Key changes and reforms implemented by Australian post
The Australian post corporation, which operates as a state-owned organization provides postal services in Australia (Chris, 2018). Over the year, the company has been undergoing various changes to enhance its service delivery. Its head offices are located at 111 Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post office. The company has been providing various services including sending mails, parcels, and gifts, among others (Vaibhave, 2016). Because of various changes that have been occurring due to various factors such as technology, the company has changed various things to match consumer needs and also to remain competitive in the market. The purpose of this paper is to outline the key changes and reforms outlined by Australian post, the driving factors that contributed to the reforms, and the people development strategies implemented by the company to overcome any resistance to change. The paper will also discuss how the corporation has aligned its future strategies to manage change and innovation to lead in the global business environment and finally the paper will outline the lessons learned after analyzing the Australia post case study.
According to the recent annual reports, this company has established various innovations as one of the ways of enhancing customer experience and satisfaction. For instance, it launched a new ID Tm mobile APP which allows its customers to verify who they are to state and companies online.
The company has also announced that on 1st October, it will be adjusting some of its prices. According to Tamara (2015), the changes will affect various services including domestic parcels, international letters, and parcels, mail, extra cover, ID photos, Certifying documents and packing products. According to the company, the reason for making these changes is to ensure there is long term sustainability on the mail and parcels delivery network.
The company has also made various changes to its workforce, including improving the employee working conditions, hours, compensations and so forth. According to Tidd & Bessant (2013), valuing the wellbeing of staff members is essential for organizations that want to succeed because it makes staff members to commit their efforts towards attaining positive performance for the organization.
The company has also implemented various strategies to reduce carbon emission. According to Storey (2011), environmental conservation is one of the key factors which the Australian government wants every company to implement in its operations. Being a state-owned corporation, the company should be in the forefront in preserving environment so as to set examples to other organizations (Zohurul, 2013). Last years, it implemented various strategies that assisted it to recycle and reuse more than 14,000 tons of environmentally harmful products.
Factors that have been driving changes and reforms in this organization
Being a company that is focused on customer satisfaction, Australia post has been valuing communication with its customers as one of the ways of ensuring they attain every information that they require. Recently, the company has introduced various communication platforms that enables its clients to access details concerning various aspects such as the cost of various services offered, the status of their parcels, like for example whether it was delivered, or if it is on the process and so forth. According to Taina (2013), one of the new changes that have enhanced communication with customers is the introduction of text your choice service which gives the customers an opportunity to choose how they like their parcel delivered on the day of delivery.
The other key change that the company has introduced in its business model to match the changes in the market is E-commerce. The E-commerce platform has been enabling the consumers to access various services irrespective of their geographical locations, a factor which has enabled the company to realize tremendous changes in especially in the number of deliveries per day. The introduction of E-commerce has also enabled the company to serve more customers as it has led to the automation of most of the processes. According to Marianne (2013), the introduction of this strategy has reduced crowd which was witnessed in the previous years due to long queues.
One of the factors that have been driving changes in this organization is technological advancements. According to IK (2014), as time goes on, the use of computers, smartphones, and the internet has been increasing, forcing businesses to implement various changes to cope up with these advancements. At Australian post, technology has made the company to introduce E-commerce platform because unlike in the past where customers liked visiting the company to attain services, the introduction of smartphones has increased the demand of ordering for services through online platforms.
The other driving force for these changes is fluctuations in consumer perception. According to Kogila (2016), when consumers change their perception concerning product, service, price or anything associated with a particular company, the management needs to implement various changes to ensure the new consumer perceptions are accommodated in the company’s operational strategies. For Australian post, consumers no longer like waiting for long to receive their parcel and other products and therefore the company had to undertake various changes to ensure the delivery time is as short as possible.
People Development strategies implemented by Australian post to overcome any resistance to change
The other driving factor to these changes and reforms is what the customers expect from the company. For this company, the customers have been in high demand for knowing the status of the various things they send through this firm and therefore this factor has made the company to come with different strategies of making the customer to be fully informed concerning some of the essential things that affect them.
Competition and desire to satisfy customer needs have also been among the driving factors to the changes and reforms in this organization. According to Celine (2013), operating in an environment where several organizations offer similar services require the players to implement various changes to ensure they challenge their competitors. In Australia, there are various companies which offer similar services like those offered by this company and therefore to make the consumer feel that Australia post is the best option, it has been implementing various changes such as reduction of delivery time, introducing E-commerce among others to ensure that the consumer gets the best experience and satisfaction.
The focus on enhancing the wellbeing of its staff members is also another factor which has contributed to these reforms. According to Jim (2013), employees form an integral part of an organization and therefore ensuring their wellbeing is enhanced is crucial. Changes in various factors concerning labor laws has made this company to change several things concerning the minimum wage, working hours and so forth.
