NASA HQ Solicitation: Coaching Services from Cambria Consulting
JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION FOR MAXIMUM ORDERING VALUE INCREASE
Synopsis – Mar 08, 2011
General Information
Solicitation Number: NNH07CD39B-
Posted Date: Mar 08, 2011
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Mar 08, 2011
Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No
Original Response Date: N/A
Current Response Date: N/A
Classification Code: R — Professional, administrative, and mgmt support services
NAICS Code: 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
Set-Aside Code:
Contracting Office Address
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771
Description
JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (JOFOC) (In Accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (Far) 6.3- Other Than Full and Open Competition)
1. This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA’s GSFC): This justification has been prepared by NASA Headquarters (HQ) Office of Human Capital Management (OHCM) and the NASA HQ Procurement Office at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). NASA’s HQ proposes to increase the maximum ordering value of the executive coaching services contract with Cambria Consulting. The document justifies the determination for using other than full and open competition.
2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved:
This document provides the rationale and justification to solicit only one source for the continuation of coaching services for the Agency Coaching Program through the increase of the maximum ordering value of Contract NNH07CD39B with Cambria Consulting. This increase will serve as a bridge between NASA’s existing contract for coaching services and award of the follow-on contract, the solicitation for which is scheduled to be released in the Quarter 2 of 2011. NASA’s compliance with new OPM requirements that Executive Development Plans (EDPs) be in place for all senior executives resulted in an immediate need for additional coaching services delivered by a vendor who is intimately familiar with the NASA culture, its leaders, as well as Agency Training & Development processes and procedures given our strict and tight schedule constraints.
The timeline of events is as follows:
* Current Coaching Contract- Ordering period goes through July 2012
* Contract recompete – solicitation released in Quarter 2 of CY2011 (plan to provide 12-18 months for selection and phase-in of selected vendors)
* OPM EDP requirement released – early 2010
* NASA implementation of requirement – October 2010
* Notification of coaching as primary method for development, increase identified – November 2010
* Coaching required to begin – January 2011
* Current ceiling met (based on new requirements) – February 2011
* Anticipated Contract full-up performance start- February 2012 (after a phase-in period from December 2011 through February 2012)
Executive coaching is an intense one-on-one relationship between coach and client that is based on trust and mutual respect. Coaching is only successful if a client has confidence in a coaches’ technical capability as well as his/her understanding of the broader organizational context and system in which the client resides. A coaches’ ability to enter a coaching engagement with these foundational pieces builds trust, allows for immediate work to begin within the engagement, and is the most cost effective means to deliver this service. Failure to enter into an engagement with these foundational pieces results in coaching hours being used as a means for the coach to become familiar with the clients’ organization instead of its intended purpose to provide developmental support to the client. A vendor’s ability to provide coaches with knowledge and experience of the organization becomes increasingly more important the higher the level of leader due to the high context environment found in the Executive cadre. Therefore, given NASA’s requirement to provide coaches immediately to large numbers of executives across the Agency requires a vendor with knowledge, experience, and understanding of the NASA culture. To date, Cambria is the only vendor with knowledge, experience, and understanding of the NASA culture combined with the technical coaching capability that can meet NASA’s schedule requirements to provide coaches acceptable to NASA.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) implemented a new requirement in 2010 to “prepare, implement, and continually update Executive Development Plans (EDPs) for all senior executives.” This resulted in 445 NASA Executive personnel to have EDPs in place in compliance with this requirement and as part of their 2010/2011 performance plans, a requirement that was met by October 30, 2010. Due to the nature of Executive schedules, responsibilities, and availability for training, the majority of Executive Development Plans listed “coaching” as a primary development activity. This new requirement, combined with the fact that all 445 NASA Executives were required to meet this task at the same time, as well as the selection of coaching as a primary development activity, has resulted in an immediate need for additional coaching services to begin for large numbers of Executives and their management teams. Although the follow-on competitive solicitation is expected to be released during the second quarter of CY 2011, there is a requirement to provide ongoing coaching services beyond the current maximum ordering value until award of the new contract. Failure to increase the current Cambria contract maximum ordering value would result in a break in service for all coaching services in the Agency.
To fulfill this Federal Statute, NASA is requiring the same level of performance currently being supplied through Cambria Consulting. Level of performance includes, but is not limited to, the technical coaching capability of the vendor and its coaches, intimate knowledge and experience working in NASA and with NASA leaders, and finally, the exact same processes currently being used for all coaching engagements in the Agency.
