Premium
CONSUMERS AND PRODUCTIVITY CHANGE: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BRITISH POSTAL SYSTEM
Author(s) -
JONES TREFOR T.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of consumer studies and home economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 0309-3891
DOI - 10.1111/j.1470-6431.1982.tb00581.x
Subject(s) - productivity , service (business) , work (physics) , business , marketing , operations management , industrial organization , economics , economic growth , engineering , mechanical engineering
In service/public utility type industries, labour productivity can be increased by getting the consumer to do some of the work himself and by persuading consumers to change the patterns of their demands. The Post Office attempted to achieve these ends by introducing post codes and the two‐tier post system. The paper concludes by arguing that the failure of Post Office management to appreciate consumer behaviour was one factor explaining the poor productivity performance of the postal system as a result of the changes in service introduced.