Royal Mail: Strategic Analysis and Emerging Technology Impact Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Royal Mail's strategic environment, focusing on its operations within both public and private sectors. It begins with an introduction outlining the company's background and the scope of the analysis. The main body is divided into two tasks. Task 1 critically examines Royal Mail's strategic environment using PESTLE and Porter's Five Forces models, evaluating political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors, as well as competitive forces within the industry. Task 2 identifies and assesses the impact of emerging technology, specifically information technology, on Royal Mail's present and future operations, including the use of conveyor belts, telemetry in vehicles, and bar scanning. The report concludes with recommendations for senior management on how to leverage technology to overcome challenges and maximize opportunities. The analysis highlights Royal Mail's competitive position, its ability to adapt to technological advancements, and its strategies for maintaining a strong market presence.

Strategy in the Public
& Private Sectors

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Critically analyse the strategic environment and describe the strategic position of organisation.
................................................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Identify and evaluate the impact of any one emerging technology on the present and future
operations...............................................................................................................................5
Recommendations for senior management for overcoming challenges and maximising
opportunities by the emerging technology.............................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Public and private sectors develop their strategies in different types, including single use
based strategies and comprehensive strategies. Public and private organisations involve
themselves in partnership by collaborating their operations. They become support of each other
in various operations and functions like finance, human resource and other resources such as
equipment and raw materials. Sometimes, Public sector and private sector indulge themselves in
partnership for specific projects and activities such as development of infrastructures including
convention centres, transportation, networks and buildings (Khoumbati and et.al., 2018). This
report is based on Royal mail which is a British multinational postal service company. It was
originally established in the year 1516 under the government department. It is headquartered in
London, UK and founder of Royal mail was king Henry VIII. This report will include analysis of
its strategic environment and strategic position of an organisation. The impact of emerging
technology on the operation of organisation is evaluated in this report. Present and future
operations are identified after the impact of technology. Recommendations are carried out in
order to overcome the challenges which are faced by an organisation due to the emerging
technology.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Critically analyse the strategic environment and describe the strategic position of organisation.
Strategic environment of an organisation involves various policies and strategies which are
responsible for their success. Strategies provide scope and direction to an organisation so that
they can sustain for a longer period of time. It assists in enhancing the rate of revenue generation
by minimising impact of negative factors of an environment. Those strategies can help
organisation in catering the needs and demands of market along with their stakeholders (Kumar
and Selvan, 2019). Royal mail develops strategies which assist them in operations like parcel
services, letter post, freight forwarding, EMS delivery, third-party logistics etc. Their delivery
services are very fast and accurate which help individuals and businesses in delivering their
essential parcels and documents. In order to analyse the strategic environment of Royal mail it is
important to focus on their internal and external factors which directly and indirectly affect their
business operations. Managers of organisation uses PESTLE environment in order to identify the
1

external analysis which are responsible for their positive and negative performance in the market.
The PESTLE analysis is carried out as follows:
Political factors: Businesses have to focus on various political factors which our rules and
regulations developed by government. It is important that businesses have to formulate strategies
according to the requirements so that they can survive in particular country. Royal mail carries
out their operations in more than 12 countries in the field of industrial goods and services. There
strategies are highly industrial friendly which focus on the legal framework of the host country.
They try to follow all the trade regulation and fulfil the requirements of all taxation policies
which assist them in establishment of their positive brand image.
Economic factors: There are a number of macro environmental factors including interest-
rate, inflation rate, saving rate, economic cycle and foreign exchange rate. All these factors affect
the competitiveness of an organisation to great extent (Marrazzo, 2021). The prices which are
offered by Royal mail are highly competitive which assist them in capturing the large market
area. They highly focus on the income level of customers and the targeted market so that they
can maintain their pricing policies in effective manner.
Social factors: The culture of society and their behaviour plays important role in growth and
development of an organisation. The attitude of population should be analysed before offering
products and services because they are responsible for the effective revenue generation. Royal
mail always designs their marketing strategies in relation to industrial goods and services
according to the requirements of the targeted demographics. They alter their services according
to the demands so that they can become priority of their targeted audience.
Technological factors: Nowadays, the impact of technology is highly required in an
organisation as it is responsible for faster growth and expansion. Factors like research and
development, automation and artificial intelligence is highly valuable as it contributes positive
efforts in making operations effective (Moazzem and Halim, 2019). Royal mail includes
automation so that they can improve their value chain structured in the field of transportation
services. Effectively improves the speed of services related to deliveries which assist overall
organisation in increasing their profitability. It Lower down unnecessary cost which is a positive
factor in maintaining the financial position of organisation in required manner.
Environmental factors: The requirement of every market related to environmental
standards are different which need to be considered while performing operations. Factors like
2

