Tr

aini
ng&dev
elopmentact
ivi
ti
esofI
BM

“E-l
earni
ngisat echnologyareathatof
tenhasbothf
ir
st-
ti
erbenef
it
s,suchasreducedtr
avel
costs,andsecond-t
ierbenef
it
s,suchasincr
easedempl
oyeeperf
ormancethatdi
rect
lyi
mpact
s
profi
tabi
li
ty.
"

RebeccaWet
temann,
resear
chdi
rect
orf
orNucl
eusResear
ch

I
n2002,t heInt
ernat
ionalBusinessMachi nesCorporat
ion(IBM)wasr ankedf
ourt
hbyt he
Trai
ningmagazineonit’
s“ The2002Traini
ngTop100” .Themagaziner
ankedcompani
esbased
ontheircommitmenttowar dsworkf
orcedevelopmentandtr
ainingi
mpart
edtoemploy
eeseven
duri
ngper i
odsoffi
nancial
uncertai
nty.

Sinceitsi ncepti
on,IBM hadbeenf ocusingonhumanr esourcesdev elopment :Thecompany
concent r
ated on theeducat ion and trai
ning ofi t
sempl oyeesasan i ntegralpar toftheir
development .Dur i
ngthemi d1990s,I BM reportedlyspentabout$1bi l
l
ionf ortrai
ningit
s
employ ees.Howev er,i
nt helate1990s,IBM under t
ookacostcut ti
ngdr ive,andst ar
tedlooki
ng
forway st otrai
nitsempl oyeeseffect
ivelyatl
owerCost s.Afterconsiderabler esearch,i
n1999,
IBM deci dedt ousee- Learni
ngt ot r
ainitsempl oyees.Ini
ti
all
y,e-Learningwasusedt otrai
n
IBM'snewl yrecrui
tedmanager s.

IBM sav edmi l

lionsofdol l
arsbyt raini
ngempl oy eesthroughe- learning.E-Learningalsocreated
abet t
erl earningenv ironmentf ort hecompany 'sempl oy ees,compar edtothet radi
ti
onaltrai
ning
met hods.Thecompanyr eportedlysav edabout$166mi l
l
ionwi t
hinoney earofi mplementing
thee- l
ear ni
ngpr ogram f ort r
ainingi t
sempl oyeesal lov erthewor ld.Thef i
gureroset o$350
mi l
li
onin2001.Dur i
ngt hi
sy ear,IBM reportedar et
urnoni nvestment( ROI )’
sof2284per cent
from it
sBasi cBl uee- Learningpr ogram.Thiswasmai nlyduet othesi gni
ficantreducti
oni nthe
company 'strainingcost sandposi ti
veresult
sreapedf r
om e- learning.AndrewSadl er,dir
ectorof
IBM Mi ndspan Sol utions,expl ained the benef i
ts ofe- learning t oIBM," Allmeasur es of
effecti
venesswentup.I t'
ssav ingmoneyanddel iv
eringmor eef fecti
vet rai
ning,
'whi l
eatt he
samet i
mepr ov i
dingf i
vet i
mesmor econtentt hanbef ore."By2002,I BM hademer gedast he
companywi tht helargestnumberofempl oyee'swhohav eenrolledintoe-Learningcourses.

Howev er
,asectionofanal y
stsandsomemanager satIBM fel
tthate-
Learni
ngwouldnev erbe
ableto'r
epl
acet hetradit
ionalmodesoft rai
ningcomplet
ely.Ri
ckHorton,gener
almanagerof
l
earningser
vicesatIBM, said,
"Thecl assr
oom issti
llt
hebestinahigh-
technol
ogyenvir
onment,
whichrequi
reshands-onl aborator
iesandt eaming,orasit
uati
onwherei t.
isimpor
tantforthe
grouptobetogethertotakeadv antageoftheequipment.
"

Thought herewerev ari

edopi
nionsabouttheeff
ecti
venessofe-
Lear
ningasat raini
ngtoolfor
employees,IBM sawi tasamajorbusi
nessopport
unit
yandstar
tedoff
eri
nge-l
earningproducts
tootheror gani
zati
onsaswel l
.Analystsesti
matedthatthemarketfore-
Learningprograms
woul
dgr ow f
rom $2.1bi
ll
i
onin2001to$33.
6bi
l
li
oni
n2005r
epr
esent
inga100per
cent
compoundedannual
growt
hrat
e(CAGR)
.

