The Impact of Advanced-Data Processing Technologies: Royal Mail - Case Study Example

The impact of advanced data processing technologies: Royal Mail Introduction Royal Mail is national postal service in the United Kingdom that has been in service for over 300 years. Along with Parcelforce worldwide and Post office Limited, Royal mail is among the three brands that form the Royal Mail Group Limited. Since its inception thirty decades ago, Royal Mail has undergone dramatic transformation. Despite the introduction of electronic mail and other means of electronic messaging, Royal Mail continues to be relevant in the market. Royal mail delivers approximately 75million post each day and its sales each year are in excess of £9.5 billion. Much of the company’s growth and success can be attributed to its effective corporate strategies that have over the years seen the incorporation of advanced data processing technologies in a bid to improve its services to its customers (Sunderland 2010) .This paper seeks to provide an incisive outlook on various literatures that provide a depiction on the impact that advanced data processing technologies have on businesses. Royal mail will be used as the main example to show the extent in which the incorporation of these data processing technologies have impacted on its business. Foremost, this paper will examine the significance of incorporating advanced data processing technologies in business. Secondly, it will examine the technologies that Royal Mail has incorporated into its operations over the years. Lastly, this paper will discuss the impacts of incorporating these technologies in business. The need for advanced data processing technologies in business According to Drucker (1988) there is need to transform control and command based organizations into information based organizations. One of the ways of doing this is by incorporating advanced data processing technologies. Drucker observes that as soon as companies take the tentative steps from data into information by incorporating advanced data processing technologies in its business, several positive changes are bound to occur. For example the company’s management structure, decision and operation processes are bound to get transformed (Drucker 1988). There is need for advanced data processing technologies in order to enhance professionalism and efficiency. Given the fact that most information based companies such as Postal companies handle and delivers millions of parcels and letters every day, there is need for advanced data processing technologies in order to enhance efficiency and professionalism in all operations (Royal Mail 2010). According to Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies (LMDT), the use of advanced data processing technologies in business can result to an increase in the top-line revenue for postal service companies. Following the onset of changes revolving around structural market and the inception of electronic, there is need for postal service companies to establish alternative value streams from the different activities in the eBusiness sector and from the mail market. One of the ways of realizing this goal is by developing customer oriented business through the use of advanced data processing technologies. The ability of postal service companies to develop customer oriented services is dependent on their ability to target individual mail items and customers in the mail stream. This can be actualized when companies identify strategic technological platforms and functions that can be used meet the needs of customers (LMDT nd). Incorporation of Advanced Data Processing Technologies in Royal Mail In a bid to increase efficiency, convenience and protect its revenue Royal Mail has adapted various advanced data processing technologies. For instance, Royal mail has adopted the Online Postage and Intelligent Mail technologies into its mainstream operations. The online postage enables small business vendors to create stamps through the normal office based PC and printer by using Microsoft desktop applications such as MS Word. Users have to register with Royal Mail via its ecommerce Portal in order to open an Online Postage account. Subsequently, Stamps can be procured directly via the Internet at any location and any time. The incorporation of Online Postage into Royal Mail operations provides customers with more convenience through the 24/7 availability of services that does not require movements (LMDT nd).Furthermore, it gives Royal Mail a potential channel for increasing its advertising revenues. Moreover, the Online Postage technology enables Royal Mail to offer a more customer oriented service since it enables the personalization of mail. In this case, companies can personalize their mail by adding their company logo, image or slogan alongside the stamp in order to give a more professional image to their mail postings. In addition, the Online Postage system comes with a two-dimensional barcode within the indicia. This code comprises of information on the receiver, the sender, the service and other account information that are significant to build block for the purpose of intelligent mail. Royal Mail derives additional top-line growth from the value-added services that are based on the information provided in these indicia (LMDT nd). In 2010, Royal Mail became the first company to launch the digital watermarking technology. The key aim of launching this technology was to help businesses make their posts more interactive. This technology incorporates a state-of-the-art technology that combines heritage and history and allows users to connect from their post to their company’s online contents like company’s website Facebook page or video in seconds (Royal Mail 2011). Users receiving the digitally enhanced post can simply scan their mail using their 3Gphones in order to access