The Relevance of Traditional Post Office Services in the Growth of Modern Corporate Entities (Published)
The Postal Corporation of Kenya was established by parliament under section three (3) of The Postal Corporation Act, 1998. Its mandate, as set in section five (5), is to provide and operate postal services, postal financial services, and perform other functions and duties as the Minister of Transport and Communications may assign. On 1 July 1999, Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation split into three entities. Telkom Kenya was now responsible for offering Telecommunication services, Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) to offer mail and financial services and Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) to be a regulatory body. The sector was also liberalized so other companies were registered to offer communication services. There are currently ninety-six companies offering mail (courier and parcel) services that are registered by the Communications Commissions of Kenya, the official regulatory body in Kenya. With liberalization, the Post Office found itself in the competitive market, a concept that was new and needed to be integrated in its business operations. In the mail business the post office is mainly engaged in distributing four types of mail, that is, administrative, marketing, periodicals and newspapers. Private individuals’ mail is few and seasonal such as occasion cards on festive occasions like Christmas and examinations. The corporation is offering its services by dividing the country into eight regions i.e. Coast, Nairobi, Central, Eastern, Western, Northern, Rift Valley and Nyanza.This paper explores the relevance of the traditional postal services in the growth of modern corporate entities. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the postal business in Kenya, a qualitative research in the form of an explorative study was used. The study explores the different approaches PCK adopted to counter the risks and uncertainties as it entered the liberalized market. We will identify, categorize and prioritize the risks and uncertainties it faces in the competitive market and find out how it currently hedges itself against the risks and propose sustainability strategies for risk management by the company.
Keywords: Letters, Liberalization, Mail Runners, Native Runners, Postage Stamp, Postmaster