The week that was: January 22 2010
More changes at the Swiss top table… Only nine months after taking up his new role as a chairman of Swiss Post, Claude Begle was the latest high profile departure at the company this week. Begle stepped down claiming that long-running and rancorous debates over his strategies, personal attacks and public defamation had contributed to his decision to quit. Media channels from Switzerland reported that the former chairman was “deeply unpopular”, and as a result of his management style becoming a “political football” in recent weeks, it left his position “untenable”. Beglé’s resignation follows the departures of board member Rolf Hug, chief executive Michel Kunz and director Wolfgang Werlé, who have all left the company within the last six weeks. The Federal Cabinet in Switzerland acted swiftly to appoint Peter Hasler as Beglé’s successor. Hasler, a former head of the Swiss Employers Union, said he planned to focus first on calming the situation at the company. Post&Parcel wishes the new chairman a long and prosperous reign.
Despite being snowed under with media inquiries after Beglé’s departure, the Swiss Post media team has still been doing their bit to share some positive news this week. First up was the announcement that the operator is planning to equip 20-30 modern post offices with consulting areas for PostFinance financial products by 2012 – investing CHF 100m in the process. Secondly, customers have been invited to vote on which environmentally-friendly project deserves to be donated the fund collected from ‘offsetting CO2 emissions’ surcharges. The shortlist consists include: Electricity from harvest waste in India; biogas from waste disposal in Turkey; and wind power in China.
Another top position was vacated this week as John Greco resigned from his position as president and CEO at the US Direct Marketing Association. Looking to the future, Eugene Raitt, chairman of the DMA Board of Directors said: “The committee will conduct an aggressive search and I’m confident that we will find an exceptionally qualified individual to fulfill the DMA’s vision and goals. We are grateful for John’s able service and dedication to the Direct Marketing Association over the past five years. We wish him much success with his future endeavors.”
Over to Asia now, and Pos Malaysia has announced the introduction of two new services: Post-Automated-Machines (PAM) and Pos-on-Wheels, a mobile post office. Pos Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Aseh Che Mat said a pilot project of PAM had been carried out at the Kuala Lumpur General Post Office and was expected to be expanded to other locations nationwide, in stages. When asked about Pos-on-Wheels, the chairman added the service would be available at mostly crowded and strategic places. “Pos-on-Wheels will also be able to conduct online transactions. This is due to the usage of satellite connectivity,” he said.
And finally…
Post&Parcel often wonders what lengths companies go to out-do each other, especially when it comes to which company is the most environmentally-friendly. Seven minutes after we received a press release from DHL about the introduction of a new fleet of 1,800 ‘green’ Volvo trucks, the UPS media team responds with the news that 245 new natural gas trucks have hit the streets of Colorado and California. Thunder stealers!
