Request for Proposal for an Organizational Audit (OA)

Project Funded by

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Contents

1. General Conditions 4

1.1 Cost of Proposals 4

1.2 Right of Rejection 4

2. Introduction 4

2.1 Purpose of RFP 4

2.2 Background Information 5

2.2.1 About the UWIOC 5

3. Project Description 6

4. Calendar of Events 7

4.1 Project Audience 7

4.2 Project Outcomes 7

4.3 Calendar of Events 8

5. Reporting Relationship 8

6. Monitoring and Evaluation 9

7. Proposal Submissions 9

7.1 General 9

7.2 Proposal Format 9

7.2.1. Cover Letter 9

7.2.2. Company Background, Qualifications and History 10

7.3 Technical Proposal 10

7.3.1 Executive Summary 10

7.3.2 Technical Section 10

7.3.3 Management Section 11

7.3.4 Education and Training 11

7.3.5 Vendor Profile 11

7.3.6 Appendices 12

7.4 Format of Pricing Proposal 12

7.4.1 Executive Summary 12

7.4.2 Pricing Section 12

7.4.3 Professional Services 12

7.4.4 Appendices 12

8. Exceptions to the RFP 13

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9. Required Attachments 13

10. Evaluation Process 13

10.1 Oral Presentation and Live Demonstration 13

10.2 Evaluation Criteria 14

Appendix A-1: Organizational Audit Functional and Technical Requirements 15

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1. General Conditions

a. This RFP is not a contract offer.

b. Receipt of a proposal neither commits UWI Open Campus/Strengthening Distance

Education in the Caribbean (UWIOC/SDEC) to award a contract to any vendor, nor limits

our rights to negotiate in our best interest.

c. UWIOC/SDEC reserves the right to contract with a vendor for reasons other than price.

d. Failure to answer any questions in this RFP may subject the proposal to disqualification.

e. UWIOC/SDEC reserves the right to request additional information that is necessary and

pertinent to the project or to assure the vendor's adequate competence to perform according

to bid specifications.

f. Products and services which are not specifically requested in the RFP but which are

necessary to provide the functional capabilities proposed by the vendor shall be included

in the proposal.

g. Prices are to be quoted in (US$) – VAT Exclusive.

h. The final prices quoted shall include: the price delivered to site, as specified in the contract

pricing forms, inclusive of any handling charges, and any other incidental charges.

1.1 Cost of Proposals

Expenses incurred in the preparation of proposals in response to this RFP are the sole responsibility

of the vendor.

1.2 Right of Rejection

UWIOC/SDEC reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals, or any part of any

proposal, without penalty. UWIOC/SDEC may award a contract to a single contractor for all

elements for the entire project or may award any of the elements separately. In addition,

UWIOC/SDEC reserves the right to fund (and proceed with project or purchase), not to fund the

project, or to partially fund the project. Any allowance for oversight, omission, error, or mistake

by the bidder made after receipt of the proposal will be at the sole discretion of UWIOC/SDEC.

2. Introduction

2.1 Purpose of RFP

UWIOC/SDEC is seeking the services from qualified vendors to execute an Organizational Audit

for The UWI Open Campus.

This RFP provides the requirements and evaluative criteria and requests detailed responses from

all prospective vendors, including pricing and service descriptions, in a specified format.

UWIOC/GAC will conduct a review of the responses received to this RFP.

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2.2 Background Information

2.2.1 About the UWIOC

The University of the West Indies, Open Campus (UWIOC) is the newest campus of the 70-year-

old University of the West Indies (The UWI). UWIOC was formally launched in Antigua &

Barbuda in June 2008.

The UWIOC is an amalgamation of the previous Office of the Board for Non-Campus Countries

& Distance Education (BNNCDE), the School of Continuing Studies (SCS), the UWI Distance

Education Centre (UWIDEC) and the Tertiary Level Institutions Unit (TLIU).

The UWIOC offers multi-mode teaching and learning services across the Caribbean region

Currently there are almost 50 UWIOC locations, including country Sites and offices, in 16

countries, and provides service to 17 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. The staff

complement is just over 500 persons1.

The UWIOC has developed a unique approach to enhancing the student experience through

innovative undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing and professional study programmes and

courses by distance, blended, online and face-to-face learning modes in the Caribbean region and

beyond.

As one of the four (4) campuses of The University of the West Indies, the Open Campus is required

to play its part in executing the University’s 2017-2022 Triple A Strategy. This Strategy envisions

a new direction for the University and places a key responsibility on each Campus to adopt a

transformative approach in their operations and be a vehicle for transformation in the lives of staff,

students, communities, and the wider Caribbean Community and beyond. This new mandate

necessitates that the Open Campus has a comprehensive understanding of its capabilities and is

fully prepared and equipped to make the transition expected of it in the coming years.

