USPS Blue Ocean Strategy Business Plan
Final
MGT 670
Spring Semester

Blue Ocean Strategy
The Postal Service should pursue the Blue Ocean Strategy of becoming a nationwide data collection network. According to the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) website they have 211,264 total vehicles as of 2014. The U.S. Government Accountability Office states that the USPS has the largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the world. The USPS also has delivers to every address in the United States- this requires an extensive delivery network. The USPS should exploit their vehicle fleet and extensive delivery routes to outfit their vehicles with sensors to become a data collection network.
According to an article in Popular Science, the Postal Service’s fleet of vehicles could be equipped “with an array of cheap sensors, mail trucks could wireless deliver real time information on weather, pollutants, traffic, road conditions, and even locate gaps in cell phone coverage and television signals” (Dillow, 2010). The data collected could have homeland security implications as well, as noted in Popular Science, by sensors being able to identify chemical-biological threats as well as radiological threats.
Threats are always prevalent to an organization, especially one that is trying to implement a new business opportunity to their existing business. The USPS is unique because they have threats that come from the private sector and threats that come from Congress in the public sector. The threats from the private sector come from other data collection companies who already have the technology and infrastructure in place. The competition that was able to identify this market is already established and looking towards the future of the data collection industry. Congress is also a threat to the USPS and change in its organization. In January of 2015, Emily Kopp from the Federal News Radio reported that the Postmaster, at the time, spoke of myopia and shortsightedness from Congress as one of the reasons changes are stifled in the USPS.
Vision Statement: The USPS will be dedicated to providing the essential services in an efficient and working to expand into new industries while also working to become financially viable.
The revised vision statement reflects the USPS’s focus on providing mail delivery to every address in the United States. It also reflects their need to find a way to become financially viable and that the way to do this is to explore other industries I which they can take advantage of a blue ocean opportunity. In this case the proposed industry is data collection and then selling the data that was mined through sensors on their fleet of vehicles.
Mission Statement: To bind the Nation together through correspondence through efficient, prompt and reliable service; also to exploit their infrastructural strengths to become one of the nation’s largest data collectors.
The revised mission statement reflects the USPS’s mission to connect the Nation through its delivery services in an efficient and reliable means. The second part of the mission statement reflects the USPS’s mission to take advantage of their infrastructure in place to obtain a new source of revenue through the collection and sale of data.

Industry
Market Overview
We live in a knowledge based economy and information is big business. The data collection industry, or Big Data as it is also known, is expected to become a $125 billion market in 2015, according to a report by Tim Brugger from the Motley Fool.
The data market is a booming industry that has contact with businesses from all sectors. The uses of the data, as noted by Jonathon Snow from Harvard Magazine, include search engine recommendations, risk of credit default, and stores marketing based on previous purchases. The sensors in the case of the USPS could also be used to provide rela-time weather and traffic data as well as detect chemical and radiological threats and also could measure cellular signal strength for phone companies in every corner of the U.S.
Louis Columbus from Forbes report that “87% of enterprises believe Big Data analytics will redefine the competitive landscape of their industries within the next three years. 89% believe that companies that do not adopt a Big Data analytics strategy in the next year risk losing market share and momentum” (Columbus, 2014). This shows that organizations realize the potential in data and they are willing to spend their organizations funds to obtain data.
Market Trends
The data collection industry in growing and is expected to continue to grow in to the foreseeable future. The increasing volume and detail of information captured by enterprises, the rise of multimedia, social media, and the Internet of Things will fuel exponential growth in data for the foreseeable future (Manyika, 2011). Gil Press, from Forbes, reports that “70% of large organizations already purchase external data and 100% will do so by 2019” (Press, 2014).
This is a good time for the USPS to get into an industry that is growing and is going to continue to grow for years. The need for data is becoming greater and greater. Louis Columbus from Forbes reports that the data industry is forecasted to be a $500 billion dollar industry by 2020.