Although this company strives to deliver change, its attempts have not been easy because of resistance which comes from various people. To set various strategies to ensure it overcomes the problems which may results. According to Jennifer (2014), one of the important factors in managing change resistance in organizations is how important things are communicated. In this company, information concerning change moves through various areas in an uncontrolled way. To minimize change resistance, the company has been conducting trainings from time to time to help employees understand importance of change. Its management has also done away with the concept of “kept in dark” because it believes that it can trigger various things such as uncertainty and distrust especially in hierarchical structures where the staff members can begin to ask “who knows what?”
When setting goals, Australian post considers various factors like for instance, how the goals will be attained, what requirements are need, and what can be done in case a change that affects the goal attainment strategies is implemented. This plays a key role in ensuring does not lose focus when a change is implemented before a particular goal is attained.
This company also uses employee involvement in the change process as one of the strategies for preventing change resistance. Jatuporn (2011) asserts that when implementing a change especially one which has an impact on employees, it is crucial to involve them in change process so that they can learn the facts associated with the transformation. This company values this factor in the fact that when it suggests a change, it informs the employees in advance and collects various views from them to understand how they perceive it.
Having the perception of prioritizing its people is also another factor which has enabled this company to manage change resistance. According to Eleanor (2013), Australia post is one of the corporations that are committed to managing change in a way which is fair and reasonable to its stakeholders. While implementing more efficient ways to operate its business, the company feels that it is crucial to provide its employees with access to crucial things which enable them to attain career development opportunities and support so that they can come up with sound decisions concerning their future. Central to the manner in which the company implement transformations is the notion of properly planned and respectfully executed career transitions.
Apart from employees, the company also values customers and other stakeholders while implementing a change. To minimize the chances of resistance, the company communicates what it intends to change before the change is implemented, stating the reason for the change and how it is likely to impact the company and its people.
According to Anderson (2011), change is a fundamental tool for companies that want to attain competitive advantage through responding to the various things that happen in the market. Australia post has aligned its future strategies to manage change and innovation through several ways. For example, it focuses on delivering a global social change through implementing strategies which enhances the relationship between the company and the society. For this company to attain this goal, it should value innovation and viewing people in the global perspective as ones who mean a lot to its business.
To enhance service delivery, this the company aims at conducting environmental scanning and market analysis from time to time to understand some of the variations that occur. For this company to succeed and also to maintain customer trust, it should use the information attained from these activities to come up with services that can make its consumers to view the company as the only one which can solve their needs.
The company also has the goal of taking change as a collaborative process which needs to put different stakeholders together. To attain the transorganizational development, it focuses on converting the idea the idea of “change is not good” to making its staff members understand that it is a necessary factor for all organizations which want to lead in the global business environment. The company has been doing so through conducting training from time to time. To attain this goal, it is crucial for the company to ensure that it enhances the relationship with its stakeholders and includes them during change implementation process.
From analysis this case study, I have learned that implementing changes in business operations is crucial because factors which determine the nature of a particular market keep changing and for organizations to respond to these changes, they must introduce new ways of doing things. Australia post being a state-owned corporation, it focuses on serving the people in the right manner and therefore to make them attain full satisfaction, it has been undertaking various reforms to ensure its services matches the changes in consumer perception.
I have also learned that there are various strategies which an organization can use to manage change resistance. From analyzing this case study, I realized that the company has been using different strategies to ensure the proposed changes are not impacted by resistance from its stakeholders. Some of the factors that I have realized are crucial in change management include involving employees in the change process, training employees concerning the importance of change, communicating about the proposed change in advance among others.
Analyzing this case study has also told me that technology drives changes and significantly impacts organizational performance because it influences customer perception toward products, services, and the manner in which a company operates. The case study has also helped me to realize that aligning future strategies to manage change and innovation especially for companies that operate in a global environment is crucial for organizations that want to succeed.
Conclusion
From this case study, Australian corporation has been doing various changes and reforms to ensure it meets its goals and also responds to various changes that occur in the market. Some of these changes and reforms include the introduction of E-commerce, new communication platforms, changing employee working conditions, hours and compensations, adjusting some of its prices, among others.
The reforms made by this organization are driven by various factors such as technological changes, introduction or changes in labor laws, changes in consumer perceptions, changes in the global market environment and so forth. To respond to change resistance in this company, its management has been using various strategies which include involving employees in the change process, training them on the importance of change, communicating proposed change in advance and so forth.
To succeed in the global business environment, Australia post has aligned its future strategies to manage change and innovation in various ways. For example, it focuses on training employees and other stakeholders concerning the importance of change and innovation and focusing on innovating to ensure it offers services that satisfy customer needs.
References
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