2.2.2 Project funding by GAC

On March 27, 2013, the Government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada (GAC- formerly

CIDA) and the UWIOC signed a contribution agreement for a project entitled “UWI Open Campus

– Strengthening Distance Education in the Caribbean” (SDEC). This agreement will cover the

period from date of signing to March 31, 2019.

Among other things, the project will create and implement new market-driven responsive Distance

Education courses and programmes, and strengthen the long-term institutional capacity of The

UWI. This includes strengthening human resource and institutional infrastructure such as systems,

processes and, to a very limited extent, physical facilities of the University in support of the new

programmes.

1The staff numbers projected are 600 persons.

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The Organizational Audit is an extension of the activities of the GAC/SDEC Project to enhance

the organizational efficiency and effectiveness of The UWI Open Campus.

3. Project Description

The Organizational Audit is to be a systematic collection and analysis of data/information in regard

to vision/mission/strategy, structure, leadership practices, positions/roles, skill-sets and

communication systems as they impact the organization.

Resulting from the audit it is anticipated that the above-mentioned areas will be brought into

alignment to enable the Campus to easily adapt and fit for purpose in regards to its mandate under

the Triple A Strategy. The recommendations from the organizational audit will assist with

HR/Organizational related decisions, including but not limited to workforce planning, succession

planning, employee development, performance, and staff engagement.

Project Objectives

The Consultant/Firm will be required to:

Analyze the organizational structure to determine whether it aligns with the overall

mission/strategic direction of the Campus.

Determine existing skills sets and required skills sets to drive the mission of the Campus

against the different categories of positions/employees, enabling the UWIOC to redeploy

employees to roles where they are better fit.

Conduct an assessment of existing communication systems approaches to determine

effectiveness, including collaboration among departments.

Review job descriptions for 1st and 2nd tier managers to identify the required critical

competencies needed.

Determine the extent to which staff understand and are on board with the mission of the

Campus.

Determine the impact of leadership practices.

Products and Services:

(1) Inception report (including work plan), outlining proposed approach and associated

activities, and required documentation from the Campus (December 21, 2018)

(2) Job Profile reviews for 1st and 2nd tier managers (January 2-31, 2019)

(3) Collation of Key Performance Indicators for 1st and 2nd tier managers (February 1 – 15,

2019)

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(4) Mid-Audit Progress Report and Findings (February 22, 2019)

(5) Submit a Consultant’s report (Draft) (March 22nd , 2019)

(6) Submit a Consultant’s report (Final) (March 29th , 2019)

4. Calendar of Events

4.1 Project Audience

The Organizational Audit will be used by the Open Campus Leadership Team and the Human

Resource Department to inform key decisions as they relate to enhancing organizational efficiency

and effectiveness.

4.2 Project Outcomes

A detailed/comprehensive report on the findings of the Organizational Audit with attendant

recommendations geared towards enhancing the overall performance of the Open Campus. Key

among these recommendations must be detailed information on approaches/strategies the Open

Campus should adopt to bring about alignment between its mission and purpose, and alignment of

departments/collaboration between departments, positions and required skill-sets with specific

emphasis on 1st and 2nd tier managers/leaders.

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4.3 Calendar of Events

The following table summarizes the calendar of events.

Table 1: Pre and Implementation Project Activities

Activity Timeline

Distribute RFP November 2nd 2018

Virtual vendor(s) conference November 9th 2018

Deadline for submission of questions November 12th 2018

Deadline for UWIOC response to questions November14th 2018

Deadline for receipt of proposals November 19th 2018

Vendor(s) short list presented November 22nd 2018

Vendor(s) presentations (may be done via

conference call)

November 28th 2018

Approval and announcement of vendor(s)

selected

December 5th 2018

Vendor contracted December 14th 2018

Inception Report & Audit Methodology

submitted

December 21st 2018

Response re Inception Report & Audit

Methodology

January 3rd 2019

Start of Audit January 7th 2019

Mid-Audit Progress Report and Findings February 22nd 2019

Evaluation Report February 28th 2019

Draft Final Report received from vendor March 22nd 2019

Open Campus returns report with comments March 25th 2019

Final Report incorporating Open Campus

Feedback submitted by vendor

March 28th 2019

Final disbursement to vendor pending

approval of the final report

March 29st 2019

5. Reporting Relationship

Responsible body

The SDEC project’s PMU and the HR Department: The former is a direct report to the Open

Campus Principal’s Office under this sub-project.

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Management structure

The project will be under the general direction of the Director Human Resource.