The service for data brokers and the need for data will be trending up as companies need for data increases. The USPS will be able to sell their data collecting services making them a data broker. Doug Laney from Garner Inc, contributed an article in Forbes where he predicts that “By 2017, more than 30% of enterprise access to broadly based big data will be via intermediary data broker services, serving context to business decisions” (Laney, 2015).
Market Size
The size of the data collection market is growing. As noted above, this is expected to be a $125 billion dollar market in 2015. Also noted above is there is expected to be exponential growth into the foreseeable future. As the market grows so will the available opportunities. Data is used in the private and public sectors for various reasons. The need for data is essential in our knowledge based economy and the majority of people play a part in the industry in an active or passive manner. Active members in the market are those people collecting the data, while the passive members are everyone else whose information is being tracked to provide data to be analyzed. The industry will be growing leaps and bounds as companies start to learn how to better leverage their analytics into bottom line results.

External Environment
To analyze the external environment of the USPS and the proposed Blue Ocean Strategy a PESTLE Analysis has been used.
Political
The USPS has several political factors that affect them including Congress, labor unions and the bureaucracy involved dealing with each of the groups. These factors affect the USPS’s effectiveness and financial stability.
Congress has been detrimental to the USPS’s financial standing. Fredric Rolando, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers in Washington D.C., stated in a letter to the editor of Federal News Radio that: “In 2006, a lame-duck Congress mandated that the Postal Service pre-fund retiree health benefits. No other agency or company has to pre-fund for even one year; the Postal Service must pre-fund 75 years into the future and pay for it all over a decade. That $5.6 billion annual charge is the red ink” (Rolando, 2015). In addition to Congress affecting the USPS’s financial standing, Congress also adds additional layers of bureaucracy which affects the USPS’s ability to operate efficiently and change strategies in an expedient manner to keep up with their competition.
Labor unions also pose problems for the USPS. Labor unions in some instances can make or break an organization. Labor unions can affect the organizations flexibility and ability to competitively price. “Unions can have the power to impede a company's ability to compete and thrive. A firm might be in desperate trouble, yet its unions may be unwilling to bend or compromise in order to help the company survive” (Maranjian, 2014). The unions will push the organization for higher pay and more benefits despite how much it would affect the organization’s ability to operate. If the unions aren’t willing to compromise they have tactics, such as labor strike, that could cripple then entire system.
Economic
Economic factors include competition’s strategy and the consumers in the market. Depending on the market conditions the competition’s strategy could change and this could impact the USPS’s strategy. Also, consumers can affect the USPS due to the economic environment at the time because people change their spending habits during the ebbs and flows of the economy.
The competition is more strategically flexible than the USPS due to their ability to operate without the Congressional oversight the USPS must endure. The competition can operate how they see fit and can change their strategy at their beckon will. However, the USPS has additional outside factors that inhibit their flexibility such as Congress. The USPS needs Congressional approval to pursue changes such as price changes; because of this the USPS is not able to be flexible in a changing economy and it hurts their ability to compete in the market place.
Also, consumers play a factor in in the external environment and as it relates to the economics of the USPS. The consumers in the case of the data collection side of the USPS’s business is going to mainly be made up of businesses and governmental agencies. When the economy is trending up businesses and organizations are able to spend funds in different ways, such as information. When the economy id trending down businesses tighten up and focus on their core mission rather than looking to expand.
Social
Some social or socio-cultural elements of the external environment include holidays and attitudes towards data collection. Holidays could affect the availability of data and the data is based on the schedules the vehicles are on the roads as well how the operator uses the vehicles. In addition, another social issue that could come forward is society’s attitude toward wide-scale data collection.
Holidays and scheduling could affect the results of the data collected. Companies and other government agencies may want data that would have to be collected on holidays or after hours. Holidays have historically been days where the USPS is closed. Also, they have set hours they abide by. These could be inhibitors to success because an agency or company may want data collected on holidays or on off hours. The employees may resist to do this and then this also would bring the labor union in to the fold which could further muddy things up.
