Redefining Pos Indonesia's business<\/p>\n
Many people think there is no need for Andy Grove and Intel
\nCorporation to worry about the future of Intel, which, as a
\nstandard-setter in the computer industry, has had high brand
\nequity and controlled a large share of the market for a long
\ntime. You are wrong because Grove does worry.<\/p>\n
In his book Only the Paranoid Succeed, Grove says he cannot
\nfeel secure despite Intel's amazing achievements. Why? While it
\nis true he does not feel disturbed by his direct competitors, he
\ndoes have apprehensions about indirect competitors. Almost every
\nday, a new product appears that could not only replace Intel-made
\nmicroprocessors but make them lose their relevance. Intel could
\neasily change from being untouchable to being a loser. To avoid
\nthis disastrous possibility, Grove continues to keep alive the
\n\"ghosts\", namely his indirect competitors, which pose a threat to
\nIntel's survival.<\/p>\n
Grove's fear may be an extreme case because Intel is part of a
\nhigh-tech community marked by a rapid progress in technology. You
\nmust believe that the survival of your business -- whatever it is
\n-- will depend on whether you have Grove's fear.<\/p>\n
For the past five years state postal company PT Pos Indonesia
\nhas been carrying out what Grove says in his book. It has secured
\na strong position in its core business. However, as with Intel,
\nPos Indonesia has been worried by the presence of indirect
\ncompetitors that are likely to make its long-running businesses,
\nsuch as mail or money-order services lose their relevance.<\/p>\n
E-mail, previously confined to academic circles and major
\ncompanies, is now widely used with the increasing popularity of
\nthe Internet.<\/p>\n
The International Data Corporation revealed that e-mail users
\nin 1996 rose by 730 percent, and the Computer Business Almanac
\nstates that the number of people with Internet access is expected
\nto rise by 800 percent in the next three years.<\/p>\n
This may be bad news to a provider of conventional postal
\nservices. One may say that communications activities through e-
\nmail will be what Andrian Slywotzky, author of best-selling Value
\nMigration and Profit Zone, calls value outflow: large-scale
\nmigration of conventional postal services users to e-mail as a
\nresult of a shift of value from and to these two communications.
\nE-mail promises comfort, practicality and low cost. So, while e-
\nmail services are rapidly gaining more users, conventional postal
\nservices are in decline.<\/p>\n
Another problem is that the value outflow Pos Indonesia is
\nundergoing does not concern mail services only. A similar decline
\nis also seen in its other traditional core business, postal money
\norder service. As banking services become more and more advanced,
\npeople have more choices in how to send their money. They can now
\ntransfer their money through an ATM anytime, anywhere, involving
\na much less time and much lower costs, if any.<\/p>\n
What has Pos Indonesia done to anticipate, and keep a check on
\nthe adverse impacts of value migration? If consumers find a
\nbetter value in e-mail and ATMs, why must they be loyal to
\nconventional mail and postal money order services? Fortunately,
\nPos Indonesia is well aware of this tendency.<\/p>\n
Pos Indonesia has made rival services part of its new
\nbusiness. It has put into practice \"co-opetition\" (cooperation
\nand competition). This will not result in a synergy of the two
\noriginally competing businesses unless it is properly handled.
\nSo, it has redefined its businesses and markets.<\/p>\n
Pos Indonesia has defined its business in a narrow manner
\nplacing too much emphasis on products, namely the dispatch of
\nletters, goods and money. What is the adverse consequence of
\nthis? An emergence of tunnel vision, or, to borrow Ted Levitt's
\nterm, marketing myopia. Because of this nearsightedness, latent
\ncompetitors such as e-mail and ATMs, which originated in other
\nindustries, will be difficult to detect.<\/p>\n
According to the new concept resulting from the redefinition
\nof its business, Pos Indonesia has widened its business scope
\nfrom dispatching letters to communications; from sending goods to
\nlogistics; and from sending money to financial services. This has
\ngiven it more leeway to carry out its business development
\nstrategy and anticipate changes in technology as is the case in
\nits two lines of business, mail and postal money orders.<\/p>\n
As Pos Indonesia now also concentrates on communications, it
\ncan freely enter various segments of the communications business,
\nincluding those with an electronic basis. With its own ISP, i.e.
\nWasantara-Net, Pos Indonesia has drawn up an ambitious plan to
\nenter the segments of the communications business offering wide
\nopportunities and considered an emerging business.<\/p>\n
Pos Indonesia has begun providing Internet-based
\ncommunications services, including e-mail, hybrid-mail, fax
\ngateway, pager gateway and voice-over IP, a telephone service.
\nThis new concept has allowed it to launch services based on the
\ntechnology of the future, such as the virtual office, e-commerce,
\ntele-working, e-wallet, e-polling and even e-democracy services.<\/p>\n
In its business redefinition, Pos Indonesia has obviously
\nchanged its orientation and viewpoint: it is now customer-
\noriented, not as product-oriented as before. Before this
\nredefinition, it determined its businesses more on the basis of
\nits own products. This was inward-looking, without much heed to
\nwhat consumers needed.<\/p>\n
The redefinition has made Pos Indonesia adopt an opposite
\nviewpoint. It now considers its business more in the interest of
\nits customers and what they really need. To ensure they always
\nfind a solution to their communications problems, Pos Indonesia
\noffers various communications media as referred to above. But,
\nthese media choices must be made carefully, based on the core
\nsuperiority and competence of Pos Indonesia itself.
\n(Taufik\/Yuswohady)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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