climate changes, water and air pollution, weather events and renewable energy are included in
environmental factors. Royal mail developed strategies which support the development of
positive environment by reusing and recycling waste material. They focus on optimum utilisation
of natural resources so that they can improve the quality of environment without depleting
resources.
Legal factors: There are various factors like data protection, discrimination law, copyright,
intellectual property law, employment law, health and safety law (Reddi, 2019). All these factors
are classified under legal factors which affect the operations of an organisation to great extent.
Royal mail focus on protecting their rights so that they can carry out operations without any
challenges and threats. They also provide minimum wages and salary according to the criteria of
government so that they can retain their employees in effective manner.
It is important to understand the competitiveness of an organisation so that they can
effectively compete their competitors (Sadabadi and Mirzamani, 2021). Transportation and
industrial goods & services industry have formulated appropriate policies so that they can
maintain their appropriate speed of operations and deliveries. Royal mail uses porter’s five forces
model in order to understand their competitiveness. The model is as follows:
Competition in the industry: This power shows the ability of competitors which they
use to cut the power of an organisation. Competitors tend to offer products which are already
offered by an organisation which lower down their sales. It adversely affects the mind of
customers as well as suppliers of an organisation as they can get attracted towards the
competitors who offers lower prices. In case of Royal mail, this power is low because the
services of company are highly competitive. The brand image of Royal mail is very positive in
the respective market which retain their customers in effective manner without affected with the
factors like competition.
New entrants into industry: Nowadays there can be seen every industry involves new
entrants as it requires less cost and time for entering markets. Existing companies may be
affected with the operations of new entrants as they can influence the mind of customers
(Solheim-Kile and Wald, 2020). In context to Royal mail, this power is low because their brand
value is highly competitive in business environment which is not affected by new companies.
They are present in transportation and industrial goods and services industry from number of
decades which make them first preference of the targeted customers.
3

Power of suppliers: Suppliers are responsible in increasing the cost of equipment and raw
materials which are used by organisations. Less number of suppliers can affect the profitability
of an organisation because they become highly independent on those suppliers (Kristal and
Yaish, 2020). Royal mail has established a healthy relationship with large number of suppliers
which lower down the power of suppliers. They can easily bargain with their suppliers for
equipment and services which assist them in enhancement of their profitability in effective
manner.
Power of customers: It refers to the ability of customers to lower down the prices of their
products and services. Large number of buyers can affect the operations of an organisation by
bargaining with them (Vilar‐Rodríguez and Pons‐Pons, 2019). Royal mail has loyal and
trustworthy customer base who are satisfied with the products and services of an organisation.
This power is low because Royal mail always charge prices which are appropriate according to
the standards of their services which they offer. This assists them in retaining their customers for
longer period of time without any difficulties.
Threat of substitutes: This refers to the products or services which are same or alternative
of the products and services offered by an organisation. There are very low chances for the close
substitute of the services of Royal mail because they maintain high standards in context to attract
large number of buyers. They provide attractive offers and discounts to their regular customers
which engage them in better manner. It indirectly lowers down the threat of substitute which is
positive factor for an organisation in order to grow and expand their business.
It is analysed that strategic position of Royal mail is highly competitive in their respective
industry as they have established their brand image. The accuracy and speed of their services are
very competitive which assist in competing their competitors in required manner (Vosko and
Clare, 2021). This provides them number of attractive opportunities which make them different
from other organisations. They easily differentiate themselves by creating attractive and unique
values for their customers and get number of advantages from the market. Royal mail can
effectively generate higher revenues by involving services which are new in the market so that
they can position themselves in appropriate manner. they develop strategies which assist they in
carrying out innovative and unique operations which create their positive brand image in the
market. The chances of competition lower down when the position of company becomes
effective which is positive factor for growth of an organisation.
4

TASK 2
Identify and evaluate the impact of any one emerging technology on the present and future
operations.
Business environment requires continuos changes and upgradations on regular basis so
that they can effectively match the current market requirements. Royal mail includes information
technology in their operations so that they can update their systems and functions in appropriate
manner. Information technology is a wide professional category which covers different functions
such as safeguarding data and information, building communication network, trouble shooting
computer problems and many more (Zetzsche and et.al., 2021). It create, store, process,
exchange and retrieve all the relevant information and data. Royal mail improved their delivery
services by involving new systems such as use of conveyor belt. The delivery operations become
more smooth which assist them in accomplishment of their goals in appropriate manner. They
have used telemetry in their vehicles which increase the speed of delivery. The telemetry
technology further rolled into additional 11,000 vans which encourages fuel efficient driving
practices in all over UK. Information technology also help them in bar scanning which maintains
accuracy of their operations. It also helps in eliminating human errors and mistakes which is
required for better growth and development of an organisation.
The use of information technology provides secure platform for sending and receiving
mails with the help of recorded delivery. The recipients have to sign and provide them proof for
recipiency of their mails which gives sense of confirmation to the sender. Recorded posts allows
organisation in attracting large number of customers. In future, Royal mail can innovate various
services with the help of information technology. As it increases value and contribution of
organisation towards satisfying the needs and requirements of their customers. The quality and
productivity can be easily improved by adding services which are essential for capturing large
market area (Goldstein and et.al., 2019). Automating specific tasks by Royal mail will ensure
their effective growth and expansion. Various competitive advantages can be easily gained by
eliminating duplications from the activities of an organisation. Royal mail uses online platforms
for increasing their brand awareness in their targeted market which increase the number of
customers. Industrial revolution can be experienced by focusing on the use of information
technology.
5

