Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, 6009 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 700, ATTN: M:P, Oxon Hill, MD 20745

B -- INTERAL COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN STUDIES PROJECT SOL TIRNO-99-Q-00175 POC Helen D. Carmona 202-283-1514 (FAX) The IRS is preparing for a major reorganization, moving from functional divisions (such as Collection and Examination) to Operating Divisions built around customer bases (such as Small Business and Large Corporate). The IRS publication "Modernizing America's Tax Agency" provides an excellent overview of the changes IRS is initiating, describing the Commissioner's vision for transforming the IRS. It is an overview of the entire process of change that the IRS is undertaking to meet the public's expectations. The IRS will provide each awarded contractor a copy of this publication. The project's objective is to implement carefully planned and measurably proven internal communication infrastructures. Internal communication infrastructures are the specific communication roles, tools and accountability, for all levels of management as well as internal communication managers (field, four operating division headquarters, and core), that influence behaviors necessary to deliver operational outcomes. The project will (1) adopt models of ideal organizational communication (2) identify desired operational outcomes, (3) identify the employee behaviors needed to yield those outcomes, and (4) design, test and implement new communication management practices to affect those behaviors. The project will establish targets for each of these three measures (outcomes, behaviors and practices) and measure progress. After choosing ideal models of organizational communication, and establishing operational and behavioral objectives, the project will: conduct research into the current state of communication management practices, identifying the gap between these and the ideal model; identify new communication management practices to deliver required behaviors; pilot the new communication management practices; re-measure (outcomes, behaviors and communication management practices); implement successes. The project will consist of three groups working concurrently: Study Team: This team will conduct the steps of the pilot study, including initial research, pilots, and post-pilot research. Executive Steering Committee: This group of clients, made up of senior executives, will provide ongoing operational input to the project, choose operational and behavioral outcomes to address, and make key project decisions. Project Management Team: This team will plan and manage the project, and integrate the various project components. In order to incorporate the latest research findings and techniques, the IRS desires the assistance of consultants in the areas of organizational communication management practices, measurement, and knowledge management. Each consultant shall provide consulting services to the Study Team and presentations to the Executive Steering Committee in order to educate its members and foster their ownership of the project. The specific points in the project in which consultation and presentations/discussions shall be required will be fully detailed in tasks under each contract. Three separate contractors will work on this projectto bring a different perspective: (1) knowledge management; (2) communication management practices; and (3) communication process analysis and measures. The Study Team will be responsible for blending and incorporating various aspects of these three perspectives into a single approach for the IRS. The IRS does not anticipate the need for the contractors to collaborate or make joint presentations. In the tasks, the contractor(s) will receive items such as data or documents, and shall respond to the Study Team within a certain number of days with comments or recommendations. The Study Team and each contractor will dialogue throughout the project to schedule these dates. The initial research (pre-survey interviews, survey, and post-survey interviews) will occur in the summer of 1999. Pilot recommendations will be implemented by fall, 1999; end of pilot measures will be in the winter 1999-00; and agency-wide implementation will begin by spring 2000. The total project period of performance will for 12 months from the date of contract award. Award is expected by the end of July, 1999. The total estimated maximum hours for each contract is 300 hours. This will be a 100% small business set-aside and the small business size standard is $5 million dollars of average annual receipts. The Standard Industrial Classification code is 8742. The Request for Quotations (RFQ) will be issued on or about June 25, 1999. The closing date, time and submission location for responses to the RFQ will be stated in the issued RFQ. Those parties interested in receiving the RFQ, TIRNO-99-Q-00175, may obtain it by submitting a request via e-mail to Helen.Carmona@ccmail.irs.gov; by facsimile to Helen D. Carmona, Contract Specialist, at 202-283-1514 or by writing to the above listed address. The IRS takes no responsibility for undeliverable mail. No further preliminary information or status updates will be provided to respondents unless requested in writing. No telephone inquiries will be accepted. Numbered Note 1 applies to this RFQ. Posted 06/07/99 (W-SN340131). (0158)

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