The attitudes towards data collection have changed in recent years due to certain data collection programs coming to light that were done by the National Security Agency (NSA). According to Daniel Humphries, a Market Research Associate from Software Advice; 44% of the public views data collection of an invasion of privacy. Due to the attitude of the public seeing data collection as being negatively associated with an invasion of privacy.
Technological
Elements of technology in the external environment that could affect the USPS are the rate of change, security, and the infrastructure. Technology is constantly changing and evolving and as a result there is pressure or sometimes a need for organizations to upgrade and remain-up-to-date.
When technology is involved there is always a need to remain up-to-date with the latest technologies involved in your industry in order to remain competitive. This can make using technology expensive for an organization; especially one as big as the USPS. Although the cost of sensors is cheap and trending further down, but due to the size of the USPS any additions or updates to their system will cost a large amount.
Security is also a big factor when using technology. The organization has to make sure they take appropriate steps to secure their information and protect their hardware and servers from hackers. Security protocols and having the appropriate protection of the data is an important factor. With the amount of hackers and people stealing data it is essential that security be in place to prevent outside hackers from entering the system.
The infrastructure the technology is getting integrated into is also a factor when using technology. If the integration is poor it will lead to the users getting frustrated, unwillingness to use the technology and inefficiencies. It is important that integration is planned and the employees are involved to limit frustration and unwillingness to use the systems.
Legal
The USPS may have some problems when it comes to the type of data collected and where the data is collected. Legal issues would be likely to arise from citizens in the U.S. if the USPS became a nationwide data collection network. There are many people who do not trust agencies of the government and do not like their data being collected, especially in the post-Snowden, NSA era of data collection.
The USPS will have to look into the legality of what type of information they can legally collect and make sure they are collecting data that would not be viewed as intrusive. The landscape for data collection has changed in recent years and there is more of a focus from the public on wide-scale data collection and the civil rights it may infringe on.
The USPS will also have to make sure they are collecting data in places deemed allowable. There are secure areas all over the U.S. that the government or certain organizations may deem this technology a security risk. Also, depending certain neighborhoods may try to limit or ban the USPS from collecting data in court.
Environmental
The weather can affect a lot from the USPS’s traditional delivery work to the technology added to their vehicles for data collection. The sensors and other data collection hardware on the vehicles will have a rating for their usefulness in certain weather conditions. The rating will likely contain a minimum and maximum temperature range in which the sensors will optimally work. The U.S. is expansive and has all weather conditions represented from the desert to glaciers as a result the USPS needs to make sure that they plan accordingly for how they can work through instances of extreme weather.

Stakeholders
Congress
Congress’s concerns would include: * The USPS’s ability to implement a data collection network * Potential impact if the USPS fails * How their Congressional Districts feel about data collection
Congress would have a concern whether or not the leadership in the USPS will be able to successfully implement the addition of a data collection network. The USPS will have to communicate with Congress that there is a strategy to implement the data collection network and they have Subject Matter Experts in place to assist in the process.
Congress should also be concerned if the USPS fails at implementing the data collection network. If the USPS fails on the implementation of the data collection network then there may be a chance that the USPS will need a bailout and these funds would come from taxpayers. The USPS will have to assure Congress that they will be able to pull off the successful implementation of the data collection network and this should also be backed-up with financial projections showing the anticipated revenues and how long it will take for the USPS to break even and then have a positive return on investment.
Congress will also have to be concerned how their districts feel about data collection. Congressional leaders are politicians first so they have to be able to sell this idea if there are any doubts in the population of their districts. To quell any negativity the members of Congress will need to be able to have an open dialogue assuring the citizens that the data collected won’t infringe on their privacy. Also, the members of Congress should be well-versed in the positives that will come with the implementation of a new revenue stream in the Post Office. These positives could include freezes on prices for consumers and additional staff to expedite service.
Management
The USPS’s management’s concerns would include: * Implementation of the data collection network * Finding customers for their data collection services * Projecting realistic financials * Succeeding in a new business arena * Getting the employees to buy in to the new processes and training the employees
The concerns in regards to implementation can be managed by having a clear strategy and also making sure people with the correct expertise (Subject Matter Experts) are brought in to oversee the implementation of the data collecting network.
