quite well-known for two main services, first and the evident one from its name is clear, that it offers the Postal services to its customers. Second reason for its level of popularity is the POSTOFFICE Card Accounts which is basic bank account allowing customers to gather benefit payments. You can find other services also being provided by the Post Office, which are reviewed in brief in the task. Today, POSTOFFICE has around 11, 843 (matching for an auditor doing work for the post office) branches propagate around UK, and provide various selection of services because of its customers.
The management of POSTOFFICE have been very resourceful in implementing technology as part of its functional functions, with the new horizon system released in the year 2000 (ref), revolutionizing the basic system of providing POSTOFFICE customer. As, technology is improving, traditional types of Post ing notice is fading away, revealing the complete Post al industry with danger of extinction. Thus, it has now become essential for the organization like Post Office buildings to perform a through SWOT examination in order to sustain and make it through in greatly hi-tech global market.
Strengths
The Post Office of United Kingdom has to be appraised of its diversified operations. The procedure of section and diversification can be tracked back to the year 1986, when the company got segregated and became subsidiary of Royal Mail Group Ltd, to achieve its separate personality from mere the once providing the Post al services. The procedure of diversification was continual and continuous now Post Office provides more than 8 different kinds of services to its customer veering from conserving and investment, to phone and from government licenses to costs payments. So, it would be justified to evaluate this diversification of POSTOFFICE in various services to be one of its major strength. This diversification helps POSTOFFICE to attract a large mass of customer, which range from men, women and children, old and young as well as business and communal.
Extensive and Diversified Services
The different kind of services that the Post Office provides starts from its Post al services, where the branches accept mail for just two collection and delivery divisions i. e. Royal Mail and Parcel Make. In banking services, the POSTOFFICE has preparations with various bank businesses and customer of the banks can use basic services of finance institutions like cash withdrawals and cash first deposit. In cost savings and investment services, the Post Office since long has been an agent of national cutting down and investment, providing customers with the essential services of depositing money and withdrawals from their saving accounts. For phone services the POSTOFFICE provides home landline telephone services, and also provides top-up for various services sites.
Insurance services is quite diversified alone, as POSTOFFICE provides insurance in the majority of the areas, starting with Car and Vehicle Insurance, Home Insurance, Business Insurance, Life (term) Insurance, Over 50s cover (for seniors individuals) pet insurance and its very famous travel insurance. FOREX services is an extremely essential service that the POSTOFFICE provides, as the clients just walk directly into their POSTOFFICE and can convert currencies, but not all POSTOFFICE branches provide these services. Administration Services include providing checking and mailing services for passport Office buildings and the operating license expert (DVLA), and providing fishing and well as road tax. It had been important to briefly describe the assistance the Post Office provides, as it is one of its major durability varied services for varied group of people.
Post Office has done very well in discovering its opportunities in the past and continued bringing out new service lines in its portfolio, this has helped the POSTOFFICE to make it through in its long trip, and grabbing these opportunities before has today become its durability, the Post Office no longer just survives on the Post al services that it provides to its customer, and has efficiently made its other services like insurance and permit services very profitable.
Infrastructure
The venture of General POSTOFFICE started out in the 1660, by Charles II and has eventually improved as the modern POSTOFFICE as we know of today. Today the Post Office has around has 12, 000 branches spread widely and throughout UK. This major establishment absolutely sure has taken time, but today when we evaluate this wide coverage by the Post Office it sure is its true durability. The only word to spell it out this coverage by the Post Office is Commercial infrastructure. It truly is rolling out over a period of time a national infrastructure enabling it to reach to each and every customer throughout UK. Having this national Infrastructure is quite beneficial for the POSTOFFICE as it becomes quite easy to make its new product reachable. This large infrastructure also helps more customers propagate throughout UK. It has also helped the Post Office to reach its customer and then for the customers to reach it easily, making them closer and intact with their customers.
Weaknesses
Improper distribution
It is very important for every corporation to be able to assess its weakness. Weakness is inside interference that becomes hurdle for the business to achieve its objectives. In case of Post Office the functions have been hurting losses since the calendar year 2006 and the management was required to take drastic actions to convert these loss in profit to be able to survive. There is situated the weakness in its durability of national infrastructure, in the financial time 2008-09 the POSTOFFICE had to close down around 2500 Post Offices throughout UK in order to reduce the operating expenditures of the organization. The organization acquired around 14, 376 branches multiply around UK, which acquired reduced to around 12, 000 branches in the entire year 2009, which ultimately shows how the distribution of the Post Office buildings was unproductive. Unproductive syndication of Post Office resulted in division of customer to a part it became unprofitable.
Questionable customer service quality
Out of its prolonged range of branches which is around 12, 000 only 373 are straight owned by the Post Office Ltd. The others around 98% are either sub-Post Offices or franchise are privately owned. The Post Office has not acquired any consolidated training system, which would permit its braches to provide consolidate training to its customer advisors. The one training method used in POSTOFFICE throughout UK is the old personnel training the new staff, which is certainly not a professonally executed manner of training an employee. Training becomes an important part of dealing with the Post Office as the machine it uses to serve the customer is horizon. It is a very sophisticated hi-tech system, which permit the advisors to attain all its product with ease, however in order to be able to use the machine efficiently, a systemized training strategy should be implemented, which is not practised in case of Post Offices. Hence leaving an successfully trained customer consultant to serve the client, which certainly reduces its quality of services, and the immediate effect of these is seen with the Post Office buildings losing its major footfall customer to highly useful and quality customer services challengers.
