Without Morality, The Market Will Destroy Itself - 1867 Words

Without morality, the market will destroy itself. Critics believe market economy and globalization has developed habits, beliefs, and institutions that set back social and ethical agendas. In its efforts to reduce child labor and poverty in poor countries and the promotion of gender equality and environmental protection everywhere. However, over the past decade theologians, scholars, and economists continue to debate the effect markets have on society and different environments. Adam Smith, the father of economics, set out thle principles of market economics in his book, The Wealth of Nations. However, in his other book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, he was able connect two themes. He discovered that markets serve human needs properly only if markets operate in a moral context. Throughout this paper, there will be determinants for how society is changing, an explanation on how commercialism is replacing Christ centered morals, a research on other macroeconomic concepts and biblical teaching studied, an analysis of the values of a society, and the responsibilities Christians should have in the world. Firstly, there needs to be an evaluation on how determinants of priorities for society as a whole are changing. As a society everyone has a right to health. â€Å"Once a person s existence has been guaranteed, the next most important thing to him is a healthy body. If a person has to spend every waking hour searching for food, that person has little time to worry about freedoms ofShow MoreRelatedHuman Freedom, Consciousness, And Reality1404 Words   |  6 Pagesrights. However, if legal measures are taken and that the girls are prevented from working in the factory, it will not assist them but instead cause more problems. For example, forcing them to leave the factory would mean that they would only stay without anything to do. They would not go to school because the society does not allow them. They would also miss food to eat because it is the factory that ena bles those gets food. To make the matters worse, the investigation indicated that there is no comprehensiveRead MoreMilton Friedm The Limitations Of The Market2139 Words   |  9 PagesIn contrast with Galbraith, Milton Friedman never appreciated the limitations of the market, he was a forceful critic of government. He takes as a starting point Adam Smith’s skepticism, but he is much more toward the relationship between morality and capitalism. He launched a point of view which later generated controversy. He asserts that only people have responsibility. A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibility, but business as a whole cannot beRead MoreThe Smartest Guys Of The Room, Or The Most Unethical?1723 Words   |  7 Pages LePine, Wesson, ethics is noted as, â€Å"The degree to which the behaviors of an authority are in accordance with generally accepted moral norms† (Colquitt, LePine, Wesson). The decisions that individual s make on a daily basis have a great deal morality within. Characteristics that aid in the ethical decision making process include dedication, integrity, conduct, and many more. Every company makes its values and ethics known immediately after hiring an employee, or specifically, during the interviewRead MoreThe Degenerative Influence of Advertising on Society Essay1563 Words   |  7 Pagesthem until their principles no longer come from within them. Thus, in my opinion, advertising, unless deeply rooted in high ethical standards, destroys any concept of community, common morality or deep bonding. Advertisements thrust products and services at consumers that they deem necessary in order to be loved, beautiful, happy, and fulfilled. Without these â€Å"necessities,† we feel judged, out casted and criticized. These possessions, however, make us self-loathing. Subsequently, we lose ourRead MoreThe American Dream and the Mode of Production in ‚Äà ºBordertown‚Äà ¹.1147 Words   |  5 Pagessocial equality, ideology, and social economic power. â€Å"The mode of production† is understood to be the basis from which the majority of other social concepts, such as the relations between social classes, political and legal systems, work relations, morality and ideology, and many other phenomena, arise. These social concepts form the superstructure, for which the economic system forms the base. This theory is also related to ordinary people’s struggle for truth, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessRead MoreA Time Of Rapid Industrializati on1713 Words   |  7 Pagesgeneral neglect of political details ended up lending itself kindly to some corrupt business practices. An example of these corrupt practices was a trust, which was â€Å"a small group of associates† who â€Å"hold stock from a group of combined firms† and managed â€Å"them as a single entity† (Henretta, 2014, p.548). These trusts were