online contents. On the other hand, users receiving their mailing can view their digital content using the watermark technology by downloading for free the Digital Space App. By reflecting the 3G phone over the image that is watermarked digitally users can instantly access the available digital content (Royal Mail 2011). The launch of this technology by Royal Mail in conjunction with Digital Space gives a digital watermark that can be set in mailings and leaflets. This watermark feature enables marketers to incorporate online and print materials without using QR codes or barcodes. Over the years, Royal mail has eliminated its reliance on shared hard-disk drives, local databases and information silos. Instead the company has invested significantly towards the establishment of large scale technological innovations in its operations (Barker & Sheppard 2007). Impact of advanced data processing technology to the business performance of Royal Mail The use of advanced data processing technologies has over the years enabled Royal Mail to increase its efficiency, improve on customer convenience and protect its revenue. For instance, the Online Postage technology has enabled Royal Mail to meets the needs of its customers. Using this technology, users can access postal services 24hrs a day in the convenience of their home or office. In addition, this technology enables users to personalise their mail by adding their slogans or logos (LMDT nd).The use of advanced data processing technologies have enabled Royal Mail to offers a more customer oriented services and a result the company has managed to retain its clients and attract more customers. Furthermore, this technology has enabled the company to protect its revenues and increase its advertising revenues. This technology offers applications that can recognize unique license numbers on mail items thus helping the company to ensure that all mailing items are tracked and billed to the right account holder (LMDT nd). The incorporation of advanced data processing technology to the business operations of Royal Mail has enabled the company to increase its capacity to compete in an increasingly competitive market. Through technologies such as the digital watermarking technology and many others, Royal Mail has managed to integrate a state-of-the-art technology in its operations in order to offer its customers satisfying and convenient services. Moreover, the incorporation of advanced data processing technologies has enabled Royal Mail to expand its postal services. These technologies have enabled the Company to improve its efficiency and speed in the process of delivering its services. The adoption of data entry procedures to track the flow of data through different routes has enabled the company to identify areas of obstructions and implement necessary action in order to address the impeding factors (Royal Mail 2011). In addition, the incorporation of advanced data processing technologies to the business operations of Royal Mail has enabled the company to increase its operation revenues. Since the inception of its data entry program, Royal Mail has recorded an increase in its annual operation revenues (OCP nd). On the other hand, according to Piercy (1984) the incorporation of advanced data processing technology can pose various challenges to businesses. One of the key challenges that these technologies can impose revolve around the costs of developing and implementing these technologies, the investment cost of most advanced data processing technologies are a high whereas the results of these adoption could be realized in the long-run. This in turn puts businesses in a vulnerable situation especially when the technologies fail to bring about the expected outcomes. The incorporation of some technologies into the operations of businesses can lead to unemployment. Whereas efficiency and productivity is increased as a result of these technologies, these technologies can render some employment positions obsolete. In some cases, the implementation of advanced technologies may become cheaper as compared to labor payment thus making certain jobs to become redundant and obsolete (Piercy 1984). Conclusion Royal Mail has been in service for over 300 years, despite the introduction of electronic mail and other means of electronic messaging, Royal Mail continues to be relevant in the market. Much of the company’s growth and success can be attributed to its effective corporate strategies that have over the years seen the incorporation of advanced data processing technologies in a bid to improve its services to its customers (Sunderland 2010). There is need for advanced data processing technologies in order to enhance professionalism and efficiency. In a bid to increase efficiency, convenience and protect its revenue Royal Mail has adapted various advanced data processing technologies such as the Online Postage and Intelligent Mail technologies into its mainstream operations. As a result, the company has increased its efficiency, improved on customer convenience and increased its revenues. Bibliography Drucker, P., 1988, The coming of the new organization, Harvard Business School, Cambridge. Barker, M. & Sheppard, S. 2007, Case study: Royal Mail Group, Volume 10, Issue 5, Retrieved on June 14, 2011from Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies. (No date). Use of Technology to Increase USPS Top-Line Revenue. Retrieved on June 14, 2011from Ocp.co.uk. (No date). Royal Mail Group Plc, Retrieved on June 14, 2011 from Piercy, N., 1984, The management implications of new information technology, Taylor & Francis, London. Royal Mail, 2011, Royal Mail becomes world’s portal company to offer digital watermarking. Retrieved on June 14, 2011 from Royal Mail, 2010, Operations, Retrieved on June 14, 2011 from Sunderland,2010, Royal Mail , Retrieved on June 14, 2011 from Read More