ONLI
NETRAI
NING@ I
BM

In1999,I BM l
aunchedt hepilotBasicBl uemanagementt r
ainingprogram,whichwasf ul
ly
deployedin2000.BasicBluewasani n-housemanagementt r
ainingprogram f
ornewmanager s.
Itimpart
ed75per centofthetr
aini
ngonl i
neandther emai
ning25per centthr
oughthetradi
tional
classr
oom mode.Thee- Learni
ngpartincludedar
ti
cles,si
mulati
ons,jobaidsandshortcourses.

Thef oundingprinci
pleofBasicBluewast hat'l
earni
ngisanextendedprocess,notaone- t
ime
event."BasicBluewasbasedona' 4-Tier
'blendedlearni
ngmodel'.Thefi
rstthr
eetierswere
deli
veredonl i
neandt hefourt
htierincl
udedone- weeklongtr
adit
ionalcl
assroom t
rai
ning.The
program of f
eredbasicskil
l
sandknowl edget omanager ssothattheycanbecomeef f
ecti
ve
l
eader sandpeopl e-
ori
ent
edmanager s.

Themanager swer epr ovidedaccesst oal otofinf ormat i

onincludingadat abaseofquestions,
answer sandsampl escenar i
oscal ledManagerQui ckVi ews.Thi sinformationaddressedthe
i
ssuesl ikeev aluat i
on,r etention,andconf l
ictresol utionandsoon,whi chmanager scame
across.Amanagerwhof acedapr oblem coul deitheraccesst herelevanttopicdir
ectl
y,orfi
nd
therelevantinformat ionusi ngasear chengi ne.He/ shehaddi rectaccesst omat eri
alsonthe
comput er’
sdeskt opf oronliner eading.Themat erialal sohi ghl
ightedot herimport
antwebsi t
es
tobebr owsedf orf urtheri nformation.I BM believ edt hatitsmanager sshouldbeawar eof
practi
cesandpol iciesf ol
lowedi ndifferentcountries.Hence,t hegr oupswer eforemenv i
rt
uall
y
byv i
deoconferenci ngwi tht eam member sfrom allov ert hewor l
d,"

Inthesecondt i
er,themanager swer epr ovidedwi t
hsi mulatedsituati
ons.Seni ormanager s
tr
ainedt hemanager sonline.Thesi mulationsenabl edt hemanager st olearnaboutempl oyee
ski
ll-
buil
ding,compensat i
onandbenef its,mul t
icul
turalissues,work/li
febal ance-issuesand
businessconducti nani nteracti
vemanner .Someoft hecont entfor[histierwasof fer
edby
HarvardBusinessSchoolandt hesimulationswer ecreatedbyCogni t
iveArtsofChi cago.The
onli
neCoachi ngSimulatoroff er
edeightscenar i
oswi th5000scenesofact i
on,decisionpoints
andbr anchi
ngresult
s.IBM ManagementDev elopment '
swebsi te,GoingGlobalof fer
edasmany
as300i nter
acti
vescenariosoncul tur
ecl ashes.

