Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) for Organizational Development Activity (ODA)

This plan outlines the procedures and guidelines that USAID will use to ensure that The Kaizen Company meets the required performance standards or service levels for the Organizational Development Activity (ODA) in Uganda. The Kaizen Company has over 12 years of experience implementing USAID-funded programs and has a strong track record of implementing quality control methodologies for both programmatic issues and technical oversight. The company employs the SMART approach to establishing deliverable targets for its team, ensuring that ODA includes outputs and results that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. The purpose of the QASP is to describe the systematic methods used to assure quality of deliverables and monitor performance, and to identify the required documentation and resources to be employed in maintaining contract standards. The plan provides a means to evaluate if the contractor is meeting performance standards/quality levels and to ensure that the government pays only for the level of services received. The QASP outlines the responsibilities of various government resources, including the Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer Representative (COR). The Contracting Officer is responsible for ensuring performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensuring compliance with the terms of the contract, and safeguarding the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. The COR is responsible for technical administration of the contract and assures proper government surveillance of the contractor's performance. The Kaizen Company has a three-tiered control structure to ensure that every deliverable adheres to the highest quality standards and meets or exceeds the expectation of its clients. The first tier involves the ODA technical staff preparing deliverables in close collaboration with the Program Manager (PM). The second tier involves the HO-based PM and Program Management Coordinator (PC) providing careful and informed programmatic and technical guidance and oversight. The third tier involves the Technical Director reviewing and providing technical scrutiny on all final draft deliverables prior to submission. The QASP is created to provide USAID/Uganda surveillance oversight of Kaizen's quality control efforts to assure that they are timely, effective, and delivering the results specified in the contract. The plan will be augmented with input and approval from USAID, and will be modified at any time by the government as described in Section E.3 of the contract.