The Reforms Of The British Post Office In The Nineteenth Century

In the nineteenth century, the British Post Office was an important government department, as well as a typical public enterprise, whose two functions were the providing service and the making profit, so it was very special. This special identity of the British Post Office brought about not only the double responsibilities, but also the double pressure, thus led to the conflict between the service and the profit. This thesis mainly focuses on the topic that how the Post Office attempted to trade off or compromise during the reforms, so as to kept the balance in the conflict. This research tries to understand and analysis the institution’s business feature and management style. So, it has the academic value and certain significance for practical reference. This thesis consists of three parts:first, briefly reviewing the origin and development of the British Post Office; next, the two important reforms in the mid19th century; and lastly, from the period after the reform to the early20th century. The two critical reforms were the main object of this study, including their features of compromise, etc.