Inthethirdtier
,themember softhegr oupst art
edi nteracti
ngwi t
heachot heronl i
ne.Thi sti
er
used IBM'scol l
abor ati
on t oolssuch aschat s,and t eam r oomsi ncludi
ng I BM e-Lear ni
ng
productsliketheTeam- Room,Cust omer-
Room andLot usLear ni
ngSpace.Usi ngt heset ools,
employeescoul dinteractonl inewiththei nst
ructorsaswel laswi thpeer sint heirgroups.This
ti
eralso used v ir
tualt eam exer cisesand i ncluded adv anced t echnologiesl i
keappl icati
on
shari
ng,l i
vev i
rtualclassr oomsand i nteracti
vepr esent at
ion:on t heweb.I nt hist i
er,the
member softhegr ouphadt osolv eproblemsasat eam byf or mingv ir
tualgroups,usingt hese
products.Hence,thistierfocusedmor eondev elopingt hecollaborativeskil
lsoft helearners.

Thoughtr
aini
ngthroughe-Lear
ningwasver
ysuccessful
,IBM bel
iev
edthatcl
assr
oom tr
aining
wasalsoessent
ialtodeveloppeopl
eski
l
ls.Ther
efore,t
hefourthti
ercompri
sedaclassroom
trai
ningpr ogram,ownas' Lear
ningLab.'Bythet i
met hemanager sreachedt hi
st ir
e,theyall
reachedasi milarl
evelofknowledgebymast eri
ngthecontenti
nt hefi
rstthreeti
ers.Managers
hadt opassanonl inetestonthecontentprovi
dedintheabov ethreeti
ers,beforeenteri
ngthe
four t
htier.I
nt hefourt
htier
,themanager shadtomastertheinfor
mat i
onacqui r
edi ntheabove
threet i
ersanddev elopadeeperunderstandi
ngandabr oaderskil
lsset
.Ther ewerenol ectur
es
i
nt hesesessions,andt hemanager shadt olearnbydoingandbycoor dinati
ngdi r
ectl
ywi t
h
other si
nt heclassroom.

Thet remendoussuccessoft heBasi cBlueinitiati

veencour agedIBM t oextendtrainingt hrough
e-Learningt oi t
s-salespersonnelandexper iencedmanager saswel l.Thee- Learningpr ogr am
fort hesal esper sonnelwasknownas' SalesCompass, 'andt heonef ortheexper ienced
manager s,as' Managing@ IBM.'Pr iortothei mpl ementationoft heSal esCompasse- Lear ning
program,t hesal esper sonnelunder wentl i
vet rai
ning att hecompany '
sheadquar tersand
trai
ningcampuses.Theyal soat t
endedf i
eldtrainingprogr am,nat i
onalsalesconf erencesand
othert r
aditionalmet hodsoftraining.Howev er, inmostoft hecasest hesemet hodspr ovedt oo
expensiv e,i nef
fective and ti
me- consumi ng.Apar tf r
om t hi
s,coor dinati
on probl ems al so
croppedup,ast hesal esteam wasspr eadacr osst hewor ld.Mor eover,inahighlycompet it
ive
mar ket,IBM couldnotaf fordtokeepi tssalest eam awayf rom wor kforweekst oget her.

ThoughSal esCompasswasor iginal

lyst
artedin1997onat r
ialbasistohelpt hesalesteam in
sel
li
ngbusi nessi ntell
i
gencesol uti
onstot heretai
landmanuf acturi
ngi ndustr
ies,it-
wasnot
i
mpl emented on al argescale.Butwi tht hesuccessofBasi cBl ue,SalesCompasswas
developedf urther.Thecont entoft henew Sal esCompasswasdi videdintof i
vecat egor
ies
i
ncludingSol utions( 13courses),indust
ries(23courses)
,personalskill
s( 2cour ses)
,sell
ing
ski
ll
s( 11cour ses),andt ool
sandj obaid(4aids)
.

ThesalespersonnelofIBM acrosstheglobecoul duset hei nfor

mationfrom t hei
rdesktops
usi
ngawebbr owser.SalesCompasspr ovi
dedcr i
ticali
nformationt othesal esper sonnel
hel
pingthem tounder st
andv ari
ousindustri
es( i
ncludingaut omoti
ve,banki ng,gover
nment ,
i
nsuranceetc)inamuchbet t
ermanner .Theinformat i
onofferedincl
udedi ndustrysnapshot,
i
ndustryt
rends,marketsegmentati
on,keyprocesses,posit
ioni
ngandsel li
ngi ndustr
ysoluti
ons
andident
if
yingresour
ces.