NASA could not have foreseen the immediate increase in the need for coaches due to the new OPM requirement for 445 Executives to have Executive Development Plans and their selection of “coaching” as a primary development activity. NASA was unable to anticipate the subsequent requests from Executives to support their management teams with coaching as well. The current maximum ordering value of this contract is insufficient to meet employee and client demands. Therefore, an increase in the maximum ordering value is proposed to allow for a continuation of services to avoid significant impacts to the development of NASA Executives and their ability to meet OPM requirements.
The period of performance of the Contract goes through July 30, 2012 and remains unchanged. Currently, the maximum value of Contract NNH07CD39B is $1,740,000, which is expected to be reached by February 2011.
3. Description of the supplies or services required, including an estimated value: The contractor shall provide a diverse pool of executive/business coaches to an increased number of Senior Executive Service (SES) leaders in accordance with the new OPM requirement.
Business coaching focuses on aligning individual and organizational goals to optimize performance and mission results. The Contractor shall provide coaching services that: captures individual and organizational change to improve mission performance, enable personal transformation and career role transition, supports the development of future leaders for the organization, and/or addresses a specific challenge. These services are designed to enhance leaders by having more knowledgeable and skilled leaders that are adaptable; having leaders that inspire, motivate, and guide others towards goals; and leaders that demonstrate high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness, and respect.
The estimated increase in the maximum ordering value for this requirement is $3,600,000, for a total maximum ordering value of $5,340,000. This value is expected to cover all anticipated requirements through December 2011, thereby allowing sufficient time to award the follow-on procurement.
4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:
The applicable statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c) (1), as cited under FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source, and no other supplies or services will satisfy Agency requirements.
5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:
NASA is requiring the same level of performance currently being supplied through Cambria Consulting. Level of performance includes, but is not limited to, the technical coaching capability of the vendor and its coaches, intimate knowledge and experience working in NASA and with NASA leaders, and finally, the exact same processes currently being used for all coaching engagements in the Agency. Only one responsible source is capable of responding due to the unique or specialized nature of work and this source is Cambria Consulting.
Cambria is also the only organization capable of providing these services with the necessary in-depth knowledge of past, present, and near-term future Government strategy, culture, leadership development efforts, facilities, networks, management structure, and personnel. Cambria has the required knowledge, technical capability, and processes that NASA requires to deliver coaching services. These documents and processes include programs that have been designed and modified to NASA’s organizational structure. These documents required at least five months of intense input from NASA personnel to plan a program that would fulfill agency requirements. No other vendor is able to deliver this service without a disruption in work in the required timeframe. Cambria is the only vendor with knowledge, experience, and understanding of the NASA culture combined with the technical coaching capability that can meet NASA’s schedule requirements to provide coaches acceptable to NASA. It would be impossible for a vendor to gain this level of knowledge and experience in the time allotted so that a NASA Executive would be willing to engage in a trusting coaching relationship with this person, time would be spent solely on client need and development and not on orienting the coach to NASA, and delivery of coaching services using the same processes and procedures is guaranteed.
Substantial costs would be incurred if a new vendor was brought onboard during the solicitation period. These costs include a phase-in period of 2 months to ensure engagements and programs continue as planned. The phase-in period would require NASA to spend a significant amount of time acclimating a new vendor to the NASA environment, organizational context, leaders, the Agency Coaching program, strategy, processes, and requirements. New documents and material would need to be created in addition to new coaches that would need to be transitioned into the Agency culture and center culture where services are to be performed. In addition to the phase-in period, the Government would need to review submitted Contractor proposals and documents for this increase, which it would need to do again when the follow-on solicitation is issued. This is not cost-effective given that the solicitation is planned to be released between April and May 2011 with an estimated contract full-up performance start date during February 2012. Given the time required for solicitation in addition to the phase-in period, this would potentially result in a break-in-service for coaching across the Agency for up to 12-18 months.
6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.2:
In accordance with Part 5.2 of the FAR, a synopsis was issued on January 7, 2011 to notify interested sources that this requirement will be issued on a sole source basis and to allow industry an opportunity to submit a response.