Finding customers for their data collecting services is a concern as well. If there aren’t enough customers to do better than break-even then it would be a failure. The USPS should have an advantage over the private sector competition to secure federal contracts for homeland security uses such as chemical-biological and radiological detection. The USPS should begin to market themselves prior to deployment of the network so they can have business lined up from the onset.
The USPS should be concerned about realistic projections of the potential financial impact of adding the data collection business. If the financials are overly positive they will appear as overly positive and this could hurt their ability to gain the confidence of Congress; however if their financials are not positive enough or reflect negatively they will have a hard time gaining confidence.
Succeeding in a new business should be a concern for the management at the USPS. Implementing a big change, one where an organization is spending millions likely, could make or break careers. The USPS will address this concern by making sure they have their strategy in place, all of the details figured out, and testing done with the new technology. By making sure the USPS is thorough and has everything in place they will be able to minimize their concerns in regards to failure.
Getting employees to buy into a new process and accept additional training and responsibilities will be another concern for management. To address this concern, management should get their employees to buy into this new mission by including them early on in the process. When the employees are engaged they will be more likely to buy into the changes.
Employees
The employees of the USPS concerns would include: * Employment status * Changes to their job duties * Receiving appropriate training
The employees of the USPS would primarily be concerned with their employment status. When changes arise in an organization it is likely you will have people whom are worried about their employment status. There may be employees whom are afraid of change or are worried they won’t be able to learn new skills. The management will have to communicate to the employees that there job are not at jeopardy and they will be trained so they are fully capable of handling any new responsibilities that may arise with the implementation of the data collection network.
The employees will also be concerned with their job duties and what will be expected of them. The concern over job duties could be a concern because the employees may be worried that the addition of sensors to the vehicles will mean they will have additional duties and it would also probably get the union involved. To address the concerns over job duties management will have to clearly present what will be expected of the employees and also how the employee’s involvement is essential for the success of the organization.
Receiving appropriate training is also a concern for employees. The USPS can handle this concern with proper training and early adoption of training classes and exercises. Good training will influence the employees to become more engaged. Training will limit the employee’s frustration because they will be prepared. Also, prior to live deployment of the system the USPS should have some dry runs in which the employees are involved and providing feedback. By using their feedback the system can be optimized for their use and also it will make the employees feel empowered.
U.S. Citizens
U.S. citizens’ concerns would include: * Type of data collected * How will the data be secured * How will the data be used * If data collection will affect the efficiency of regular mail delivery
Citizens will be concerned about the type of data that will be collected. People want their privacy protected and may see the implementation of a data collection network integrated into postal vehicles as “Big Brother-ish”. The USPS will have to assure the citizens that it is only collecting data that is impersonal and it is not going to infringe on the privacy rights of the people. Also to address this concern the USPS could show the public how it works and what data they are collecting for their various customers.
Another concern of citizens would be how secure is the data that is being collected. Cyber security is at the forefront of a lot of organizations minds as well as the minds of individuals. Citizens may be concerned with how secure the data is and how the data will be stored. The USPS will have to make sure they have a secured network and have ethical hackers to test their security. These results could be published for concerned citizens to see that cyber security is a priority.
The use of the data is another concern of citizens. The USPS will need to be open about what the data is used for; whether it is for data on cellular signal strength or homeland security. By being open and direct the USPS will be able to calm citizens whom think there may be more deviant reasons behind the data collection.
Also, citizens will also be concerned if the implementation of the data collection network will affect the efficiency of the regular mail service. People don’t want their mail service interrupted, but they may feel it will be interrupted if there is additional equipment on the truck. It will be important for the USPS to prove that mail delivery is business as usual to quiet this concern.

Strategy
Corporate-level Strategy
The USPS should pursue a corporate-level strategy of growth. Growth strategies are defined by Joe Thomas from Reference for Business as strategies that “are designed to expand an organization's performance, usually as measured by sales, profits, product mix, market coverage, market share, or other accounting and market-based variables” (Thomas, n.d.).