Ital so enabled t
he sales peoplet o sel lcert
ainIBM products designed forCust omer
Relationshi
pManagement( CRM) ,EnterpriseResourcePl
anning( ERP),BusinessIntel
l
igence
(BI)
,andsoon.Sal esCompassal sotrainedthesalesper
sonnelonski l
lsli
kenegot i
ati
ngand
sell
ingser vi
ces.Li
ket heBasicBluepr ogram,SalesCompassal sohadsi mulati
onsforselli
ng
product stoaspeci
ficindust
ryli
kebanki ng,abouthowtocl
oseadeal ,andsoon.I tal
soall
owed
i
tsuser stoaskquest i
onsandhadl inkstoinformati
ononotherIBM sit
esandr el
atedwebsites.

SalesCompasswasof fer
edto20,000sal esrepresentat i
ves,cl
ientrelati
onshiprepresentati
ves,
terr
it
oryr epr
esentati
ves,salesspeci al
i
sts,and ser vicepr ofessionalsatI BM.Br endaToan
(Toan),globalskil
lsandl ear
ningleaderforIBM officesacr osst hewor l
d,said,"Sal
esCompass
i
saj ust-
in-ti
me,just-
enoughsal essuppor ti
nformat i
onsi te.Mostofouruser saremobi l
e.So
theyar e,mostoft het i
mes,unablet ogeti ntoabr anchof ficeandobt ai
ni nfor
mat i
onona
specifi
ci ndustr
yorsol uti
on.IBM SalesCompasspr ovidesindustry-speci
ficknowledge,adv i
ce
on how to sel
lspeci
fi
c sol
uti
ons,and sell
i
ng tool
sthatsuppor
toursi
gnat
ure sel
l
ing
methodol
ogy,whi
chi
sconveni
entfort
heseuser
s."

IBM also launched an e- Learning progr

am cal l
ed 'Managing @ IBM'f ori t
s experi
enced
manager s,inlate 2001.The pr ogr
am pr ovi
ded contentrelat
ed toleadershi
p and people
managementski l
ls,andenabl edt hemanager stomeett hei
rspeci
ficneeds.UnliketheBasic
Blue program,t his program enabl ed manager st o choose infor
mat i
on based on t hei
r
requir
ement s.Thepr ogram includedt heface-t
o-f
aceLear ni
ngLab,e-lear
ning,andEdv i
sor,a
sophisti
catedIntell
igentWebAgent .Edvisorofferedthreetracksofferi
ngv ari
oust y
pesof
i
nf or
mat i
on.

Byi mpl ement i

ngt heabov epr ograms,IBM wasabl et or educei tstr
aini
ngbudgetaswel las
i
mpr ov eempl oy eepr oductivit
ysignif
icantl
y .I
n2000,Basi cBl uesav ed$16mi lli
onwhi l
eSal es
Compasssav ed$21mi l
li
on.I n2001,I BM sav ed$200mi l
li
onandi tscostoft r
ainingper -
empl oy eereducedsi gnifi
cant l
y-f rom $400t o $135.E- l
earningalso resul
tedi nadeeper
under standi
ngoft hel earningcont entbyt hemanager s.Ital so enabl
edt hemanager st o
compl et etheirclassr oom t rai
ning modul esinl essert i
me,ascompar ed tot het raditional
tr
ainingmet hodsusedear lier.Thesimul ati
onmodul esandcol laborat
iontechniquescr eateda
ri
cherl ear
ningenv i
ronment .Thee- l
earningpr oject
sal soenabl edthecompanyt ol everage
corpor ateinternalknowl edgeasmostoft hecont enttheycar ri
edcamef rom thei nternal
contentexper ts.