7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:
Loaded labor rates have already been determined fair and reasonable and are included in this Contract under Attachment B and no further modifications are necessary as a result of this action. This effort is solely to increase the maximum ordering value of this Contract. 8. Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:
A notice to FedBizOpps was published on January 7, 2011 to announce NASA’s intentions to award a sole source contract. The results of this synopsis are included in paragraph 10. These intentions were based on NASA Headquarters’ technical personnel’s knowledge of market conditions and capabilities at this time. There is no known company that has the knowledge, experience, and understanding of the NASA culture combined with the technical coaching capability that can meet NASA’s schedule requirements to provide coaches acceptable to NASA without an unacceptable delay in coaching support resulting in Executives being unable to meet their external OPM requirement. It is estimated that it will take any technically capable vendor 2 months to become familiar with and gain experience with the NASA culture and organizational context as well as develop an approved coaching plan that adheres to the agency’s requirements. A delay is unacceptable to the agency because of the requirement to fulfill the coaching requests in the time required in the many executive development plans. The break in service would be detrimental to the Agency because the Executives and leaders would not fulfill the coaching requirement outlined in their development plans nor would important individual, team, and organizational support provided through coaching be available at this critical time in the Agency. Further formal market research was not conducted for this Contract action as a competition for the follow-on is in process.
9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:
Limited market research was conducted because Cambria and its cadre of coaches have knowledge and experience in working with NASA employees, supervisors/managers, and executives around a variety of leadership topics. This specific knowledge and experience is crucial to the success of coaching in support of the new OPM requirement that all executives have an Executive Development Plan and ensure consistency at all levels of leadership by working in collaboration with NASA leadership development programs and courses. Cambria’s ongoing experience, knowledge, and work is a primary reason NASA has been able to expand its coaching strategy to include coaching in collaboration with its leadership programs as well as executive transitions and development.
10. Sources, if any, that expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition:
A notice to FedBizOpps was published to announce NASA Headquarters’ intentions to award a sole source Contract on January 7, 2011. Firms desiring consideration were requested to fully identify their interest and capabilities within 7 days of synopsis publication. NASA received capability statements from five vendors. Responses to the synopsis were received from: Integrated Focus, CDR Assessment Group, The Millenium Group, Superb Speakers, and the Hay Group.
While the overall capabilities of the vendors appear sufficient to provide coaching services to NASA in the future; the immediate need for coaches with specific experience and knowledge about NASA, its leaders and culture, current coaching processes, and overall context for coaching and development in the Agency cannot be found with these vendors. Cambria Consulting is uniquely capable of delivering coaching services to NASA at this time with the necessary in-depth knowledge of past, present, and near-term future of NASA, Office of Human Capital Management, and the Agency Coaching Program. Knowledge of the Agency’s Coaching Program includes its strategy, culture, leadership development efforts, facilities, networks, management structure, and personnel. Cambria has the required knowledge, technical capability, and copyrighted processes and documents that NASA requires to deliver coaching services. No other organization is able to deliver this service without a disruption in work and potential impact to the Agency mission in the required timeframe.
NASA encouraged these organizations to respond to the near-term solicitation of Coaching & Organization Development services that will be released in 2011. We contacted all firms that responded to the synopsis and explained the reasons for the need to add additional effort to this Contract, and all understood and are not interested in pursuing this acquisition, but are interested in the follow-on acquisition. One of the vendors that responded, who was interested in the requirement inquired about the solicitation for the follow-on requirement. More specifically, the vendor was interested in the method of soliciting proposals for the requirement. Once it was communicated that the follow-on procurement would be a full and open small business set-aside, the vendor indicated that they were interested in the follow-on requirement and would monitor the Government’s Point of Entry for a solicitation release.
11. The actions the Agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:
OHCM will monitor and research the industry to identify any other contractors capable of meeting this requirement for NASA as the follow-on effort to this Contract will be competitive. The follow-on solicitation is expected to be issued during the second quarter of 2011 and award of this effort will be the successor to this Contract. Therefore, this action will have no effect on future actions and no further action is required to remove barriers to future competitions.
Point of Contact
Name: Michael N Nguyen
Title: Contract Specialist
Phone: 301-286-3807
Fax: 301-286-0356
Email: Michael.n.nguyen@nasa.gov
Name: Sandra P. Bruce
Title: Contract Specialist
Phone: 301-286-3936
Fax: 301-286-0357
Email: sandra.p.bruce@nasa.gov
