National Postal Services of Australia-Free-Samples-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the National Postal Services of Australia. Answer: Introduction The report is based on the Australia Post (AP) who was officially started in the year 1809, in the colony of the New South Wales. Once the railway established between the Melbourne and Sydney, people of Australia started getting mail within a day or two of posting. By 2008, the Australia post was offering its serves to the millions of customers every day and also provided a large number of post offices. The company makes use of the sorting system to deliver the mail to the customers. This is the reason company gave employment to the 36,000 workers in 3832 communities and has 10,000 delivery contractors (Australia Post, 2017). The aim of the report is to analyze the challenges occurred for the Australia post. The world of communication has changed with the changes in the century and advancement of the technology (Australia Post, 2017). The communication begins with the Post offices, and then comes the telegrams and later mobile phone which became the threat to the company and also a challenge to make the profit. The Australia post falls in the National post industry; the national offices are globally prominent institutions and have been vital to trust-based communication since the time of the industrial revolution. The traditional post offices were formed to meet the needs of the people who want to communicate with friends and family members (Department of business and innovation, 2010). Macro environment- PEST The major external factors that influence the organization while making the decisions are economic, political, technological, and social (Ho, 2014). (Source: Ho, 2014) Political factors: - The political factors consist if the changes in the legislation and the taxation policy that can affect the working of the company. In case of the Australia Post, the company didnt face any political instability issues as it is the Government Business Enterprise. The company took the advantage in expanding the business. The company expanded the business in the USA because of the good political terms (Australia Post, 2014). Economic factors: - The economic factors consist of GDP, the purchasing power of the customers, unemployment rates. The expansion of the post office of Australia resolved the problem of the unemployment; the company gave the employment to more than the 36,000 workers. The prices of the stamps were kept in such a way so that the customer can easily afford it. The federal government has deregulated the price of the stamps and that has yield more revenue but that amount was not enough to make letter delivery cost-neutral (Australia Post, 2014). Social factors: - The changes in the communication process with the development made the customer shift to the other ways to communicate. The social factors created a challenge for the Australia post to generate the revenue. The situation was only 1% of the message are now delivered by the post and 97% of those are government or business-related mail. The general public of the country started making the use of telegram and mobile phones through which they can communicate the relative and friends more conveniently (Australia Post, 2014). Technological factors: - The technology factors also lead to the challenges for the Australia Post, the challenges arise in the business includes the introduction of the mobile phone and text message. Development in the communication process is good for the country but affect the decision and the working of the Australia Post company. Though on the other hand, there was the development of the MyPost digital mailbox which attracted the customers. Industry analysis Life cycle stage of the industry Life cycle stage of the industry is consisting of the Introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Sales gradually begin with the introduction phase, then the sales increase at the stage of growth and after leveling sales at the maturity and the sales then gradually decline (Investopedia, 2017). Introduction: - The Australia post came into the existence in the year 1809, and then the formation of the mail routes took place in Australia. After the mail routes opened, the sales started gradually and in the year 1956, the multi-colored stamps produced (Australia Post, 2017). Growth: - The growth period of the company was in the year 2008; the AP was serving its services to one million customers every day. This helped the company to generate the maximum of profit. This was the time when the most of the people started using postal services to communicate with the relatives as this was the most convenient and affordable way. Maturity: - Maturity stage in the life cycle of the industry shows the point after which the company is going to face the downfall in the sales. This was the time period when the company found the competition with the companies- FedEx, DHL, Toll Holdings and many others. These companies also provided the attractive packages and offer to the customers and this how they grab the attention of customers. This result in the maturity of the sales of the company (Giles, 2015). Decline: - There was a decline in the sales of the company with the availability of the numerous numbers of competitors. The decline in the delivery of letters forced the company to go digital with electoral and other government information. There was a decline in the prices of the letter, for instance; in Denmark, the charge was $ 2.46 per letter. Porter five forces analysis The five forces analysis model plays an important role in determining and analyzing the competitive power in the Australia Post. (Source: Christopher, 2016) Bargaining power of Suppliers: - There is a presence of many suppliers in the postal services. AP Company facilitates the flow and storage of goods from the suppliers to the buyers because the company is partly a logistics company (Christopher, 2016). Bargaining power of Customers: - The bargaining power of the buyers depends on the number of the customers, and in the postal services there is a large number of buyers involved bring it general customers, businesses, and government (Rothaermel, 2015). The switching cost of the government will be low in the case of the Australia post but talking about businesses and customers there is high switching because other competitors are providing the attractive services. Competitive rivalry: - The competitive rivalry is increasing for the AP, the company expanded the business in the USA and over there they faced the competition with the FedEx, who recently acquired TNT express. Other competitors of the company are DHL and Toll holdings and the many more new competitors are going to come. A threat of Substitutes: - In Australia initial, there was limited number of companies who can substitute the AP and there was a low threat of substitutes but later the company faced the threat with the development of mobile phone and text messages. Entry barriers: - The threat of the entry barriers is high in case of the AP because the industry is growing there are many