Is this an opinion on the “Top 5 Business Blunders of 2010” or a way to promote a newly released book?
Although 2010 won’t be remembered for colossal corporate bankruptcies or bailouts, the year still saw its fair share of business failures, many due to self-inflicted wounds. My Top 5 Business Blunders includes businesses that, through every fault of their own, have failed to remember and implement core business
principles.5. United States Postal Service: A Failure of Management –It might seem unfair to start the list with a government bureaucracy. However, the USPS is that rare government bureaucracy that performs a valuable business service (as opposed to an administrative service) for everyone and doesn’t receive any tax revenue to operate. In other words, the USPS is supposed to function like a business.
Facing both technological and competitive obstacles, the USPS lost $8.5 billion in 2010. Part of the problem is that the USPS has 535 CEOs, otherwise known as Congress, who stymie any serious structural reform. But the USPS is also burdened with outdated procedures, infrastructure and staffing that fail to focus on real customer needs.