“Gap Assessment for Business Services in Transnistria”
Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise Development (ACED) Project
Contract Number: AID-117-C-11-00001
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
“Gap Assessment for Business Services in Transnistria”
Type of Contract:
Fixed Price Purchase Order
RFP Issue Date:
September 10, 2012
Proposal Due Date:
October 8, 2012
Proposals received after 18:00 on this date will not be considered.
Electronic copies may be sent to MoldovaAg@dai.com
Background
The component “Enhancing the capacity of Transnistrian small and medium enterprises and business service providers” is part of a larger program – the Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise Development (ACED) project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal of this component is to develop the capacity and competitiveness of private micro-, small and medium enterprises and business service providers of Transnistria as well as the fresh fruit and vegetable sector. The project will operate until spring of 2016.
Business services are considered those such as marketing, financial, book-keeping, IT, market research, management consulting, legal consulting, and other services that help contribute to the development of local enterprises. This exercise is focused on business services that can be useful across a all sectors of the economy (these cross-cutting services- such a business planning and marketing - are relevant to all kinds of companies including those in agriculture, textiles, and restaurants, etc.).
The vision of the ACED project regarding Transnistrian business service provider (BSP)s is: to support the development of a vibrant commercial market for business services responding to local MSME needs by the end of 2015. This will include cross-bank BSP partnerships, and provision of services currently lacking in the local market such as marketing, market research, business planning and HR consulting.
ACED will highlight existing market opportunities by carrying out the research proposed below in the gap assessment. ACED hopes that the concrete information gathered will stimulate local BSPs to develop such services. Furthermore, ACED intends to offer trainings on how to provide important business services on topics such as marketing, market research, business planning and HR consulting in the coming years.
Objective:
ACED would like to hire a subcontractor to carry out a Gap Assessment for business services in Transnistria. This includes the cross-cutting business services such as marketing, financial planning and management, book-keeping, IT, legal, and others. We will contract with market researchers, to survey:
1) Transnistrian companies to assess the services they currently contract, from where they receive them, what their other business service needs are and their willingness to pay,
2) Transnistrian BSPs to see what services they are now offering, and
3) other regional BSPs (Chisinau and Odessa) who act and/or could act in mentorship/ partnership with Transnistrian BSPs.
It is critical that the resulting data will be reliable and present practical evidence about market demand that can be used by BSPs to make decisions about entering into gaps in the Transnistrian business services marketplace. It is envisioned that the information will be used to stimulate BSPs to develop services needed in the Transnistrian market but not currently offered.
ACED will engage one contractor to carry out this assignment. The contractor can be registered inside or outside of Transnistria (Left or Right Bank of Moldova, or in the Ukraine), but the team proposed by the offerer is required to include capacity in the region of Transnistria (either a company, person or NGO). In other words, if a bidder is based in Chisinau or Odesa, they need to include a minimum of one person based in Transnistria in the implementation team. CV for such a person should be included in the bid.
While the exact research method is left open to the bidder to propose, it is envisioned that the selected contractor will:
- Prepare the survey instrument for surveying companies (representative of size and sectors of the Transnistrian economy) about what business services they have used (contracted from where, how much they paid, and how satisfied they were with results) and what services they need or are interested in hearing more about (approximately 100 Transnistrian companies from various sectors of the economy as survey sample size).
- Prepare a survey instrument or structured interview for surveying business service providers about what services they offer (both actively have sold in significant volumes as well as those they more passively feel they have the capacity to sell) and what volumes they have sold, of which types of services to which types of clients (approximately 60 BSPs exist in total in Transnistria according to info ACED has compiled).
- Field test and then implement the research outlined above.
- Carry out one focus group discussion of 10-12 BSPs to gather information on what aspirations BSPs have for adding new services, what level of openness to partnerships with regional BSPs exists, and what they feel are the steps would be needed to introduce and/ or strengthen business services capacity.
- Choose an appropriate qualitative tool- either Focus Group Discussion (FGD) or structured interviews one-on-one with 10-12 Transnistrian companies/ businesspeople to find out Transnistrian business community’s perception of Transnistrian business service providers, as well as perceptions of service providers from Moldova’s Right Bank and Ukrainian business service providers.
- Analyze the data collected.
- Write an analytical report (to be submitted in English and Russian) including the following points:
o From where business services are contracted (percentages and volumes) e.g. Transnistria, Odesa, Chisinau, Kyiv, Russia or other locations.
o How often companies utilize various business services including by type of service
o Prices currently paid by different types of services, delineated by city of origin
o Services needed but not available locally
o Feedback on satisfaction levels by the local business community about various types of services available locally.
o Services that Transnistrian businesses express interest in that they haven’t yet contracted locally or from regional consulting companies.
