Postal Watchdogs Trying to Unleash USPS Innovation

The watchdogs that keep an eye on the U.S. Postal Service have taken on an unusual role—dreaming up new products and other innovations for the Postal Service. The trend is highlighted by the USPS Office of Inspector General’s release yesterday of a request for proposals to determine how the Postal Service can innovate. The selected consulting company would “benchmark the Postal Service against ten successful companies” to identify best practices and processes in “innovation management” that can be adopted by USPS.

Just last month, the OIG suggested the Postal Service consider such new lines of business as electronic mailboxes, financial services