basically a cartel because they were established as a loose organization of businesses that would collude and control the market. The amount of power that large corporations possessedRead More Business Ethics Essay1591 Words   |  7 Pages According to Wikipedia, ethics, also known as â€Å"moral philosophy†, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality. Concepts such as good and bad, noble, right and wrong, justice and virtue. To business, ethics is a tool to examine principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. Therefore, business eth ics can be both a normative and a descriptive discipline. Ethics is a part of the larger social ethics, and also always affect business development.Read MoreAnthropology and the Politics of Development1197 Words   |  5 Pagesthe article by Candea finds that there have been extensive efforts on the part of the Corsicans and other such historically colonized territories, to reclaim their linguistic identity without engaging in pitched political battles. This denotes that even as anthropology has given the Western world the power to destroy native cultures by defining them as inherently counterintuitive to development, the same study of history allows local cultures to identify and reclaim their own cultural roots. PerhapsRead MoreCultural Impact Of Puritans On The 18th And 18th Century1664 Words   |  7 Pagesspread of people across North America. Although their values and ideals are radical in terms of modern beliefs, our culture would not have formed the way it did without the early influence of Puritans. Most confuse the group of Puritans that escaped England with the Mayflower separatists, but that is not the case. Their cause was not to destroy the Church of England or forsake it, nor its reformed beliefs that they were unhappy with, it was to sculpt and whittle their own place of worship in an areaRead MoreThe Ethical Use Of Of Genetically Modified Organisms1691 Words   |  7 Pageson our way to what is becoming known as the Second Green Revolution. The First Green Revolution refers to the successful practices in farm production around the 1950s and 1960s. With higher rates of investment in crop research, infrastructure, and market development, the production of cereal crops was able to triple with only a 30% increase in land area cultivated (Pingali, 2012). This second revolution refers to the use of GMOs as the new innovation that will lead the way to even better advancements

Consumer-Directed Health Care and The Disadvantaged Free Essays

Writing from his aerie as a law professor at Georgetown, M. Gregg Bloche takes a dim view of high deductible coverage, tax-subsidized health savings accounts (HSA’s), recently added to the payment mix for health care in America.   He reasons that the poor and minorities (all too often one and the same) generally earn too little to set aside money in consumer-directed health plans (CDHP), they have imperfect information, they lack access to the best-quality health care, and they may well wind up subsidizing the inpatient costs of the middle and privileged classes. We will write a custom essay sample on Consumer-Directed Health Care and The Disadvantaged or any similar topic only for you Order Now    The author suggests relieving the burden on the poor by providing them more lavish tax subsidies, charging well-off patients more for their health coverage, and giving the poor advantageous prices for â€Å"high-value† care. Where the Case for the â€Å"Disadvantaged† Falls Short Ultimately, Bloche rests his arguments on a shared philosophy of should’s and ought’s, that a civilized society must ensure equal access to the best medical care.   This is a perilous stand, an ideal paradigm of social justice that has extremely elastic boundaries.   As a law teacher, Bloche is concerned chiefly with equity.   Taken to a logical conclusion, such a stand obligates health care leaders to provide addicts disposable needles as the Dutch do (and never mind if they do not want to enter a rehab facility), make injected opioid therapy freely available to heroine addicts (Britain), and permit legal abortion to teenagers without benefit of parental consent (U.S.).   In short, the author may be well-meaning but he presents his case in the realm of political and legal ideology. America has always stood for protection of the oppressed.   Given how minorities have suffered bias, prejudice and outright repression, Bloche argues, their poverty is not of their own making.   They should not be forced to pay for health care by digging into money they need for basic necessities: food, shelter, and utilities.   This argument is weak in three respects. First of all, the income disparities are not as wide a gulf as he makes them out to be.   In the 2005 Census, mainstream White households had median incomes of $49,000 (Census Bureau, 2006) compared to $34,000 for Hispanics and $30,000 for Blacks. But the real story is that the fastest-growing minority, Asians, recorded a median income exceeding $57,000.   