6. Monitoring and Evaluation

The PMU and HR Department will monitor and evaluate the implementation of this sub-project

based on the Log Frame submitted in the inception report and approved by the Evaluation

Committee. The established indicators are listed in Table 1.

7. Proposal Submissions

7.1 General

The proposal shall be used to determine the applicant’s capability of rendering the services to be

provided. Failure to fully comply with the instructions in this RFP may eliminate the vendor’s

proposal from further evaluation as determined at the sole discretion of UWIOC/SDEC.

UWIOC/SDEC reserves the right to evaluate the contents of proposals submitted in response to

this RFP and to select a successful vendor, or none at all. UWIOC/SDEC reserves the right to

waive any requirements of this RFP when it determines that waiving a requirement is in the best

interest of UWIOC/SDEC. The proposal is to include contact information, including principle

contacts and officers, main and local business addresses, tax identification number, voice and fax

phone numbers and email addresses. The applicant must sign proposals. An unsigned proposal

may be rejected.

7.2 Proposal Format

All proposals should be typewritten; have consecutively numbered pages; including any exhibits,

charts or other attachments.

Proposals shall be organized into the following major sections:

7.2.1. Cover Letter

The letter shall identify the core team, provide name of contact person, phone number and fax

number; summarize vendor’s history and other projects completed within the last three years that

are most relevant to the RFP.

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7.2.2. Company Background, Qualifications and History

The proposal shall:

a. Include evidence of the Provider’s qualification in conducting similar exercises

(including qualification of all consultants it intends to use for this specific assignment).

b. Describe the experience of Provider including qualification of all consultants it intends to

use for this specific assignment) in providing similar exercises and related professional

services.

c. Describe relevant sales and services carried out in the last three (3) years that illustrate

the firm’s experience as it relates to this RFP. Experience in delivery of training to

tertiary level educational institutions is required.

7.3 Technical Proposal

7.3.1 Executive Summary

The Executive Summary shall serve to familiarize UWIOC executives and evaluators with the key

elements and unique features of the proposal by briefly describing how the vendor proposes to

accomplish the task. The Executive Summary shall contain the following:

A summary of the vendor’s approach to addressing the issues outlined in the RFP. Any

material presented in this section shall not be considered as meeting any technical

requirement.

A master milestone schedule of all major efforts to be undertaken in the project: Dates shall

begin as listed in this RFP.

A list of exceptions taken to this RFP and the reasons for the exceptions.

A list of high-risk areas that may be reasons for concern such as timelines, technologies or

specific requirements. Any request to change a requirement must be fully explained in this

section. Prospective vendors will not be penalized for listing their areas of concerns. If

selected, the effective management of these concerns will be addressed with the successful

vendor during the negotiation of contract.

7.3.2 Technical Section

The technical proposal shall consist of descriptions of the vendor’s capacity to meet the functional

requirements outlined in the RFP. This RFP was designed to facilitate the vendors’ responses to

the requirements and to provide the Evaluation Committee with a standard approach for comparing

vendors’ responses.

Vendors are encouraged to describe how their solutions meet the requirements outlined, without

references to manuals, data sheets, product brochures, or other supporting material. When

necessary, vendors may support answers by reference to other material, but answers should be

understandable without reading the related support material. Answers such as “See Appendix A,

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Technical Manual” will be marked as non-responsive. Any supporting material cited in an answer

must be referenced by appendix, name of document, and page(s) to be reviewed.

7.3.3 Management Section

In this section, the vendor shall provide information organized into the following sections:

7.3.4 Education and Training

Vendors shall provide a detailed description of all proposed activities recommended for this audit.

This section shall have an introductory section that justifies the activities described, the basic

approach taken, and the benefits for UWIOC.

Vendors shall also list recommended UWIOC personnel2 who should participate in the audit

and list anticipated required documentation from the Campus.

Vendors shall provide pricing information in the pricing section.

7.3.5 Vendor Profile

Vendors shall provide a brief description of the overall organization of their company including

headquarter’s organization, divisions, and operations. This description shall include how long the

company has been in operation and if it is owned by a parent company or if it owns other companies

as a parent company. Vendor should supply, as an appendix, a current annual and financial audited

report and other information that is pertinent to establish the financial stability of the company.

Vendor shall supply as an appendix the CVs of the Professional staff assigned to this project, each

CV must be signed by the staff member him/herself.

Vendors shall include the number of organizations that have successfully implemented their

solution. Include a description of the industries serviced, the number of organizations that have

implemented their solution in the past fiscal year and the number of customers added in the past

three (3) fiscal years.

Vendors shall provide a minimum of three related contracts awarded within the last three (3) years.

The vendor shall provide a synopsis of each contract and discuss their relevance to this project and

proposal.

