Franklin Ali

Postal Reform: the Management Operator Model in Action Franklin Ali

Governments of Developing Countries are becoming increasingly aware of the need to reform their Postal Services, particularly in light of the socio-economic forces that are driving the wind of change. Postal reform involving external Postal Operators gained momentum in the 1990?s, when it was recognized that some national Designated Operators did not possess the requisite knowledge and skills to internally drive postal transformation. In this context, the Management Operator Model has received growing recognition as a feasible and relevant mechanism to facilitate postal reforms. The Management Operator Model is a type of Public Private Partnership arrangement, which allows Governments to undertake reform of state owned entities by transferring the management functions to an external operator, while retaining ownership. The research problem stemmed from the premise that the current application of the Management Operator Model is less likely to facilitate sustainable postal reform in Developing Countries. To this end, the research resulted in a series of recommendations intended to strengthen the Model's capacity to facilitate sustainable postal reform in Developing Countries.