Lessons from Other Network Industries: Should Posts Seek to Collaborate More in the Last Mile?

Abstract

While other network industries have developed cooperative models to share costs and reduce excess capacity, the postal sector is not a typical network industry. Postal operators (POs) face unique challenges compared to other network industries in the last mile such as competition and entry for parcels, unlike the monopolies that protect firms in other industries. This chapter examines the drivers behind cooperative models in other network industries to better understand whether POs have an opportunity to collaborate within last mile ecosystems even though the competitive environments and networks themselves are wholly different from other networks who have adopted such approaches. It offers suggestions on models the postal sector could follow to create and help facilitate this coordination and collaboration, and what conditions might need to exist for them to succeed.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IBM Global Business Services or the Postal Innovation Platform. We would like to thank Bruno Basalisco from Copenhagen Economics for his helpful comments and suggestions.