Organization Name

2 This might include technical staff, management, etc.

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Customer Contact – name, title and contact information

Address

Date of work performed

Brief description of work performed

Project dollar value

In addition, vendors shall provide permission from at least two of the above references for follow

up by UWIOC personnel. Vendors shall provide a realistic discussion of the success in achieving

technical, management, and budget outcomes for one of the listed references.

Describe what generally differentiates you from your key competitors.

7.3.6 Appendices

Any material, such as sales brochures, CDs, and other reference material, shall be placed in an

Appendix to the proposal. Appendices shall be identified by letter: Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.

Material in an appendix shall have been referenced in your proposal.

7.4 Format of Pricing Proposal

7.4.1 Executive Summary

A discussion of your cost proposal, which should contain, but not be limited to, the following:

How pricing was computed for software and related services

Hidden or related costs that UWIOC has not anticipated

Projected return on investment (ROI)

7.4.2 Pricing Section

The pricing proposal shall consist of the following sections:

7.4.3 Professional Services

The vendor shall present the total cost of all professional services including a high-level

breakdown of resource allocation to each major project activity.

7.4.4 Appendices

Any material, such as pricelists, CDs, and other reference material, shall be placed in an Appendix

to the proposal. Appendices shall be identified by letter: Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. Material

in an appendix shall have been referenced in your proposal.

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8. Exceptions to the RFP

Any variance to the requested technical specifications or proposal must be explained under this

section.

9. Required Attachments

a. Statement of vendor’s qualifications

b. Customer references

10. Evaluation Process

Selection of the successful proposal shall be generally based on the information provided by the

Vendor/supplier in response to the RFP and any subsequent interviews that may be conducted.

Vendor/supplier interviews will be held solely at the option and discretion of UWIOC/GAC.

The process for selection shall occur in the following sequence

Review and evaluate proposals

Establish a "short list" of qualified firms

Interview "short-listed" firms

Identify the best qualified firm

Contract negotiations

Award contract

10.1 Oral Presentation and Live Demonstration

Shortlisted vendors will be required to make an oral presentation of their proposal. This

presentation will be made to the Evaluation Committee and executive staff responsible for

awarding this contract. This opportunity is given to allow vendors the chance to further define the

primary features and benefits of their proposal, to allow clarification of weak areas in their

proposal, and to permit limited questions from the audience.

The live demonstration must be able to justify the activities and cost of the vendor’s proposal.

Failure to do so might disqualify the vendor, and the demonstration will be concluded. The oral

presentation is mandatory, if requested. Failure to agree to the presentation will disqualify the

vendor and contract negotiations will resume with the vendor who was runner-up.

Presentation and demonstration format is left to the discretion of the vendor and can be in person

or virtual. The presentation room will be equipped with audio/visual equipment as required. The

overall time will be limited to a one-hour period, which includes presentation, demonstration and

questions and answers.

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10.2 Evaluation Criteria

UWIOC/SDEC evaluates and weighs the following criteria when evaluating vendor’s responses.

These standards are listed in descending order of importance.

Evaluation Criteria Weight

Cost 25%

Design and technical specifications 40%

Implementation methodology 15%

References, experience and capabilities of

vendor

20%

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Appendix A-1: Organizational Audit Functional and Technical Requirements

The UWIOC will provide the University’s Triple-A Strategic Plan for the period 2017-2022 including its mission as it continues

vigorously to pursue several strategic initiatives.

Sample Job Descriptions of Job Categories of 1st and 2nd tier leadership

Annual Reports 2016 & 2017

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Appendix B: Statement of Vendor Qualification

1. Legal Business Name: ________________________________________________________ 2. DBA (Doing Business As) Name, if applicable:_______________________________________ 3. Business Office Address: a. Street: ________________________________________________________________ b. City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________________ c. Country:_______________________________________________________________ d. Telephone Number: _____________________________________________________ e. Fax Number: ___________________________________________________________ f. Email: _______________________________________________________________ g. URL: ________________________________________________________________ 4. Business Effective Date:_______________________________________________________ 5. Organized Business Status: _____ Corporation _____ Partnership _____ Individual/Sole proprietor _____ Other 6. How many years have you been engaged in the business under your present name? _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. What other names(s) if any has your business/company operated under and taxpayer number used? ___________________________________________________________________________ 8. Please list the names of your personnel authorized to sign legal and binding Bid Documents. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 9. Please attach to this statement at least three references, including: name, address, title, telephone number and brief description of work performed, including dates of work. The above statements must be subscribed and sworn before a Notary Public. Authorized Representative Signature ____________________________________ Date ________________________________________ Name_______________________________________ Title_________________________________________ Email Address ________________________________ Telephone Number ____________________________ Fax Number __________________________________ ____________________________________________ (Notary Public)