JOFOC NASA 2040.pdf

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER (NSSC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 1901, as implemented by FAR 13.501(a)

Pursuant to the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) and in accordance with FAR 13.501(a) Requirements and FAR 6.303-2 Contents, the justification shall incorporate sufficient facts and rationale to support the use of the statutory authority cited.

1. Agency and Contracting Activity

National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) Bldg. 1111, Jerry Hlass Road Stennis Space Center, MS 39529

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Approved

The total estimated value of the proposed Purchase Order is with a period of performance of 60 days from April 15, 2024 to June 14, 2024. This action is for a new bridge purchase order to enable three executive retreats in support of NASA’s 2040 transformation effort. A bridge contract is necessary for NASA (or the Agency) to continue momentum in our transformation without losing critical time, resources, and leadership alignment that has been built over the last ten months.

Parallel to this bridge purchase order, the Agency has begun work to define a Statement of Work (SOW) for a longer-term blanket purchase agreement (BPA) call order to provide implementation and consultation support to the NASA 2040 change effort. The intent is for the longer call order to begin within the last two weeks of this bridge purchase order.

NASA initiated executive discussions in 2023 to align our leadership team in assessing and understanding our most strategic organizational challenges that must be addressed for the Agency to remain the preeminent institution for research, technology, and engineering, to lead science, aeronautics, and space exploration for humanity. To be effective, NASA must drive meaningful changes that ensure the Agency remains the global leader in aerospace and science through 2040 and beyond.

NASA’s external environment is rapidly changing and is impacted by a growing space economy, dynamic political environment, challenging fiscal discussions across the federal government, and an increasingly competitive talent marketplace.

Internally, the Agency is faced with an increasingly competitive talent market, aging infrastructure, growing mission requirements, duplicate capabilities across the NASA centers, and a need to improve decision velocity and alignment. To remain the global leader in science, aeronautics, and space exploration we must plan for our future missions while continuing to invest in our people, infrastructure, and business systems. This bridge purchase order is necessary to provide consulting, change management and facilitation for three executive retreats intended to architect an

2 | organization model that clarifies and aligns the Agency’s capabilities with mission requirements and builds a decision process and model that will enable ongoing strategic planning. The three required retreats will include participation from 20 to 70 senior leaders plus workstream staffs for a total of 5 days at approximately 200 hours per attendee. The results will be a strategic and tactical plan for NASA that outlines clear roles for decision-making, aligns our budget with priorities, attracts and retains the best and the brightest, and prioritizes the infrastructure and technology we need to move the Agency forward.

This bridge purchase order will be issued to McKinsey and Company (McKinsey) consulting.

3. A Description of the Supplies or Services

NASA has greatly benefited from the use of McKinsey methods and tools for 2040 transformation work over the last 10 months. A substantial investment was previously made using McKinsey’s MT method and proprietary tools. The MT method and proprietary tools are still required to accomplish essential tasks during this short term bridge period. Specifically, NASA has a continuing short term need to employ the following methods previously leveraged for 2040 work:

The McKinsey Transformation (MT) method is a distinctive, globally successful approach that is built upon a suite of proprietary tools and frameworks that enables their change management process in both the specific initiative generation and delivery (IdeaBank, Corporate Business Function benchmarks) and in the supporting focus with the Organizational Health Index (OHI) and capability building McKinsey Academy. NASA has used the MT method to set up workstreams and the transformation engine. It is the basis of the current change management plan.

McKinsey’s IdeaBank (benchmarking tool) is a proprietary roster of hundreds of levers, opportunities, and transformational initiatives that McKinsey maintains internally. Because it’s proprietary, only McKinsey can bring the ideas generated from IdeaBank to NASA leaders, which enables NASA to expedite the identification of solutions to problems discovered in the current state. IdeaBank has allowed NASA 2040 to look at other transformations and benchmark many activities. NASA utilizes IdeaBank to identify metrics, gaps in plans, and to offer up solutions.

