services, the postal service could find itself at risk of its offered services. I come from South Africa where nobody in their right minds sends anything of value via the postal service as it will not arrive at its intended destination unless there is a miracle. What I saw there were umpteen courier services and new legislation allowing e-mailed documents to be accepted as the genuine article. Business adapted to a bad serWithin a six year period Sir Christopher Bland managed to turn around the fortunes of a then ailing BT into a possible global player in the telecoms arena. His applause during the presentation of the latest figures is well deserved. He truly took a dead government department and pushed it into a new age business.

So what happened to the Post Office? Nothing, of course, but that is not the point. Of course BT was operating in an environment of telecoms which was poised to take advantage of innovation such as the internet, to move forward. Well, yes and no. Things could have been different at the creaking old telephone service operator. After all there was mobile as well as the internet competing with the standard fixed line operator.

So what happened here then. Instead of feeling threatened, BT under the leadership of Sir Bland, took on broadband and integrated communication services and made it its own. Who would have thought that a stagnating civil service offering, could become a global player in the communications field. Well it did. So what has gone wrong at the Post Office?

Probably, the first thing that has not happened for the Post Office has been the power of the Unions representing the staff. I need to say here that I do believe that staff should not be shifted around as pawns. However, at the same time, don't allow staff to dictate the terms of engagement. At the end of the day, staff, given half a chance and this is human nature, will prefer to carry on doing things as they were done before. With other words, lets not have to adapt and do new things.

With the advent of the internet and fast and reliable door to door private business courier services, the postal service could find itself at risk of its offered services. I come from South Africa where nobody in their right minds sends anything of value via the postal service as it will not arrive at its intended destination unless there is a miracle. What I saw there were umpteen courier services and new legislation allowing e-mailed documents to be accepted as the genuine article. Business adapted to a bad serv

ating in an environment of telecoms which was poised to take advantage of innovation such as the internet, to move forward. Well, yes and no. Things could have been different at the creaking old telephone service operator. After all there was mobile as well as the internet competing with the standard fixed line operator.

So what happened here then. Instead of feeling threatened, BT under the leadership of Sir Bland, took on broadband and integrated communication services and made it its own. Who would have thought that a stagnating civil service offering, could become a global player in the communications field. Well it did. So what has gone wrong at the Post Office?

Probably, the first thing that has not happened for the Post Office has been the power of the Unions representing the staff. I need to say here that I do believe that staff should not be shifted around as pawns. However, at the same time, don't allow staff to dictate the terms of engagement. At the end of the day, staff, given half a chance and this is human nature, will prefer to carry on doing things as they were done before. With other words, lets not have to adapt and do new things.

With the advent of the internet and fast and reliable door to door private business courier services, the postal service could find itself at risk of its offered services. I come from South Africa where nobody in their right minds sends anything of value via the postal service as it will not arrive at its intended destination unless there is a miracle. What I saw there were umpteen courier services and new legislation allowing e-mailed documents to be accepted as the genuine article. Business adapted to a bad ser

took on broadband and integrated communication services and made it its own. Who would have thought that a stagnating civil service offering, could become a global player in the communications field. Well it did. So what has gone wrong at the Post Office?

Probably, the first thing that has not happened for the Post Office has been the power of the Unions representing the staff. I need to say here that I do believe that staff should not be shifted around as pawns. However, at the same time, don't allow staff to dictate the terms of engagement. At the end of the day, staff, given half a chance and this is human nature, will prefer to carry on doing things as they were done before. With other words, lets not have to adapt and do new things.

With the advent of the internet and fast and reliable door to door private business courier services, the postal service could find itself at risk of its offered services. I come from South Africa where nobody in their right minds sends anything of value via the postal service as it will not arrive at its intended destination unless there is a miracle. What I saw there were umpteen courier services and new legislation allowing e-mailed documents to be accepted as the genuine article. Business adapted to a bad ser

at staff should not be shifted around as pawns. However, at the same time, don't allow staff to dictate the terms of engagement. At the end of the day, staff, given half a chance and this is human nature, will prefer to carry on doing things as they were done before. With other words, lets not have to adapt and do new things.

With the advent of the internet and fast and reliable door to door private business courier services, the postal service could find itself at risk of its offered services. I come from South Africa where nobody in their right minds sends anything of value via the postal service as it will not arrive at its intended destination unless there is a miracle. What I saw there were umpteen courier services and new legislation allowing e-mailed documents to be accepted as the genuine article. Business adapted to a bad ser

services, the postal service could find itself at risk of its offered services. I come from South Africa where nobody in their right minds sends anything of value via the postal service as it will not arrive at its intended destination unless there is a miracle. What I saw there were umpteen courier services and new legislation allowing e-mailed documents to be accepted as the genuine article. Business adapted to a bad service.

Of course the Royal Postal Service delivers phenomenally well. Who would imagine that post could be delivered reliably the next day. However, it is not enough to keep the postal service going. It has been announced that 2500 post offices will be closed down. The department is hemorrhaging money at an unbelievable rate. Somewhere, the Sir Bland vision is missing. How can a postal service that is truly excellent, not be able to sustain itself? I suppose it boils down to quantity. Somehow the quantity of mail is not high enough to make a profit.

This is a real problem. Somehow and somewhere the postal service needs to find a CEO that can persuade staff that change is a sign of the times and will stop them from losing their jobs and at the same time find new ways to pump a new business approach into the postal service to maintain the business. If not, there could be an end to the post dropping onto your entrance floor.