Here is a minority that has endured prejudice and residential segregation too but has pulled itself up by its collective bootstraps in America. Second, African-Americans may be twice as likely to be unemployed (8%) as Caucasians (4%) but they are only slightly more prone to go â€Å"bare† where health insurance is concerned: In 2004, 55 percent of African-Americans in comparison to 78 percent for non-Hispanic Caucasians used employer-sponsored health insurance. Also in 2004, 24.6 percent of African-Americans in comparison to 7.9 percent of non-Hispanic Caucasians relied on public health insurance. Finally, in 2006, 17.3 percent of African-Americans in comparison to 12 percent of non-Hispanic Caucasians were uninsured (Office of Minority Health, 2007). While conceding the fact that a good one-fourth of African-Americans rely on public health insurance, the comparable incidence is just 4 percent to 11 percent for Asians and this is notwithstanding the fact that some of the latter are unemployed or live below the poverty line. Third, Bloche also wears blinders in conveniently ignoring the fact that CDHP’s are only one element in the insurance or subsidy mix that include Medicare and Medicaid.   He argues for subsidies and tiering to favor the poor but, in conceding that these will probably not gain traction, he raises a straw man of despairing liberal ideology without offering a workable alternative. Hence, the flaw in his argument ensues: ignoring the fact that CDHP’s are voluntary.   In an analysis conducted at one multi-choice firm, Greene et al. (2006) revealed that those who elected the high deductible CDHP (there was a low-deductible option) were healthier anyway and were better educated than those going with Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO). One concedes that the promise of marketplace reform in lieu of government-imposed restructuring dating from the Clinton presidency has not succeeded yet (Gordon Kelly, 1999).   Health care costs continue to spiral out of control and there are quite simply not enough physicians and nurses to render meaningful, high-quality care all around.   And yet, Bloche as outsider can perhaps be forgiven for not knowing about the existence of charity wards (overcrowded through they are) and the fine coordinated care that goes on all the time in teaching hospitals. The latter quickly shows up on the bills of insured and paying patients but may proceed behind the scenes without indigent patients necessarily knowing about it.   For this is, in essence, the most humane of professions.   This is also why Bloche’s fear that those at the frontlines, in emergency and outpatient services, will refuse to at least inform indigent patients about high-value tests and treatments is refuted in daily practice. One can rely on the innate high empathy of medical practitioners to discern when patients decline care due to cost, and hence to counsel patients that certain â€Å"savings† may put them at risk (White, 2006).   In fact, access to high-value preventive care (for e.g., diabetics, the hypertensive, those at risk for stroke) has been addressed by HCA rules that explicitly mandate â€Å"first-dollar coverage† for preventive care.   This includes those needed for control of chronic disease (Baicker, Dow Wolfson, 2007). That said, talent does go where the money is and paying or well-covered patients have readier access to diagnostic tests and therapies.   Until the government can budget the sums necessary to transform the healthcare system to a welfare state like the British NHS or the Nordic nation models, both White and minority citizens must earn their keep with the kind of hard work, business acumen and economic rewards needed to purchase adequate coverage. References Baicker, K., Dow, W. H. Wolfson, J. (2007). Lowering the barriers to consumer-directed health care: Responding to concerns. Health Affairs, 26(5), 1328-32. Census Bureau (2006) 2005 census: Household incomes by race. Retrieved March 14, 2008 from Greene, J., Hibbard, J.H., Dixon, A. Tusler, M. (2006). Which consumers are ready for consumer-directed health plans? Journal of Consumer Policy, 29(3), 247-262. Gordon, C.G. Kelly, S.K. (1999) Public relations expertise and organizational effectiveness: a study of U.S. hospitals. Journal of Public Relations Research 11, 143. Office of Minority Health (2007) Asian-American profile. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Retrieved March 14, 2008 White, B. (2006). How consumer-driven health plans will affect your practice. Family Practice Management, 13(3), 71-8. How to cite Consumer-Directed Health Care and The Disadvantaged, Essay examples

International Business Market Culture Perceptions

