The U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (OIG) intends to award a contract to a qualified organization to assist OIG staff in examining innovation management processes at ten major U. S. corporations to identify best practices/processes that can be adapted for use by the U. S. Postal Service.
According to the notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website:
The U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (OIG) intends to award a labor hour contract to a qualified organization to assist OIG staff in examining innovation
management processes at ten major U. S. corporations to identify best practices/processes that can be adapted for use by the U. S. Postal Service.
Background
The OIG is an independent entity within the U.S. Postal Service. Its mission, in part, is to conduct and supervise objective and independent audits, reviews, and
investigations relating to Postal Service programs and operations to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness; and keep the Postal Service Governors, Congress, and Postal Service management informed of problems, deficiencies, and corresponding corrective actions.
Under the leadership of the Inspector General, the Assistant Inspector General for Audit is responsible for the Office of Audit (OA). Within OA, the Planning and Strategic Studies directorate will examine innovation processes at ten major U.S. corporations to identify best practices/processes that can be adapted for use by the U. S. Postal Service. The OIG will issue an audit reporting the results of this effort.
The audit report will discuss:
- The Postal Service’s current innovation strategy and practices;
- Obstacles to effective, efficient innovation;
- Benchmarking results; and
Innovation management best practices that can be adapted for use by the Postal Service.
Innovation is the development of new products, services and processes. Innovation differs from invention, in that invention imagines a solution to a problem, but
innovation turns invention into something that creates value.
Essential components of innovation include:
1. Leadership that understands and supports the role of innovation in company success.
2. A clearly articulated innovation strategy that is consistent with the company’s business strategy.
3. Methods for creating and capturing new ideas from multiple internal and external sources.
4. An objective process for deciding which innovations to pursue and continuously evaluating progress.
5. The ability to simultaneously and cooperatively execute development and commercial activities.
6. A plan to extract value from an innovation over the entire lifecycle of a new product or service.
Identify and document best practices in innovation management. These best practices should present strategies the Postal Service can use to improve its innovation management efforts. The supplier can use benchmarking results and further research as needed to complete this task.