The growth strategy the USPS should deploy is conglomerate diversification. Conglomerate diversification is “into products or services unrelated to the firm's existing business” (Thomas, n.d.). Data collection is unrelated to the USPS’s current mission of delivering the mail, hence the choice of conglomerate diversification. The USPS has to find new streams of revenue in order to get out of the red. By diversifying they will enter into a new business in which they can achieve new revenue streams in a sector that is growing exponentially.
The USPS would use a growth strategy rather than retrenchment or stability strategy because they would be entering into the data collection industry. They haven’t been involved in this industry, but they are large enough to make an immediate splash by entering the market on a large-scale. According to the Strategic Management text “research suggests that large-scale entry into a new industry is often a critical precondition for the success of a new venture” (Hitt et al., 2015, p. 266).
Business-level Strategy
The USPS’s business-level strategy should be a cost-leadership strategy. The cost-leadership strategy in a strategy in which firms “develop policies aimed at becoming and remaining the lowest cost producer and/or distributor in the industry” (Thomas, n.d.). The USPS will be able to exploit their current infrastructure that is in place by adding inexpensive sensors to their fleet of vehicles and will be able to collect data on a small-scale, such as city-wide, or on a larger scale, such as nationwide.
The USPS will be able to utilize a cost-leadership strategy by the amount of data they will be able to provide. The USPS delivers to every address in the U.S., approximately 153 million addresses according to the USPS’s website. They also have over 200,000 vehicles in their fleet that are on the road traveling their extensive delivery routes. This will allow the USPS to use their expansive network as a competitive advantage and they will be able to achieve a cost-leadership strategy based on the amount of data they will be able to collect and sell in bulk.
Organization Structure
Due to the current structure in place, security protocols and the external political factors the USPS should run their data collection business as a mechanistic organization. Courtright, Fairhurst and Rogers state that mechanistic organizations are run using an authority-based philosophy. The data collection network will be integrated into the USPS’s current infrastructure; because of this the USPS should maintain their current structure rather than reorganize the whole organization.
There would be additional jobs added to the USPS such as system hardware and data employees, as well as potentially some additional Contract Specialists to set up contracts. However, much of the structure will remain consistent with how it is currently set up.
As noted in the “Structure follows Strategy” lecture the characteristics of a mechanistic organization are: * High Specialization * Rigid Departmentalization * Clear Chain of Command * Narrow Spans of Control * Centralization * High Formalization
The USPS should maintain their specialized jobs; however with the integration of the data collection business the USPS will have to hire additional staff whom is well versed in the technology they will be using and individuals who specialize in contracts. Also it is important to note that according to the Strategic Management text, that highly specialized jobs are aligned with a cost-leadership business strategy.
The departmentalization the USPS should utilize is functional departmentalization. Shawn Grimsley, from Study.com, defines functional departmentalization as “an organization is organized into departments based upon the respective functions each performs for the organization” (Grimsley, n.d.). The USPS will utilize a rigid form of departmentalization to keep the specific job duties distinct and separate. The mail carriers will do mail carrier duties, while the network engineers take care of the networks, with no cross-training.
The clear chain of command will be recognized as it currently stands. The mechanistic nature of the organization lends to the use of a clear chain of command. Employees will know who their chain of command is and it will be stressed that they utilize their chain of command when dealing with any issues.
The span of control will be narrow. In mechanistic organizations the span of control is narrow because there is a clear chain of command and everyone knows who they are to report to and managers know where their lane is. This maintains a system in which there are clear leadership roles and responsibilities.
The organization will have centralized decision-making. This is due to the established chain of command and the narrow spans of control that limit lower level managers from being empowered to make decisions. The centralized decision making will occur at the top of the chain of command and trickle down.
The USPS will be highly formalized due to the mechanistic nature of the organization. The USPS is a well-established organization with a vast history. It is set up in a way that is formalized and should continue to be. This is to be done because there are processes and training for the specific roles are established and the management chain is clear and to be utilized.

