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United States PostalService
Connecting People and Business
Case Analysis
Prepared by:
Erika VillarrealChristian RiveraCindy VargasMartin Robledo
 
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History:
The first postal service was established in 1692 with a grant fromKing William and Queen Maryof England. However, tired of English crown’s dictatorship, in 1775 theContinental Congress created a Post Office Department and appointed Benjamin Franklinas the first Postmaster General of that organization. Benjamin Franklin was instrumentalin leading the effort in creating more post offices and streamlining the mailing system.USPS has seen countless changes over the years. For example, mail used to be delivered by horses which could take anywhere from 10-14 days. Now mail is delivered using postal vans with an estimated delivery time of 2-4 days. From having the Postmaster manually write the postage on a letter, to now being able to print postage on-line, USPSevolved since 1775 introducing new technology and new services to the nation. USPShas grown to become the third-largest employer in the United States and has become amultimillion dollar company.
Services provided by USPS:
USPS is most commonly known for selling postage stamps and delivering express, firstclass, standard and bulk mail, as well as packages all over the U.S. However, over theyears USPS has increased the number of services that they provide to their customers inorder to ensure delivery of letters and packages. For example, a customer can purchasedelivery and customer confirmation, insurance, and a return receipt. The Post Office hasalso contracted with the Department of State to collect the applications for and assist inthe processing of passports.With the many advances in technology USPS has made, they have also been able to offer services that are more progressive, thus providing the customer more convenience. Thecreation of their website (usps.com) allows the customer to purchase stamps online or schedule the pick up of a package.
 Problems the company faces:
On March 25, 2009, Postmaster General John Potter went before Congress to informthem of their financial situation and advise them that they might need their assistancemonetarily. Potter stated, “We are facing losses of historic proportion. Our situation iscritical.” Since 2003, USPS’s net income has steadily decreased. What would cause acompany that was once extremely profitable to begin recording losses in such a shortamount of time? There are various factors that have caused the decline of revenue for USPS. Unforeseen increases in fuel, competition with overnight carriers, and the accessof on-line bill pay have all contributed to the drop in net income; however, the lack of communication between all levels of management, as well as the lack of communicationwith their customers is largely to blame for the reduction in their revenues. A decline inrevenue could lead to a decline in services, a reduction of mail delivery, and closures of  processing plants. Regardless of the various factors, the fault lies within the companyitself for not communicating efficiently to increase revenues.2
 
Communication errors that are prevalent:
1. USPS must address their lack of effective communication with their customers.Because of this lack of communication, customers are rarely informed of the numerousservices or the economical convenience that USPS provides. When one thinks about thePostal Service one usually does not consider about how affordable, safe and secure it is tomail a letter across the nation. Many customers have a negative view of the PostalService because of the increase in stamp prices, the inadequate customer service they provide, or the whole “going postal” notion. In fact, many customers don’t even knowthat one doesn’t even have to go to a local post office to receive their services. Acustomer can go online to purchase stamps or to request that a package needing delivery be picked up at the customer’s home.2. The second major problem with USPS is the miscommunication found among alllevels of management. With over 600,000 employees, it is expected that there will bedifficulties for management and employees to all be on the same page. Upper management may not be aware of the problems faced in smaller post offices, leading tosubstantial problems. For example, upper management at the district level may try tomicro-manage post offices three hundred miles away without a true sense of the issues athand. It may also be difficult for these small post offices to get a response from upper management when faced with any issues. District offices add more work and reports for the Postmaster to get done on a daily basis while simultaneously cutting hours. This cancause Postmasters to deviate from other urgent tasks to attend to what upper managementfinds important. Most of the upper management is made up of older individuals who havenot evolved with the new methods of management and vice versa for lower management.3. The third major issue involves lower management, where many of these managers donot accept change very well. Many times, when district is implementing newstandardized operating procedures (SOP) lower management will refrain fromimplementing these procedures in their offices. This stalling usually occurs either  because of the misunderstanding of the SOP or insufficient training. This brings us to the biggest issue we found for the communication problems in Postal Service—the lack of management experience and training. An employee could be placed into a Postmaster  position and not receive proper training for six months or more. Postmaster trainingoccurs once a year in January, but it is only for new Postmasters. Even after the trainingmanagers will have to learn many procedures on their own, due to the fact that thePostmaster training does not cover the entire SOP a Postmaster must know. After thisoccurs, neither Postmaster nor upper management ever receives any type of managementtraining.
Our team’s approach to these communication issues:
We will do extensive research on the internet as well as use a team member’s insideknowledge to educate ourselves, as well as the general public as to the issues USPS isfacing.3
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