A great deal has been said about the U.S. Postal Service being on the cusp of “great change.” Of course, “great change” might mean one thing to one person and something quite different to another.
According to Allen Kane, the postal service’s chief marketing officer, the moment you hear of a magic elixir that will instantly revolutionize the USPS – like, oh, privatization or commercialization – you should grab firm hold of your wallet.
Kane recently told a gathering of Advertising Mail Marketing Association conferees that “changing the nation’s postal system is not as simple as the waving of a legislative hand.” Getting the USPS positioned to better serve the nation, he said, requires an appreciation of the complex concept simply called “postal reform.”
The environment in which the postal service exists, Kane said, is not a simple one. The nature of the competition the USPS faces today is more complicated, thanks to new technologies. And the demands made upon – and the skills possessed by – postal employees have changed over time, even though the historical posturing of “labor vs. management” hardly has changed at all. Finally, the postal service remains as closely a regulated government enterprise as it was back in 1971, when it was reorganized.
All the key dynamics of the postal market – customers, competition, technology, regulation and employees – need to be addressed to make reform effective.
What are the nation’s enduring postal needs? What should the USPS be expected to provide in the way of mail delivery, communications or other services that historically have been tied to its governmental character? And what should be expected of the postal service as an employer?
The answers to these questions will help the USPS enter the 21st century.
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