McKinsey’s Organizational Health Index (OHI) is a proprietary survey that provides NASA leadership with over a billion individual data points from more than 8 million participants at over 2,800 organizations to benchmark the agency’s performance metrics. This asset provides NASA with timely insight into the Agency’s health and performance. The OHI is a proven platform that has allowed similar sized organizations to be twice as successful at achieving their health and performance goals. NASA utilizes the McKinsey OHI

3 | information to facilitate conversations among our senior leaders about the health of NASA’s workforce, infrastructure, budget, and technology as it compares to other similar organizations/agencies. The OHI platform allows NASA to look at whole agencies of similar size, single out individual aspects of other agencies, and work with subject matter experts to set up and assess goals.

The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) is recognized as the only for-profit think tank and the top think tank in its category overall from 2016-2019 in the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies program. NASA has instant access to this service’s seminal reports on topics related to NASA 2040, including but not limited to generative AI, global trade and supply chains, microelectronics, aerospace, the commercialization of space, specialty manufacturing and environmental sustainability. Additionally, through McKinsey, NASA gains access to the authors and experts behind the research, which ensures NASA is at the forefront of topics relevant to the NASA 2040 initiative. MGI has allowed NASA to look at similar missions across the industries that NASA works in and utilizes the information to assess and plan for the future. NASA has benefited from the McKinsey experts that have attended retreats in the past to highlight key areas of work for NASA 2040.

Additionally, the curricula offered by the McKinsey Academy incorporates the best of adult learning principles (e.g., field and forum formats) for key skillsets like leadership, operations, and transformation. McKinsey’s “Ability to Execute” series was specifically built for MT. The relationships built within the McKinsey Academy are invaluable to NASA’s leadership and allow the agency to look across the aerospace ecosystem and ensure NASA continues to be at the leading edge of innovation. The NASA 2040 initiative will be informed and driven by the significant and rapidly changing aerospace industry; because of McKinsey’s deep client service and expertise in this field, it can help NASA’s leaders understand the process and implications better than any other firm. McKinsey also provides a level of unmatched industry-leading research through MGI, the McKinsey Academy, and other resources with industry, science and technology experts who have published extensively across the aerospace industry on organizational topics relevant to this effort. Thus, the Agency will be better positioned to face rapidly evolving technologies and supply chain challenges.

McKinsey Academy is the basis for how we have built past 2040 retreats. The ability to have McKinsey experts in the room allows NASA leadership to pivot and adjust the retreat content, timing, and activities in real time to ensure their needs are met, which allows them to use their time together most productively.

Lastly, OrgLab is a proprietary tool developed by McKinsey and deployed to over 1,000 clients spanning over 19 million employees. OrgLab securely visualizes organizational structures across fields (e.g., level, function, reporting relationships), automatically benchmarks spans, layers, and processes against best practices, and allows for real-time, collaborative design with multiple users in a Systems and Organization Controls 2 (SOC-2) compliant product in a

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FedRAMP compliant environment. OrgLab benefits NASA by providing leadership secure, real-time, interactive access to visualize their organization’s current state while simultaneously allowing them to view changes and implications in real-time, saving the agency time, money and effort over manual sequential analysis offered by other firms. OrgLab assisted in the build out of the blueprint options NASA is assessing under the NASA 2040 structure workstream. NASA anticipates these blueprints will be key parts of the next series of retreats as the Structure workstream is continuing progress on mission support activities. Finally, NASA anticipates deliverables to be produced using the aforementioned tools during the 60 day bridge period. Resulting deliverables will be shared with successor contractor(s) as part of the transition when the long term requirement is competed.

4. Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and

Open Competition

Authority for the Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition is provided by 41 U.S.C. 1901, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, as implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. A Demonstration that the Proposed Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or the Nature of the Acquisition requires use of the Authority Cited

McKinsey has been the principal consultant to date bringing expertise in architecting large transformation efforts, change management, organization design, strategic workforce planning, organizational assessment and health measurements, industry benchmarking, and leadership and decision-making approaches into alignment among the NASA executive team. The application of these services to the Agency’s current environment has allowed McKinsey to acquire the inherent knowledge and deep understanding to be immediately effective in designing and facilitating the next series of retreats to clarify and align NASA’s capabilities with mission requirements and build a decision process and model that will enable ongoing strategic planning.

A sole source effort for this bridge work is critical to NASA’s continued pursuit of accomplishing targeted milestones leading up to a competitive procurement.

