The Schedule is Faster Than the Eye

anagers seeking management consulting support in a hurry can turn to the General Services Administration's federal supply schedule. At the end of October, the Management, Organizational, and Business Improvement Services (MOBIS) multiple award schedule listed more than 70 consulting firms already approved for federal work.

Since schedule contracts already have been negotiated, agencies need only issue task orders with schedule firms. For orders of $2,500 or less, agencies can deal directly with a schedule firm. For larger orders, agencies can review prices and services on GSA Advantage!, an online ordering system (www.fss.gsa.gov), or review at least three schedule price lists-as well as consider price and administrative costs-before cutting a deal with a consulting firm.

MOBIS' predecessor, the Quality Management Implementation Services schedule, expired Sept. 30, replaced by the more expansive MOBIS. While the quality schedule focused on total quality management and agencywide organizational improvement efforts, MOBIS firms offer a broader array of services, including consulting, facilitation, surveys, training and support products, such as books, and software.

The MOBIS schedule's goal is to help agencies improve performance, quality and effectiveness. Schedule consultants' services include quality management, business process reengineering (BPR), strategic and business planning, activity-based costing, benchmarking, financial management analysis, organizational assessment, process modeling and simulation, development of management skills and customer service training.

Though more and more management improvement solutions involve technology, MOBIS users are warned not to use the schedule to buy hardware, software or software development unless it's related to an improvement effort. Instead, schedule officials advise that agencies use MOBIS firms to reengineer business processes and use the automated data processing schedule to hire firms to reengineer the hardware and software components and configuration part of the BPR effort. Agencies also can use teaming arrangements in which schedule firms work together to meet an agency's requirements.

Agency spending through the quality schedule mirrors the robust growth of federal sector management consulting. Schedule sales rocketed from nearly $7 million in fiscal 1994 to $230 million in fiscal 1997. There were 102 firms on the quality management schedule when it expired in 1997, and most of them probably will win places on MOBIS, as well.