Illustrative Tasks (the following can be modified by the offerer but should provide the rationale for making changes in their proposal):
Task 1: Meet with the ACED team to receive input on observations gained working on this subject in Transnistria over the past year.
Task 2: Design the research tools (survey of Transnistrian (client) companies, the survey or structured interview guide for 60 Transnistrian BSPs, focus group discussion guide for 10-12 BSPs and the structured interview guide or FGD guide for discussions with 10-12 Transnistrian companies about Transnistria BSP perceptions). The business (client company) survey should be statistically significant with a maximum margin of error of 10% (approximately 100 companies sample size). The BSP survey should attempt to interview all existing BSPs in Transnistria (approximately 60).
Task 3: Field test survey of Transnistrian company (client company) and BSP interviews.
Task 4: Qualitative/ attitudes and perception research: carry out FGD with 10-12 BSPs and FGD or structured interviews with representative (client) businesses (approximately 10-12 businesses- either one FGD with all of them or 10-12 structured interviews).
Task 5: carry out survey of Transnistrian companies (BSP clients, or potential clients – sample size approximately 100).
Task 6: carry out survey/ interviews of BSPs- approximately 60. Most are in Tiraspol, Bender, and a few in Ribnita.
Task 9: Analyze results of all data collected.
Task 10: Write analytical report.
Task 11: Conduct one workshop with the stakeholders to present the findings (in Tiraspol or Bender). This includes renting the premises, sending invitations, offering a light lunch/ coffee break for an estimated 25 participants. This should be budgeted for a restaurant, hotel or meeting hall willing to offer a private event for a reasonable price.
Deliverables:
The deliverables will be:
1) Survey carried out and Raw Data from surveys in Excel or Access submitted to ACED.
2) One FGD of 10-12 BSPs. Transcripts of FGD or key highlights summary (at the contractor’s discretion) submitted.
3) One FGD 10-12 of Transnistria company’s or 10-12 structured interviews carried out. Plus Transcript of FGD/ structured interviews or key highlights summary (at the contractor’s discretion) submitted.
3) Analytical report of survey and FGD findings (English and Russian) as per the content outlined above.
4) PPT Presentation in Tiraspol of study results (Russian) including PPT, and registration sheet.
Deliverable sequencing requirements
1. The contractor’s proposed methodology and research instruments are to be presented for feedback and approval by ACED before being carried out.
2. The FGD discussion guide(s) and facilitator is to be presented and approved by ACED before being carried out (and 10-12 structured interviews guide and facilitator in the case this is chosen for qualitative research related to Transnistrian companies (potential BSP client companies)).
3. A technical report on the approach, methods, and findings (English and Russian) is to be presented and approved by ACED before scheduling the workshop.
4. Workshop presentation of key findings in PPT is presented and approved by ACED before being made in Tiraspol. (Note PPT must include the appropriate USAID and ACED branding).
Proposal instructions
Interested bidders are requested to submit a brief proposal in English including the following elements:
Selection Criteria
Final selection will be made on the basis of the best overall value for money considering the following criteria:
Disclaimer
The issuance of this RFP does not obligate DAI to award a contract for this work. The selection of the successful bidder is at the discretion of ACED, and any award is subject to USAID approval. ACED reserves the right to conduct negotiations with bidders and to issue more than one contract, at its sole discretion.
Delivery Information:
All proposals must be written in English and delivered to the ACED office either electronically or in hard copy before 18:00 on October 8, 2012.
Sealed, hard copy proposals should be addressed to ACED Project, Kentford Building, 202 Stefan cel Mare Blvd., Chisinau and the subject line should include the title of the RFP. Electronic proposals should be sent to MoldovaAg@dai.com. No proposals will be opened until the delivery deadline has passed.
Questions can be asked electronically to the email address: MoldovaAg@dai.com by October 3rd and all written questions will be compiled, answered, and sent to any bidder who asked any single question or expressed interest in the bid by October 5. In other words, if one potential bidder asks any single question (expressing interest), responses to all questions asked will be sent to this interested party.
Contract Number: AID-117-C-11-00001
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
“Gap Assessment for Business Services in Transnistria”
Type of Contract:
Fixed Price Purchase Order
RFP Issue Date:
September 10, 2012
Proposal Due Date:
October 8, 2012
Proposals received after 18:00 on this date will not be considered.