companies who are going to come. The development in the channel of communication is increasing. Company analysis Resources and capabilities The resources consist of tangible, intangible and human resources. Tangible; The outlets or the offices of the Australia Post are considered as the tangible assets and the street post office boxes and the retail superstores are also included in the tangible resources. Intangible; the Australia post is well known and have a reputation in the market and having goodwill in the market. The amount invested by the company in technology for the development of the MyPost digital mailbox which attracted the customers. Human resources; the company provide the employment to many employees as the company is having the different outlets and stores which need the employees and company believe in appointing the trained and qualified employees (Bamberger, Biron, and Meshoulam, 2014). Currently, there are 36,000 people working for AP. Capabilities of the company can be identified with the customer services as the industry is the customer-driven. The company has capabilities to identify the needs of the company and to fulfill the needs by offering the services at the lower prices (Giles, 2015). The AP has the strong distribution network as the company as the company acquired 50% of Star Truck Express from its joint venture partner Qantas and 40% of Sai Cheng Logistics International. Due to this advantage, the brand promises to deliver letters and parcels at the lowest prices and quickly than other company in Australia and this helps the company to satisfy the customer which is an objective of the company. Core competencies The company is having approximately 4406 post offices and 15,591 street post office boxes along with this, there are 48 retail superstores. The public thinks that the company is working as a delivery company. According to the survey, 57% of people think that is works as a parcel company, 28% as a letter company and 17% associated it with post offices. AP Company deals with the distribution logistics and this is the significant advantage over the competitors of the AP (Giles, 2015). Competitor analysis The major competitor of the company across USA and Australia include, FedEx; a huge global active courier organization who acquired TNT express (founded in Australia). Tall Holdings who is having an excellent Australian network and this company is dominating the local market for courier pick-up and delivery services. DHL Express is another competitor after Toll Holdings, as it is having 6.7% market share. To deal with Competitors is a challenge for the AP, for which the company decided to keep the low prices of the services for the customers. Strategy analysis The corporate level strategy is associated with the strategic decision that affects the organization it includes the financial performance, mergers, and acquisitions. Similarly, AP took steps and formed the relationships with other companies or acquires the certain percentage of other companies which helps the company to form the distribution network (Christopher, 2016). This enhances the brand value in the market and also shows a way to the company to provide the mail or courier at the low prices. This low price strategy helps the company to attract the customer and to deal with the competitors. The strategy formed by the company is actually working the reason being the company is making the use of the technology along with the strategy. The internet development is guiding the company to make use of the digital mailing services and this is the reason, the company introduced MyPost. The post offices in Australia are associated with business and consumer centers. They handle banking, insurance, and reloadable credit cards and serve as a bill-paying center. AP has scope to expand the range of goods offered by the company. The company can also move to the business registration because the company owns a huge network. Though, for that, there is need of the approval from the government. The future strategy of the company is to develop the new products in mails, telecoms, and financial services. The company is going to bring the transformation in all branches (Australia Post, 2017). Conclusion The report throws light on the challenges faced by the Australian post. The challenges might arise due to the external factors also that create an impact on the working or decision of the company. Furthermore, the report shows the industry analysis of the postal industry and the competitive forces analysis. There is an analysis of the AP internal analysis which includes the resources and capabilities along with the competitive advantages (Jannesson, Nilsson, and Rapp, 2016). The competitors of the company were increasing due to development of industry; to face the competition AP followed corporate level strategy. It is recommended to the company to consider the idea of owning more distribution centers as this helps the company to get more of the business customers. The business customer will help the company in generating more revenue which leads to the expansion of the business. References Australia Post, 2014, Australia Post Annual Report, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://auspost.com.au/annualreport2015/docs/australia-post-annual-report-2015.pdf Australia Post, 2017, Innovation at Australia Post, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://auspost.com.au/innovation-at-australia-post Australia Post, 2017, Our company, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://auspost.com.au/about-us/corporate-information/our-company Australia Post, 2017, Transforming the post office, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://auspost.com.au/annualreport2015/delivering-ecommerce.html#section-post-office Bamberger, P.A., Biron, M. and Meshoulam, I., 2014. Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Routledge. Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics supply chain management. Pearson UK. Department of business and innovation, 2010, Securing the Post Office Network in the Digital Age, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/securing-the-post-office-network-in-the-digital-age Giles, B., 2015, How is Australia Post in a growth market and losing money?, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://www.evolutionpartners.com.au/how-is-australia-post-in-a-growth-market-and-losing-money.html Ho, J.K.K., 2014. Formulation of a systemic PEST analysis for strategic analysis. European academic research, 2(5), pp.6478-6492. Investopedia, 2017, Industry Lifecycle, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/industrylifecycle.asp Jannesson, E., Nilsson, F. and Rapp, B., 2016. Strategy, Control and Competitive Advantage. SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN AN. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education. Wiggins, J., 2015, FedEx takeover creates tougher competitor for Toll, Australia Post, Financial Review, Viewed on 9th December 2017, https://www.smh.com.au/business/transport/fedex-takeover-creates-tougher-competitor-for-toll-australia-post-20150408-1mgko8.htm