McKinsey has acquired critical knowledge and has completed integral 2040 transformational work for NASA while performing as a subcontractor to Bryce Solutions (Bryce) under the NASA Enterprise-wide Human Capital Support Services (NEHCSS) contract over the last ten months. Within the last year McKinsey has had three separate engagements as a sub-contractor on the NEHCSS contract under which it has performed many of the services described in section 3 above. These services have enabled the formation of the NASA 2040 effort and set the stage for the Agency’s transformation efforts.

2040 transformational work previously performed by McKinsey includes unique and innovative concepts that cannot be replicated by another vendor within the short time frame required as the McKinsey specific tools specified in section 3 were used to

5 | accomplish work to date. Those tools are proprietary to McKinsey and are not easily transferable to another vendor without creating undue delays, duplication of efforts already expended by McKinsey and additional cost. Utilizing a different contractor for the short bridge period would require additional time to compete the requirements then transition 10 months of continuity and institutional knowledge stemming from completed work for a new contractor to catch up in order to perform the follow-on.

The Agency’s 2040 implementation timeline depends heavily on successfully completing three spring meetings whereby the results of those meetings will be evaluated and utilized during the summer months to prepare NASA leadership for key decisions impacting Agency activities starting as early as the beginning of FY 25 on October 1, 2024. Delays in this timeline would prevent NASA from accomplishing necessary objectives during the remainder of FY 24 in advance of FY 25.

The timeline of the NASA 2040 project is essential and linked to external requirements around budget as well as Congressional oversight and has impacts to NASA’s future missions and technical projects. McKinsey has the background and history required to perform the work; the in-depth understanding of the NASA organization and its structure to know how to do the work efficiently and effectively and is therefore the only vendor who can complete the project within the required timeframe.

6. A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure That Offers are Solicited From as

Many Potential Sources as is Practicable

Beyond this short term bridge period, NASA intends to issue a Request for Quotation (RFQ) to the six BPA holders for the recently awarded NASA Change Management Support Services under RFQ 80NSSC24Q0015. The six BPA holders are Bryce Space and Technology, LLC, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Guidehouse Inc, McKinsey and Company, Inc., Rios Partners, and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. See Section 11 below for additional information.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the

Government Will Be Fair and Reasonable

Before making an award, the Contracting Officer will determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable based on one of the techniques identified in FAR 13.106-3(a) – Award and Documentation.

8. Description of Market Survey

For this bridge purchase order, market research was conducted appropriately for the circumstances of this procurement pursuant to FAR part 10. Market research was performed extensively for 2040 requirements, particularly during the period before establishing multiple award BPAs. GSA’s market research tool and a request for information via SAM.Gov have previously been utilized and the results were evaluated to determine available commercial vendors to perform consulting services. Market research indicates available sources to compete for requirements using the established multiple award BPAs for long term support.

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9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open

Competition

All facts and reasons supporting this JOFOC are referenced in sections 2, 3, and 5.

10. A Listing of the Sources, If Any That Expressed, In Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition

This JOFOC will be published to SAM.Gov in advance of placing the bridge purchase order in accordance with FAR 5.102(a)(6). Results of this sole source posting will be provided in the market research report for this action at the end of the posting period.

11. A Statement of The Actions, If Any, The Agency May Take to Remove or

Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for the Supplies or Services Required

NASA has a continued need for change management support services upon completion of this bridge purchase order. See Section 6 above. Future requirements will be competed to ensure the Agency’s senior leaders have the change management support for NASA 2040 through completion in late 2024 or early 2025.

NASA’s intent to issue a RFQ for this continued change management support removes current barriers to competition and promotes competition for future requirements. The anticipated award date of a BPA call order is late May 2024 with a period of performance to begin effective June 1, 2024. This will allow for a two-week transition with McKinsey as this bridge purchase order is planned to expire on June 14, 2024.

TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION:

I hereby certify the facts in this justification and any supporting data used for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge.

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION:

I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief pursuant to the requirements prescribed in FAR Subpart 13.5.

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CONCURRENCE:

LEGAL APPROVAL:

COMPETITION ADVOCATE APPROVAL: