eGP System

1. Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to independently assess stakeholder satisfaction with TIMB’s services, regulatory functions, stakeholder engagement mechanisms and overall institutional performance during the 2025/2026 tobacco marketing season, and to provide evidence-based recommendations for continuous improvement.

2. Objectives of the Survey
   1. Main Objective

To determine stakeholder satisfaction levels with TIMB’s services and regulatory functions and establish performance trends against the 2025 survey baseline.

• 2.  Specific Objectives
• Measure the Stakeholder Satisfaction Index (SSI) for all relevant stakeholder categories.
• Measure stakeholder perceptions of service quality, accessibility, staff professionalism, responsiveness, reliability, communication and information sharing, service innovation, and complaints management.
• Measure the Customer Effort Score (CES) and Net Promoter Score (NPS).
• Assess stakeholder awareness and usage of TIMB’s physical, digital and virtual service channels.
• Evaluate stakeholder perceptions of key regulatory functions including registration, licensing, permit issuance, auction-floor supervision, dispute resolution, crop assessments and compliance monitoring.
• Assess progress made by TIMB in addressing recommendations and pain points identified in the 2025 survey.
• Benchmark TIMB’s performance against comparable institutions where feasible.
• Identify service delivery gaps, risks, and opportunities for operational, policy and regulatory improvement.

3. Scope of Work
   1.  Stakeholder Coverage

• Tobacco growers
• Contractors
• Buyers
• Auction floors
• Transporters
• Farmer unions and associations
• Media
• Relevant Government ministries and departments
• Research and regulatory institutions
• Registered industry service providers
• Other strategic stakeholders identified by TIMB
  2.  Geographic Coverage

The survey shall cover all major tobacco-producing and relevant operational areas, including Harare, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Midlands, Masvingo and any other provinces or districts agreed with TIMB.

1. 3.  Areas of Assessment

A. Service Delivery

• Speed of service
• Quality of service
• Staff courtesy
• Staff competence
• Service consistency

B. Accessibility

• Ease of access to TIMB services
• Convenience of service channels
• Office accessibility
• Digital accessibility

C. Communication and Information

• Availability and timeliness of information
• Effectiveness of stakeholder engagement
• Awareness of TIMB programmes and notices

D. Complaints Management

• Complaint submission process
• Resolution effectiveness
• Resolution turnaround time
• Stakeholder confidence in grievance mechanisms

E. Regulatory Functions

• Grower registration
• Licensing
• Permit issuance
• Auction-floor supervision
• Arbitration and dispute resolution
• Crop assessments
• Industry compliance monitoring

F. Institutional Performance

• Trust in TIMB
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Industry leadership
• Stakeholder advocacy and confidence

4.  Methodology

The consultant shall propose and implement a robust mixed-methods methodology suitable for a national stakeholder satisfaction study.

• 1. Quantitative Research
• Structured stakeholder questionnaires
• Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI)
• Face-to-face interviews where appropriate
• Online/web-based surveys for selected stakeholder groups
  2.  Qualitative Research
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)
• In-depth interviews with strategic stakeholders
  3.  Sampling
• The consultant shall develop statistically defensible sample sizes for each stakeholder group.
• The sampling design shall ensure representation by stakeholder category and, where relevant, by province or operational zone.
• The proposal shall clearly state the confidence level, margin of error, assumptions and sampling approach to be used.
• The consultant shall explain how hard-to-reach stakeholders and low-population groups will be handled analytically.

5.  Key Survey Measures

• Stakeholder Satisfaction Index (SSI)
• Customer Effort Score (CES)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Query and complaint incidence
• Query and complaint resolution rate
• Service-channel usage and effectiveness
• Trust and advocacy indicators
• Benchmarking against 2025 baseline values

6.  Deliverables

• Inception report with methodology, detailed workplan, research instruments and sampling framework.
• Fieldwork progress updates, as agreed with TIMB.
• Draft survey report with analysis, findings and preliminary recommendations.
• Final report incorporating TIMB comments and demonstrating trends against the 2025 baseline.
• Management presentation summarizing key findings, risks and recommendations.
• Clean datasets, codebooks, tables and any dashboard outputs agreed with TIMB.
• Survey instruments used for data collection.

7.  Duration of Assignment

The assignment shall be completed within Four (4) weeks from the date of contract signing, inclusive of inception, fieldwork, analysis, reporting and presentation to management.

8.  Consultant Qualifications

• Five (5) years’ experience in customer satisfaction, service quality, stakeholder perception or related research studies.
• Demonstrated experience in public sector, regulatory, agriculture or value-chain research.
• Proven expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Capacity to conduct multi-province fieldwork and manage large stakeholder databases.
• Ability to prepare high-quality analytical reports and executive presentations.

9. Reporting and Coordination

The consultant shall report to the designated TIMB project focal person or committee. Regular coordination meetings shall be held at key milestones, including inception, fieldwork commencement, mid-term review, draft report submission and final presentation.

10.  Quality Assurance and Ethics

• All research shall comply with accepted ethical standards, including informed consent, confidentiality, privacy and response anonymity where required.
• The consultant shall ensure that findings are evidence-based, objectively interpreted and clearly presented.
• TIMB reserves the right to review research tools and interim outputs for quality assurance purposes.
• The consultant shall ensure data integrity, secure storage of datasets and proper documentation of analysis procedures.

11.  Expected Outcome

The survey should provide TIMB with a comprehensive assessment of stakeholder satisfaction for the 2025/2026 season, trend information against the 2025 baseline, clear identification of service gaps and risks, and practical recommendations to improve customer experience, regulatory effectiveness and institutional credibility.

12.  Submission of Proposal

Interested consultants shall submit a technical proposal, financial proposal, company profile, CVs of key personnel, evidence of similar assignments and any other information required by TIMB’s procurement procedure.