Electronic copies may be sent to MoldovaAg@dai.com
Background
The component “Enhancing the capacity of Transnistrian small and medium enterprises and business service providers” is part of a larger program – the Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise Development (ACED) project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal of this component is to develop the capacity and competitiveness of private micro-, small and medium enterprises and business service providers of Transnistria as well as the fresh fruit and vegetable sector. The project will operate until spring of 2016.
Business services are considered those such as marketing, financial, book-keeping, IT, market research, management consulting, legal consulting, and other services that help contribute to the development of local enterprises. This exercise is focused on business services that can be useful across a all sectors of the economy (these cross-cutting services- such a business planning and marketing - are relevant to all kinds of companies including those in agriculture, textiles, and restaurants, etc.).
The vision of the ACED project regarding Transnistrian business service provider (BSP)s is: to support the development of a vibrant commercial market for business services responding to local MSME needs by the end of 2015. This will include cross-bank BSP partnerships, and provision of services currently lacking in the local market such as marketing, market research, business planning and HR consulting.
ACED will highlight existing market opportunities by carrying out the research proposed below in the gap assessment. ACED hopes that the concrete information gathered will stimulate local BSPs to develop such services. Furthermore, ACED intends to offer trainings on how to provide important business services on topics such as marketing, market research, business planning and HR consulting in the coming years.
Objective:
ACED would like to hire a subcontractor to carry out a Gap Assessment for business services in Transnistria. This includes the cross-cutting business services such as marketing, financial planning and management, book-keeping, IT, legal, and others. We will contract with market researchers, to survey:
1) Transnistrian companies to assess the services they currently contract, from where they receive them, what their other business service needs are and their willingness to pay,
2) Transnistrian BSPs to see what services they are now offering, and
3) other regional BSPs (Chisinau and Odessa) who act and/or could act in mentorship/ partnership with Transnistrian BSPs.
It is critical that the resulting data will be reliable and present practical evidence about market demand that can be used by BSPs to make decisions about entering into gaps in the Transnistrian business services marketplace. It is envisioned that the information will be used to stimulate BSPs to develop services needed in the Transnistrian market but not currently offered.
ACED will engage one contractor to carry out this assignment. The contractor can be registered inside or outside of Transnistria (Left or Right Bank of Moldova, or in the Ukraine), but the team proposed by the offerer is required to include capacity in the region of Transnistria (either a company, person or NGO). In other words, if a bidder is based in Chisinau or Odesa, they need to include a minimum of one person based in Transnistria in the implementation team. CV for such a person should be included in the bid.
While the exact research method is left open to the bidder to propose, it is envisioned that the selected contractor will:
- Prepare the survey instrument for surveying companies (representative of size and sectors of the Transnistrian economy) about what business services they have used (contracted from where, how much they paid, and how satisfied they were with results) and what services they need or are interested in hearing more about (approximately 100 Transnistrian companies from various sectors of the economy as survey sample size).
- Prepare a survey instrument or structured interview for surveying business service providers about what services they offer (both actively have sold in significant volumes as well as those they more passively feel they have the capacity to sell) and what volumes they have sold, of which types of services to which types of clients (approximately 60 BSPs exist in total in Transnistria according to info ACED has compiled).
- Field test and then implement the research outlined above.
- Carry out one focus group discussion of 10-12 BSPs to gather information on what aspirations BSPs have for adding new services, what level of openness to partnerships with regional BSPs exists, and what they feel are the steps would be needed to introduce and/ or strengthen business services capacity.
- Choose an appropriate qualitative tool- either Focus Group Discussion (FGD) or structured interviews one-on-one with 10-12 Transnistrian companies/ businesspeople to find out Transnistrian business community’s perception of Transnistrian business service providers, as well as perceptions of service providers from Moldova’s Right Bank and Ukrainian business service providers.
- Analyze the data collected.
- Write an analytical report (to be submitted in English and Russian) including the following points:
o From where business services are contracted (percentages and volumes) e.g. Transnistria, Odesa, Chisinau, Kyiv, Russia or other locations.
o How often companies utilize various business services including by type of service
o Prices currently paid by different types of services, delineated by city of origin
o Services needed but not available locally
o Feedback on satisfaction levels by the local business community about various types of services available locally.
o Services that Transnistrian businesses express interest in that they haven’t yet contracted locally or from regional consulting companies.
Illustrative Tasks (the following can be modified by the offerer but should provide the rationale for making changes in their proposal):
Task 1: Meet with the ACED team to receive input on observations gained working on this subject in Transnistria over the past year.