Industrial dispute
Post Office is a subsidiary of Royal Email Ltd, which also own Royal Email, and Parcel Drive, which can be its collection and providing division. Royal Email is been a centre of lots of recent commercial disputes with the Communication Employees Union. The expanded dispute between your management and the staff lasted around 7 calendar months and resulted in to the staff happening lots of attacks, which disrupted the business enterprise severely. Post Office thrives certainly, but not majorly on its Post al ft. fall customer because of its other services. There was a enormous reduction in the amount of Post al customer, due to punch called on by CWU, in the year 2009, making its inner dispute with the personnel a major weakness. The strike continued by the personnel resulted into inefficient delivery of the mails, making the customer hunt for another more efficient delivery or courier service provider, hence decreasing its customer line.
Opportunities
Extensive range of services permitting cross-selling opportunities
Extended customer type of the Post Office, from bank, Postal, investment, insurance, pension, licensing customer while others provides a huge potential to the POSTOFFICE to permit the cross offering to its customer. Every pension customer is a potential over 50 life cover customer, and bureau de change customer is a probable customer for reselling visiting insurance. Every DVLA customer is a possible auto insurance customer. With such an enormous potential customer feet fall, the Post Office surely gets a competitive advantage over its rivals on the market.
Further consolidation in the banking industry
The Post Office offers a huge line of financial loans, from foreign exchange, to insurance, from credit cards to investment opportunities to its customer. The POSTOFFICE offers basic banking services by the method of cash withdrawals, cash deposit, cheque deposit etc, considering such an enormous type of customers. The postoffice should capitalize on their banking customers by giving basic savings and current bank account services either through organic development or with a joint venture with a trustable spouse and take advantage of reforming financial services. A national infrastructure would surely provide them with the competitive edge and make their operations economical and lasting for longer time frame.
Further consolidation of brand image
The Postoffice in the year ending 2008-09 shut down 85 of its crown post offices, out of, which 70 were sold to W H Smith, which is likely to make 2. 5 million in additional revenue for the reason that financial year. This strategy can be critically evaluated and considered at a next level, by building a jv with Hallmark, Greetings credit cards or such founded corporation, to which submitting services can be related. The customers will have the capability of two related services at an individual stop. This can work in benefits for both the organization as it adds value to the product and the assistance.
Threats
Revolutionary changes within the Industry
The postal Industry, is certainly going through a whole lot of changes, technology is overtaking the original mailing system. People as well as corporate and business industry rely closely on technology for communication. Making use of the technology has its group of benefits, as it is safer, affordable and faster than traditional mailing methods. Breakthroughs in technology are inevitable and the near future can be visualized with lowering dependence on postal system. That is a sure threat for the postal industry as technical improvements is eating away its probable market. A study conducted at the royal email showed a reduction of 10 million customer using postal services weighed against the this past year, this give a serious indication concerning how the reliance on the postal system is lowering (http://search. bbc. co. uk/search?q=royal%20mail%20strike&tab=all&scope=all&start=2).
Increase in competition
The mailing industry is becoming intensely competitive, unlike before, where the post office relished the monopoly of having the maximum show of the industry. Companies like DHL, TNT, Fed-ex etc are providing intense competition to the UKs oldest submitting organization. The client has progressed from just being inexpensive to cost against time analysis, today the client will be ready to pay a suitable extra amount for guaranteeing enough time and safety of the delivery, the private players have certainly gained their self-assurance in this sector by giving safe, secure and timely services. Thus, the Post Office faces sever competition from these private players in national and international market.
Overall evaluation of the organisations position
10% of the markings are allocated for overall conclusions on the balance of SWOT elements.
SWOT research is a continuing process, and just as important as other management functions. The fact that the post office has been extending its line of product and service offerings to its customers shows that the post office has been performing a continuous research on the merchandise line. Recently, it has been offering its postal services on-line, which helps the customer to work with their services at the comfort of their home. Industrial dispute, for which the Royal email has faced much criticism, has demonstrated very damaging for this overall brand image.
National joint-venture or organic and natural growth in banking industry is one of the primary opportunities that lie in-front of the post office. Advancing the merchandise type of the post office, a national level merger with W H Smith or any other fixed or handmade cards organizations will be a chance of adding brand value to its company. Finally, talking about the hazard that the post office encounters is quite clear with the significant increase in the number of customer reeling on technology to communicate. Modern customer is preparing to let go of cost if the assistance offered are time specific, private player are surely a notch ahead of post office in providing such time effective services, gives a set back to post office services.
But, I see a promise in postoffice management, as it's been able to overturn its loss into revenue and been able to maintain an extended and well varied product and service stock portfolio, which I see being extended in the near future.
