Betting on the Postal Service?
Filed under Ideas, Incentive System, Information Systems
How can companies harness hidden knowledge located throughout the enterprise? Supporters of prediction markets claim they offer a way. Prediction markets resemble financial trading sites, but instead of buying and selling stocks, traders buy and sell predictions. A company that wants to operate a prediction market can provide their employees virtual cash to trade and give those who do well over time small prizes.
So how do prediction markets work? Let’s say a shoe company with an active prediction market is rolling out a new style of boots. Employees at the shoe company could buy a prediction that the boots will hit stores on time. If the project succeeds and meets its schedule, the prediction pays $1. If there are delays, the prediction will pay nothing. Conversely, skeptical employees could bet against the boots arriving on time. They would receive $1 only if the boots fail to arrive on time. The price of the prediction signals how likely the entire market thinks the event will happen. If everyone believes the boots are on schedule, the price of predicting the project will be on time might be high — 80 cents or so. However, if fears grow that the boots will be late — perhaps a key supplier is having production problems — the price of the on-time prediction will start falling. The falling price is a sign that all is not well on the project.
Loading …Tags: prediction markets
Disappearing Collection Boxes
Filed under Delivery, Finances, Mailing Services
News about disappearing collection boxes is everywhere these days. Even BBC News ran a story on the decline of the blue collection box in the United States.
The Postal Service argues that picking up mail from collection boxes is expensive. Removing underused boxes is a cost savings move and a reasonable response to the economic crisis. The Postal Service is removing boxes with less than 25 stamped mail pieces per day.
Critics wonder if there is adequate analysis to support the 25-piece minimum and whether one reason for removing collection boxes — in addition to the minimal cost savings — is that the Postal Service does not want to be criticized for poor service. Fewer boxes mean fewer opportunities to miss a collection or to pick up mail too early.
Tags: Finances, mail boxes, Mailing Services, postal service
Are There Other Viable Alternatives for 6-Day Delivery Operations?
Filed under Delivery, Mailing Services
In these challenging times, reducing the cost of delivery operations — one of the Postal Service’s largest expenses — could save millions. One option the Postal Service is considering is to discontinue Saturday city and rural delivery and collection services.
Saturday is said to be one of the lowest mail volume days. It’s also a day when many businesses are closed. The September/October 2009 digital issue of Mailing Systems Technology included a survey of managers working in the mailing industry. Of those surveyed, 98 percent said changing to 5-day delivery would not require a change in staffing. The survey results also indicated that most managers surveyed (81 percent) preferred Saturday as the day of the week that the Postal Service would stop delivering mail. An additional 62 percent of the managers surveyed felt that once implemented, there should be no exceptions to 5-day deliveries such as for holiday weeks or high-volume mailing periods.
Tags: Delivery, financial operations, postal service, services
Modes of Delivery
Filed under Delivery
Providing mail delivery is central to the Postal Service’s mission. Delivery is the Postal Service’s largest operational function and accounted for approximately one-third of its nearly $78 billion in total expenses during 2008. Postal Service management is working hard to reduce delivery costs while continuing to deliver to 149 million[1] addresses in the most efficient manner possible. Despite declining mail volumes, the Postal Service is challenged to provide cost efficient and effective service to a delivery network growing by more than 1 million addresses each year.
The mode of delivery plays an important role in determining the cost and efficiency of delivery. The Postal Service provides three modes of delivery for existing delivery points — to the door, to a mailbox on the curb, and to a centralized point that serves several addresses. Door-to-door delivery is the most costly mode and is no longer available for new delivery points. When new developments are established, curbside and centralized deliveries are the only options. Since centralized delivery is the cheapest mode, the Postal Service favors installing centralized delivery. However, the decision on mode of delivery is sometimes left to the developer.
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Tags: Delivery, Delivery modes
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