Date of Award

1994

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Business

First Advisor

Michael Castro

Second Advisor

Carolyn Scott

Third Advisor

Tom Dehner

Abstract

The United States Postal Service is a 219 year old American institution that for the majority of those years enjoyed the approval and confidence of the American people. Now, newspaper articles regularly ask whether this public service would be better managed as a private industry.

Sometime after World War II Americans began to lose faith in big business and in the government. The Postal Service was included among those institutions that began to lose public trust. More recently, numerous news reports point to an agency delivering poor service through unconcerned, perhaps even violent employees . This general distrust of government coupled with frequent, negative media reports are creating an agency with dwindling morale and with the risk of a dwindling customer base, as many customers seek alternative delivery methods, such as electronic mail and private delivery companies, to deliver their messages and packages.

The result is the possibility of a downward spiral of morale and financial stability that could end the United States Postal Service as we know it. The Postal Service is in need of strong, sustained image repair in order to be a vital organization during the next century.

This culminating project analyzes the current status of the image of the United States Postal Service, and how public relations practices can be employed to communicate the agency's desired corporate image. The study includes the development of a practical guide for postal managers. This guide proposes and explains ways that public relations can boost morale, promote community good will and effectively handle media attention.

The project reviews pertinent literature regarding the Postal Service, the elements of corporate image development, and the communication and public relations attributes relevant to image formulation and image repair. Further, it examines companies that have launched successful image repair campaigns.

Two professional communicators analyze the plan and their feedback is used to address the current proposal as well as possible future work in the area of developing a desired image for the United States Postal Service.

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