Task 2: Design the research tools (survey of Transnistrian (client) companies, the survey or structured interview guide for 60 Transnistrian BSPs, focus group discussion guide for 10-12 BSPs and the structured interview guide or FGD guide for discussions with 10-12 Transnistrian companies about Transnistria BSP perceptions). The business (client company) survey should be statistically significant with a maximum margin of error of 10% (approximately 100 companies sample size). The BSP survey should attempt to interview all existing BSPs in Transnistria (approximately 60).
Task 3: Field test survey of Transnistrian company (client company) and BSP interviews.
Task 4: Qualitative/ attitudes and perception research: carry out FGD with 10-12 BSPs and FGD or structured interviews with representative (client) businesses (approximately 10-12 businesses- either one FGD with all of them or 10-12 structured interviews).
Task 5: carry out survey of Transnistrian companies (BSP clients, or potential clients – sample size approximately 100).
Task 6: carry out survey/ interviews of BSPs- approximately 60. Most are in Tiraspol, Bender, and a few in Ribnita.
Task 9: Analyze results of all data collected.
Task 10: Write analytical report.
Task 11: Conduct one workshop with the stakeholders to present the findings (in Tiraspol or Bender). This includes renting the premises, sending invitations, offering a light lunch/ coffee break for an estimated 25 participants. This should be budgeted for a restaurant, hotel or meeting hall willing to offer a private event for a reasonable price.
Deliverables:
The deliverables will be:
1) Survey carried out and Raw Data from surveys in Excel or Access submitted to ACED.
2) One FGD of 10-12 BSPs. Transcripts of FGD or key highlights summary (at the contractor’s discretion) submitted.
3) One FGD 10-12 of Transnistria company’s or 10-12 structured interviews carried out. Plus Transcript of FGD/ structured interviews or key highlights summary (at the contractor’s discretion) submitted.
3) Analytical report of survey and FGD findings (English and Russian) as per the content outlined above.
4) PPT Presentation in Tiraspol of study results (Russian) including PPT, and registration sheet.
Deliverable sequencing requirements
1. The contractor’s proposed methodology and research instruments are to be presented for feedback and approval by ACED before being carried out.
2. The FGD discussion guide(s) and facilitator is to be presented and approved by ACED before being carried out (and 10-12 structured interviews guide and facilitator in the case this is chosen for qualitative research related to Transnistrian companies (potential BSP client companies)).
3. A technical report on the approach, methods, and findings (English and Russian) is to be presented and approved by ACED before scheduling the workshop.
4. Workshop presentation of key findings in PPT is presented and approved by ACED before being made in Tiraspol. (Note PPT must include the appropriate USAID and ACED branding).
Proposal instructions
Interested bidders are requested to submit a brief proposal in English including the following elements:
- A proposed methodology of the gap assessment including a schedule for completion of the tasks detailed above.
- Resumes of the individuals proposed to carry out this assignment.
- A brief qualification statement explaining bidder’s experience with market research and analysis- including surveys, FGDs, analysis of data, and presentation of that analysis.
- A budget with fixed prices (VAT- 0%) in US Dollars detailed by each deliverable listed above (fixed prices for each deliverable should include all costs of personnel proposed to carry out the assignment and any other costs related (direct or indirect)).
- Delivery terms for each deliverable mentioned above.
Selection Criteria
Final selection will be made on the basis of the best overall value for money considering the following criteria:
- Subcontractor’s profile, previous activities in market research and analysis 10%
- CV of the person(s) in Transnistria as part of the team 20%
- Professional qualification the person(s) proposed to carry out the work 20%
- Technical approach 20%
- Total cost 30%
Disclaimer
The issuance of this RFP does not obligate DAI to award a contract for this work. The selection of the successful bidder is at the discretion of ACED, and any award is subject to USAID approval. ACED reserves the right to conduct negotiations with bidders and to issue more than one contract, at its sole discretion.
Delivery Information:
All proposals must be written in English and delivered to the ACED office either electronically or in hard copy before 18:00 on October 8, 2012.
Sealed, hard copy proposals should be addressed to ACED Project, Kentford Building, 202 Stefan cel Mare Blvd., Chisinau and the subject line should include the title of the RFP. Electronic proposals should be sent to MoldovaAg@dai.com. No proposals will be opened until the delivery deadline has passed.
Questions can be asked electronically to the email address: MoldovaAg@dai.com by October 3rd and all written questions will be compiled, answered, and sent to any bidder who asked any single question or expressed interest in the bid by October 5. In other words, if one potential bidder asks any single question (expressing interest), responses to all questions asked will be sent to this interested party.