Question: Describe about the International Business for Market Culture Perceptions. Answer: Introduction: Market culture describes the ideas, perceptions and social values that a community has towards different situations. In the present extremely competitive business environment, understanding the culture of the market is extremely important. In-depth knowledge regarding the culture of the market can help businesses to utilize effective strategies so that it can able to achieve sustainable growth in the market. Many studies have highlighted the fact that understanding the culture of an economy requires proper analysis of several factors. Present global business environment has increases the significance of understanding the market culture of an economy in order to create positive impact on the revenue level. In this report, the focus will be on the market culture of Taiwan. The report will try to include an in-depth analysis of the existing market culture of the Taiwan economy. The report will also focus on the identification of the best possible strategies that can create maximum posit ive impact on the Taiwans market culture. Rationale for the selected country: As per the article by Harrell (2014), Taiwan is regarded as 15 largest importer in the world. Generally, all the rules and regulations of Taiwan are developed in such a way so that it can able to help businesses to enter into the market effectively. Over the years, Taiwan has able to develop in a rapid rate due effective utilization foreign businesses. However, Taiwan business culture is unfamiliar to most of the western organizations. For that reason, majority of the foreign organizations tries to utilize cross-cultural training to provide knowledge to the employees in order to conduct business effectively in the Taiwan market. However, it has been identified that majority of the organizations has able to grow their businesses in the Taiwan market due to high acceptability among the people. Cultural analysis of Taiwan: As per the article by Gelfand et al. (2013) organizations will have to focus on many factors in order to develop effective strategies in the foreign market. Specifically, countries like Taiwan have their own set of perspectives that organizations will have to consider in order to implement effective strategies in the market. As highlighted by Liu (2016) organizations will have to consider several components of Taiwans market culture for the effective utilization of the implemented business strategies. The components are as follows: Values and attitudes: It has been identified that values and attitudes are completely different in different economies. In fact, majority of the time values and attitudes varies within a country as well. Therefore, many organizations face difficulties in expanding their businesses in different countries. Now, Taiwan is developed in capitalist economy. As a result, values and attitudes of Taiwans people is complete different compared to any other European economy. Thus, organizations business strategies will have to be developed in such way so that it can able to create maximum impact on the development of the business perspectives. Education: As per the article by Fujita et al. (2013), Taiwan is presently utilizing digital educational system. The educational structure of Taiwan is developed in such a way so that it can able to motivate student to opt for higher education. It has been assessed that educational structure of Taiwan has able to create positive impact on the economical development of the country. It has been also assessed that educational structure of Taiwan is inducing people to handle multiple tasks at given time. Therefore, it has created massive impact on the knowledge level of the country. Social structure: Taiwans social culture is focused has been developed in such a way so that it can able to provide equal opportunities to all the people in the economy. Furthermore, Taiwan social structure is developed in such a way so that it can able to provide all the women in the economy equal opportunity to grow up in their professional career. As mentioned by Linehan (2013) Taiwans Culture is a mix of Taiwanese aboriginescultures and ConfucianistHan Chinese cultures. Taiwan represents a perfect mix of modern and traditional understandings. For that reason, it has allowed businesses to implement strategies in an appropriate way. Religion: As mentioned by Chang (2015), Taiwan represents a greatly tolerant society that is highly diversified in terms of religious faith. Primarily, the country has three prime religions namely Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. However, it does provide opportunities for other religions like Hinduism, Christianity and Islam to have equal amount of opportunities to grow up in the economy. Thus, it highlighted the fact that business strategies will have to be developed in such a way so that it cannot able to hurt any religion feelings. Manners and Customs: As mentioned by Chang (2012) understanding the manners and customs are very important to conduct businesses in the foreign country effectively. Taiwan also has specific manners that businesses have to consider in order to conduct their businesses effectively. For instance, people in Taiwan generally maintain polite manners in order to conduct their businesses effectively. Thus, it is very important for the businesses to maintain proper manners and customs so that it can able to create maximum impact on the business development perspectives. Personal communication: Many studies have highlighted the significance of personal communication in order to develop business in the foreign country effectively. Now, Taiwans official language is Mandarin Chinese. However, the country also utilizes Holo and Japanese languages as well. Thus, business strategies also have to consider the effective utilization of languages so that it can able to communicate with the people in an appropriate manner. Physical environment: Taiwan is a separated Island but it is included in the Asian continent. Taiwan whether is more of a tropical climate. Many studies have identified that around population of Taiwan is around 25 million. Furthermore, the average life span of Taiwans people is around 80 years. Taiwans government makes a conscious effort to maintain low pollution level so that people can able to lead a healthy life. Therefore, it has also induced businesses to utilize healthy atmosphere of Taiwan in order to grow their businesses properly. Aesthetics: As per the article by Lee et al. (2015) aesthetics help organizations to identify the best possible way to conduct businesses in a foreign country. As mentioned earlier, every economy has their own set of values and believes. Therefore, proper maintenance of aesthetics helps business to develop its reach in the international market. For instance, Taiwan is more focused in developing technology-based organizations. Therefore, businesses will have to utilize advance technology in their business processes to gain popularity in the market. Figure 1: Taiwans components of culture (Source: Berry, 2016) Difference between Taiwans market cultures with Singapore: As mentioned by Warner (2014) Taiwan and Singapore is very similar regarding the market culture perspectives. Firstly, both the economy is geographically very small. As a result, both Singapore and Taiwan has to face constant pressure from their larger neighbor. However, both the country has able to grow in a rapid rate due effective utilization of market culture. Now, Singapore represents a multiethnic society that includes Malay, Chinese, Eurasian and Indian communities. Therefore, Singapore represents a well-versed culture that has helped foreign business to conduct businesses in an effective manner. Singapore has also faced lot of issues regarding the maintenance of Indonesian refugees. As majority of the Indonesian people lives below the poverty line, it also has affected the growth rate of the Singaporean economy. On the other hand, Taiwans major threat comes from Mainland China. Taiwan has developed several strategies so that it cannot able to affect the business development p erspectives of the economy. However, Lee et al. (2015) highlighted the fact that Taiwan and Singapore has many similarities in the implemented regulations regarding effective utilization of trade and commerce. As mentioned earlier, Taiwan is among the prime countries in the world that heavily depends on the imports of products. Now, Singapore also imports everything from food products to luxury products. Thus, both are representing export-oriented economy. Furthermore, both Taiwan and Singapore have realized that their neighbors have attempted to reduce demand for the services and products by developing rival infrastructure. Therefore, both the economy is seeking for new markets so that it can able to maintain its growth rate. However, Singapore and Taiwan has differences in the perspectives regarding racism. Singapore has to implement many rules and regulations to maintain their proper culture in the economy. On the other hand, Taiwan does not have faced any major issues regarding racism. Therefore, it has helped businesses from all parts of the world to capture the Taiwan market effectively. Hofstede cultural dimension: Hofstede cultural dimension is probably the most common measurement of culture. It includes five dimensions that help to evaluate all possible aspects of culture. Taiwans Hofstede cultural analysis is as follows: Power distance: Power distance evaluate the extent to which less powerful people in economy accepts the inequality in power. It also describes a particular economys attitude towards the inequality. Taiwan scores relatively higher marks of 58 in this dimension (Chen et al., 2014). Thus, it indicates that Taiwan is a hierarchical society. It also reflects that people in Taiwan accept the