Recommendations for senior management for overcoming challenges and maximising
opportunities by the emerging technology.
 Businesses should use information technology for protecting their confidential
information and data. It helps in maintaining proper security within organisation so that
third party cannot access the data (Sousa-Zomer and Miguel, 2018). It will directly assist
Royal mail in following their strategies and policies in effective manner without any
difficulties. Protection and securing data provide number of business opportunity which
results in improved performance and productivity.
 Organisations should use information technology for maintaining appropriate
communication with their stakeholders. It will assist them in engaging customers by
catering their needs in proper manner (Marino and Pariso, 2020). Royal mail can use
customer support services with the help of information technology so that they can
understand the behaviour of their customers. It also resolves queries and problems of
customers in short period of time which is positive factor in maintaining sustainability of
an organisation.
 Information technology should be used by organisation for their online reputation
management. Royal mail store and gather their online data such as reviews and feedbacks
of customers which provides opportunity to improve their operations (Yang, Steensma
and Ren, 2020). It can effectively monitor the productivity of their employees which is
responsible for offering required services to customers. It develops better connection
among employees so that they can carry out smooth operations. Virtual teams of
workforce can be easily managed by the involvement of information technology.
6

CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that public and private sectors involves
number of operations which requires specific strategies. Top level management of an
organisation is responsible of identifying and evaluating the business environment so that they
can develop appropriate policies. Strategies which are formulated according to the business
requirements provide number of opportunities to businesses in context to growth and expansion.
It provides various competitive advantages so that business can effectively perform better then
their competitors. This report discussed about the strategic environments of an organisation
which affect their growth. The strategic position of business is also evaluated in this report. One
of the emerging technologies is discussed in this report which create impact on the present and
future operations of an organisation. Relevant recommendations are given in this report which
assist in overcoming problems.
7

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Goldstein and et.al., 2019. The private sector’s climate change risk and adaptation blind
spots. Nature Climate Change, 9(1), pp.18-25.
Khoumbati and et.al., 2018. Integration of public sector healthcare information systems with
private sector healthcare providers in Pakistan: challenges, opportunities and
solutions. Emerging markets from a multidisciplinary perspective, pp.233-240.
Kristal, T. and Yaish, M., 2020. Does the coronavirus pandemic level the gender inequality
curve?(It doesn’t). Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 68, p.100520.
Kumar, J. and Selvan, T., 2019. Management Efficiency and Profitability of Selected Indian
Public and Private Sector Banks. International Journal of Knowledge-Based
Organizations (IJKBO), 9(1), pp.26-35.
Marino, A. and Pariso, P., 2020. Comparing European countries' performances in the transition
towards the Circular Economy. Science of the Total Environment, 729, p.138142.
Marrazzo, F., 2021. Italian communication professionals: a comparison among public and private
sector ones in search of sediments of innovation. Italian communication professionals: a
comparison among public and private sector ones in search of sediments of innovation,
pp.149-158.
Moazzem, K.G. and Halim, F.B., 2019. Job Creation in the Manufacturing Sector as a Strategy
for Sustainable Economic Growth in Bangladesh. In Manufacturing and Jobs in South
Asia (pp. 15-50). Springer, Singapore.
Reddi, C.N., 2019. Effective public relations and media strategy. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
Sadabadi, A.A. and Mirzamani, A., 2021. The sustainable development goals and leadership in
public sector: a case study of social innovation in the disability sector of Iran. Innovation:
The European Journal of Social Science Research, pp.1-15.
Solheim-Kile, E. and Wald, A., 2020. Public–private joint ventures in the healthcare sector:
enlarging the shadow of the future through social and economic incentives. International
Journal of Public Sector Management.
Sousa-Zomer, T.T. and Miguel, P.A.C., 2018. Sustainable business models as an innovation
strategy in the water sector: An empirical investigation of a sustainable product-service
system. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171, pp.S119-S129.
Vilar‐Rodríguez, M. and Pons‐Pons, J., 2019. Competition and collaboration between public and
private sectors: the historical construction of the Spanish hospital system, 1942–86. The
Economic History Review, 72(4), pp.1384-1408.
Vosko, L.F. and Clare, E.J., 2021. A Model Regulator? Investigating Reactive and Proactive
Labour Standards Enforcement in Canada’s Federally Regulated Private
Sector. International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial
Relations, 37(2/3).
Yang, H., Steensma, H.K. and Ren, T., 2020. State ownership, firm innovation and the
moderating role of private-sector competition: the case of China. Competitiveness
Review: An International Business Journal.
Zetzsche and et.al., 2021. The Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) and the EU digital
finance strategy. Capital Markets Law Journal, 16(2), pp.203-225.
8

9

10