United States Postal Service Essay Example

United States Postal Service Essay Example United States Postal Service Essay United States Postal Service Essay The U. S. Postal Service It is important for the U. S. Postal Service to have a high volume of mail to process in order to follow the mission statement. An organization mission is its reason for existence and is expressed in the mission statement (Stevenson 42). Mission of the Postal Service: The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities (USPS 1998). For the Postal Service to â€Å"bind the Nation together†¦Ã¢â‚¬  they would need a high volume of mail from across the country to process on a daily basic. The more mail means a more successful business. Productivity improved at the Postal Service due to the increased use of automation and introduction and later expansion of zip codes. The technological advancements allowed for postal rates to remain low and maintain rapid delivery. Technology is not enough for productivity to increase. There needs to be proper planning or else technology can reduce productivity (Stevenson 58). Competition from delivery companies such as, FedEx and UPS put pressure on the United States Postal Service to increase productivity to keep rates low and maintain rapid delivery. Operations Management makes point that pricing is very important to consumers in the selection process and that there is a trade-off between price and quality (Stevenson 40). Having lower prices and/or rapid delivery will determine whether someone will choose to mail their package with the Postal Service or the competition. The United States Postal Service took several steps to remain competitive, first starting with customer service. The Postal Service began working to better identify their customer’s needs; this included adding customer service managers, expanding retail hours, and measuring customer satisfaction. The text explains that â€Å"Identifying consumer wants and/or needs is a basic input in an organization’s decision making process† (Stevenson 40). The Postal Service also underwent a reorganization where management positions were eliminated and divisions were consolidated to reduce overhead. These measures all lead to increased production and speedier delivery to remain competitive. The results of the Postal Service’s changes were very successful. The reduced bureaucracy and overhead lead to improved service, customer satisfaction and reduced the need to increase postage rates. The reorganization eliminated some programs, cut cost, attracted new business, and reduced the Postal Service’s projected deficit. The Postal Service employed a quality-based strategy to accomplish these goals. They focused on improving the quality of its organization, as quality is maintains and attracts new customers (Stevenson 50). The increased use of e-mail has an inverse effect on the Postal Service’s production. The more mail that is sent electronically means less mail is being processed by the Postal Service. The less mail being processed equals decreased productivity (Stevenson 53).