hierarchical order in which every individual has their own place and it does not require any further justification. Now, hierarchy in businesses reflects that Taiwan is more focused towards the centralized management where subordinates expect to be guided by the management regarding their way of managing responsibilities. Individualism-collectivism: This dimension describes the relationship between people with the groups in which they belong. Thus, it also reflects the degree of interdependence that a community maintains among all its members. Now, Taiwan represents a collectivistic society that has very lower grade on the individualism. It highlighted the fact that all the people in the community heavily depends on each other. In fact, people perceive their business groups as an extension of family. Thus, it reflects stronger relationship among each other. Therefore, businesses also have to develop atmosphere where every individual can able to maintain strong relationship with each other. Otherwise, it will create negative impact on the business development perspectives. Masculinity-femininity: Masculinity describes the dominance of competitive values in a community like performance driven, assertiveness and success. On the other hand, feminine value describes that dominant value in the society is to have care for others. Taiwan score relatively lesser grades of 45 in masculinity (Fung, 2013). Thus, it reflects that Taiwan is slightly a feminine society. It reflects that organizations will have to develop a caring atmosphere in Taiwan in order to conduct businesses effectively. It also indicates that businesses also will have to consider the well-being of all the employees in order to sustain its position in the market. Uncertainty avoidance: This dimension describes the development of rules and structure to reduce the ambiguity in an organization. Thus, it reflects the extent to which people feel threatened by the unknown or ambiguous situations. Taiwan score of 69 describes that it has greater possibility for avoiding any uncertainty (Hua Nathan, 2016). It also represents the people perceive time is money and have inner urge to work as hard they can. Thus, businesses will have to provide proper atmosphere in order to get best out of the Taiwans people. Long-term orientation: It reflects that how society has able to maintain connection with its own past while dealing with the present and future challenges. In this dimension, Taiwan score of 93 highlights that the society is highly focused in maintaining their tradition in future. However, it also reflects that Taiwan also accept the present changes that is required to develop the financial condition of the economy. Indulgence: This dimension describes the degree to which people try to control their impulses and desires. Taiwan has scored 49 that reflect that the economy does not have any dominant preference. Thus, it highlights that people of Taiwan does not focus too much on controlling their desires. Figure 2: Hofstede cultural dimension (Source: Sun et al., 2013) Conclusion: The above discussion highlights the fact that Taiwan has some unique cultural features that have the potential to create obstacles on the path of foreign business development. Thus, organizations will have to handle all the factors extremely carefully in order to expand business in Taiwan in an appropriate manner. However, the above discussion also highlights that Taiwan is focused to develop businesses so that economy can able to sustain its growth. Therefore, it is up to the businesses to utilize the culture in an effective way. References: Berry, C. (2016). The Last Isle: Contemporary Film, Culture, and Trauma in Global Taiwan. Sheng-Mei Ma. Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015. ix+ 197 pp. 80.00. ISBN 978-1-78348-338-9.The China Quarterly,225, 286-287. Chang, S. S. Y. (2012).Literary culture in Taiwan: Martial law to market law. Columbia University Press. Chang, W. C. (2015). Religious attendance and subjective well-being in an eastern-culture country: Empirical evidence from Taiwan.Marburg Journal of Religion,14(1). Chen, J. L., Lin, Y. J., Ma, J. P., Lin, M. T. (2014). An Interpretation Case Study of Cultural Creativity in Design Exhibition of" Taiwan Artisan".International Proceedings of Economics Development and Research,81, 1. Fujita, S., Seto, K., Ito, S., Wu, Y., Huang, C. C., Hasegawa, T. (2013). The characteristics of patient safety culture in Japan, Taiwan and the United States.BMC health services research,13(1), 1. Fung, A. Y. (Ed.). (2013).Asian Popular Culture: The Global (Dis) continuity. Routledge. Gelfand, M. J., Brett, J., Gunia, B. C., Imai, L., Huang, T. J., Hsu, B. F. (2013). Toward a culture-by-context perspective on negotiation: Negotiating teams in the United States and Taiwan.Journal of Applied Psychology,98(3), 504. Harrell, S. (2014).Ploughshare village: Culture and