Solution
Soumi answered on
Oct 26 2020
Running Head: ASSESSING STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS 1
ASSESSING STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS 3
INDIVIDUAL REPORT - ASSESSING STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH RESPECT TO AUSTRALIA POST
Executive Summary
The cu
ent report discussed the aspect of strategic relationships with a special reference to Australian service organisation Australia Post. In the first section of report, the topic is introduced, followed by sections, in which the background of the company, the condition of the market, the competition prevailing in the market, and upper organisational team of Australia is discussed. In the following section of the report, the relationship between the stakeholders of the company is discussed, which is further comprehended with the provided details in strategic relationship theories.
Considering the importance of the external environment, the report discussed the impact it casts on the organisational strategic relationships. Next, the report evaluates the existing strategic relationship of Australia Post in the context of the organisation’s performance in the sector. The conclusion that followed next provided an over view of the understanding presented in the report. Lastly, a series of recommendations are made with the aim of providing scope for better strategic relationships.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 4
a. Background of Australia Post 4
. Australia’s Mailing Service Industry Overview 5
c. Competition in the Mailing Service Industry 6
d. Condition of the Target Australian Market 7
e. Organisational Structure and Upper Management of Australia Post 8
2. Findings 9
a. Relationship between the Stakeholders at Australia Post 9
. Strategic Relationship Issues Leading to Australia Post’s Lose of Market Share 10
i. Weber’s Classic Organisational Theory 10
ii. Deetz’s Managerialism Theory 11
c. Impact of External Environment of Australia Post on Its Strategic Relationship of Stakeholders 12
d. Evaluating Australia Post’s Strategic Relationship on Organisational Performance 13
3. Conclusion 14
4. Recommendation 14
5. References 17
1. Introduction
An organisation needs the cooperation of its departments engaged in different tasks to generate a positive organisational performance that is beneficial to all the stakeholders of the company. As each department has its own role in the organisational framework, it is important that the importance of their relationships be assessed strategically. In the cu
ent, report the importance of strategic relationship assessment has been considered as the primary objective, while considering Australia Post as the real life example from the Australian context. In the cu
ent report the internal and the external atmosphere of the organisation has been assessed properly to understand the importance and mechanism of strategic relationships as well as provide proper recommendations that relate to the requirement of the report topic.
a. Background of Australia Post
More than 200 years old, Australia Post is one of the largest mail service organisation owned by the government of Australia. The company has evolved over the decades as new leaderships of the company have
ought in changes that have improved the mailing services. Australia Post was the foremost in the industry to offer mechanised mail sorting and offering of airmails. Considering the safety of the public in Australia, the amendment made to Australian Postal Corporation Act 2008 gave the organisation the ability to open suspicious mails and even remove, the tag of the name in case of fraudulent mails (Australian Government, 2016). The company however faced a steady slowdown in its business, the domestic mail services became less popular, and the courier service sector of the company retained its growth, making the organisation realise the need of refining its strategic relationships between the stakeholders.
. Australia’s Mailing Service Industry Overview
Unlike the cu
ent decade, the mailing service industry in Australia had grown consistently due to its significant role it played in establishing the communication within and outside the country. The mailing industry had three main sections, among which the first was addressed mails, second was commercial and office mails, while the last one was the courier service. Government owned organisations such as Australia Post before 1990 dominated the industry (IBIS World, 2018).
In the later period, the easy entry of mail service providers, the use of newer technology that allowed people to communicate via internet and the lack of interest in traditional address mails declined. The decline in the use of addressed mails has been consistent and the frequency has declined throughout the last five years. The minimal growth that has retained itself in the courier service section of the mailing industry, which is hinting at the fact that the organisations involved in mailing business must consider discussing their business priorities with the use of strategic relationship development among stakeholders (Australian Postal Corporation, 2017).
Figure 1: Decline in Postal Service Usage in Australia (2007-2016)
(Source: Australian and International Postal Services Overview, 2014)
c. Competition in the Mailing Service Industry
The competition in the Australian mailing industry has increased manifold in recent times. Being government owned and aided, Australia Post has been a major player in the industry having monopoly on the mailing business throughout Australia.
Figure 2: Prime Competitor in Australian Mailing Service Industry, Sendle
(Source: Smart Company, 2018)
However, the change in the government policies that led to the entry of smaller start-ups and international mailing service providers, the competition in the market intensified. As mentioned by Williams, Otero and Florez (2018), the competition in the mailing service industry in Australia got intense after the decline of popularity of letter sending as the electronic media took all the attention away, leaving very limited scope for profiting. It is found that companies such as Sendle, Toll, Parcel Point and DHL are competing very well, offer better services at budget, making it hard for generating monopoly in the market (Owler, 2018).
Figure 3: Prime Competitors in Australian Mailing Service Industry
(Source: Owler, 2018)
d. Condition of the Target Australian Market
The Australian Postal industry has been an AU$ 6.6 Billion a few years back and has now become nearly an AU$ 5 Million industry, with a steady decline in its service availing in the country. The industry offers employment to nearly 15,000 people in Australia and the major competitors in the market are Australia Post, DHL, Parcel Point and Toll (IBIS World, 2018). Despite a gradual decline in the addressed post demands, the increase in the e-commerce has generated the scope of earning profit for the industry, as the courier services would be getting increasing workload. Among the staffs engaged in the industry, 78.6 % of the total is full time employees, while the remaining are part time employees. The average age for delivery and pick up workers in the industry is 45 years and the service duration is a little less than 40 hours (Logistics training Council, 2014).
e. Organisational Structure and Upper Management of Australia Post
The upper management of Australia Post consists of names such as Christine Holgate, Bob Black, Chris Blake, Susan Davies, and Gary Sta
. As the government of Australia owns Australia Post, it works under a governing board, where mutual and anonymous decisions are taken based on board members placed through strategic relationship (Australian Postal Corporation, 2018). Under the directions of the governing board of the government, another board is framed, which includes the upper management of Australia Post, including the managing director and the group CEOs. The managing director takes the decisions along with the discussion and assistance of the group CEOs (Australian Postal Corporation, 2017).
Figure 4: Organisational Structure of Australia Post
(Source: Australian Postal Corporation, 2017)
Under the group CEOs the upper managerial departments of chief customer office, group service management, e-delivery and group finance are operated. Each department works under the supervision of the CEOs, while the chief operation manager overviews the...