Management Moving Forward
Moving forward management has to find a way to get Congress, the labor unions, their employees and the public to buy into the idea of the data collection network. Three areas to focus on moving forward are: * Focus on getting all of the stakeholders on board * Focus on implementing the new system * Focus on refining and improving their processes
First the USPS need to focus on the stakeholders and getting them to buy into the data collection network. Without the support of the stakeholders the USPS will never get this project off the ground. They will have to prove to the stakeholders the system and financial viability. To do this the USPS will have to present evidence-based data and a clear cut strategy on how they plan to implement these changes.
Second, the USPS has to focus on implementing the new system. Implementing the new system is an important area to focus on because the successful implementation is essential in getting the program started and also to suppress any frustrations that could happen when implementation is not smoothly implemented. The implementation starts with a good strategy. The USPS needs Subject Matter Experts to help them come up with a strategy and then implement the strategy to assure implementation is optimally done.
Lastly, the USPS has to focus on improvement and refining there processes. This area of focus is needed because it will focus on continual improvement of their processes and the way in which the system works together. Continuous improvement is an important process to implement in any organization. As the data collection network is deployed in the field and used for a period of time they will see room for improvement or will have to regularly analyze their processes in order to make sure they are always moving their productive progress forward.

Competition
Acxiom
Acxiom is an American company founded in 1969 and it currently headquartered in Arkansas. “Acxiom is an enterprise data, analytics and software as a service company” ("About - Acxiom," n.d.). Acxiom takes the data they collect and sells it to companies so the companies can make better decisions involving marketing.
Experian
Experian was originally an American company but was bought out by a United Kingdom company in 1996. Experian is known primarily for their credit scoring services for consumers. However, Experian is also a “a global leader in data-driven marketing” and “provides over 10,000 brands with consumer insights, analytics and marketing technology to drive customer acquisition, increase customer loyalty and improve marketing return on investment” ("About us | Experian Marketing Services," n.d.).
Epsilon
Epsilon is an American firm that defines itself as a company that uses “data-driven marketing to build detailed portraits of your customers to help you meet their needs and win their business ahead of the competition. We create profiles and predictive models that come as close as possible to knowing what the future holds” ("Marketing Data For Data Driven Marketing - Epsilon," n.d.).
Competition’s Response
The competition may have mixed reactions to the USPS entering the data collection and selling market. They may see the USPS has another bloated agency whom is not flexible enough to compete with private sector firms. However, the competition may see the USPS as an organization with a vast amount of resources and a well-established infrastructure.
The view of the USPS and their move into the data collection business is all in the perception of the company whom is analyzing them. The USPS does not usually have good press, it mostly covers their financial woes, and because of this the competitors could see the USPS as a mismanaged and financially unstable organization.
However, the competitors may see the USPS as having a vast network of resources to use to collect data. They have their fleet of vehicles, extensive delivery networks and name recognition in which they can capitalize on.
The competition will have to look closely at the USPS and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the USPS compared to their business strategy. For example, Experian’s two main headquarters are in Ireland and the United Kingdom, this may cause them to look at the USPS differently than the other two competitive firms that are located in the U.S.
Chances of Success
The USPS’s chances of success are dependent on their ability to get Congress to work with them. If Congress does not back the changes then the chances of success are less than 25%. This is because Congress has the ability to not allow the USPS to make changes without their approval, despite the fact that the USPS is considered an independent agency of the U.S., and despite the fact they don’t use taxpayer’s money to fund their operations.
If Congress and other stakeholders back the USPS’s decision to implement a data collection network then the predicted chance of success is 75%. This percentage is based on the information that was analyzed. The USPS has a lot of outside factors that can affect the outcome. However, if they are able to quell the outside factors from inhibiting their entrance into this new business area, they have a large fleet of vehicles and the most extensive delivery routes in the U.S. to collect data from. Also, the sensor technology is inexpensive and like most technology is likely to get even more inexpensive which helps when trying to implement technology changes. Because of these reasons is how I decided on a chance of success of 75%.

References
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