context in Taiwan. University of Washington Press. Hua, S., Nathan, A. J. (2016).Chinese Political Culture. Routledge. Kleinman, A., Lin, T. Y. (Eds.). (2013).Normal and abnormal behavior in Chinese culture(Vol. 2). Springer Science Business Media. Lee, Y. C., Wang, C. Y., Weng, S. J., Huang, C. H., Hsieh, W. L., Wu, H. H. (2015, January). Assessing Patient Safety Culture from Nurses' Viewpoints of a Teaching Hospital in Taiwan. InProceedings of International Conference on Application of Information and Communication Technology and Statistics in Economy and Education (ICAICTSEE)(p. 37). International Conference on Application of Information and Communication Technology and Statistics and Economy and Education (ICAICTSEE). Lee, Y. C., Weng, S. J., Stanworth, J. O., Hsieh, L. P., Wu, H. H. (2015). Identifying Critical Dimensions and Causal Relationships of Patient Safety Culture in Taiwan.Journal of Medical Imaging and Health Informatics,5(5), 995-1000. Linehan, M. (2013). Book review: The vitality of Taiwan: politics, economics, society and culture.LSE Review of Books. Liu, J. T. (2016). RESEARCH ON TAIWAN THEME PARKS'EXPERIENCE MARKETING STRATEGY AND REVISIT WILLINGNESS, PURCHASE WILLINGNESS AND RECOMMENDATION WILLINGNESS.International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online),9(1), 35. Sun, P. C., Lin, M. T., Chung, P. H., Huang, Y. F. (2013). A Cross-Culture Study on Consumer Attitude of Buying Luxury CounterfeitsA Comparison Between Taiwan and Shanghai. InInternational Conference on Business and Information. Warner, M. (2014).Culture and management in Asia. Routledge.

United States Postal Service Essay Example

United States Postal Service Essay The U. S. Postal Service It is important for the U. S. Postal Service to have a high volume of mail to process in order to follow the mission statement. An organization mission is its reason for existence and is expressed in the mission statement (Stevenson 42). Mission of the Postal Service: The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities (USPS 1998). For the Postal Service to â€Å"bind the Nation together†¦Ã¢â‚¬  they would need a high volume of mail from across the country to process on a daily basic. The more mail means a more successful business. Productivity improved at the Postal Service due to the increased use of automation and introduction and later expansion of zip codes. The technological advancements allowed for postal rates to remain low and maintain rapid delivery. Technology is not enough for productivity to increase. We will write a custom essay sample on United States Postal Service specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on United States Postal Service specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on United States Postal Service specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer There needs to be proper planning or else technology can reduce productivity (Stevenson 58). Competition from delivery companies such as, FedEx and UPS put pressure on the United States Postal Service to increase productivity to keep rates low and maintain rapid delivery. Operations Management makes point that pricing is very important to consumers in the selection process and that there is a trade-off between price and quality (Stevenson 40). Having lower prices and/or rapid delivery will determine whether someone will choose to mail their package with the Postal Service or the competition. The United States Postal Service took several steps to remain competitive, first starting with customer service. The Postal Service began working to better identify their customer’s needs; this included adding customer service managers, expanding retail hours, and measuring customer satisfaction. The text explains that â€Å"Identifying consumer wants and/or needs is a basic input in an organization’s decision making process† (Stevenson 40). The Postal Service also underwent a reorganization where management positions were eliminated and divisions were consolidated to reduce overhead. These measures all lead to increased production and speedier delivery to remain competitive. The results of the Postal Service’s changes were very successful. The reduced bureaucracy and overhead lead to improved service, customer satisfaction and reduced the need to increase postage rates. The reorganization eliminated some programs, cut cost, attracted new business, and reduced the Postal Service’s projected deficit. The Postal Service employed a quality-based strategy to accomplish these goals. They focused on improving the quality of its organization, as quality is maintains and attracts new customers (Stevenson 50). The increased use of e-mail has an inverse effect on the Postal Service’s production. The more mail that is sent electronically means less mail is being processed by the Postal Service. The less mail being processed equals decreased productivity (Stevenson 53).