Distance Education - The involvement of corporations

===Introduction===
Corporations operate distance education organisations for employees in order to update them with the latest information and ensure that they maintain the competitive edge and productivity (The Learning Continuum Company, 2003). In addition, some corporations provide distance education to equipped customers with updated information on products and services as knowledgeable customers make better educated selections and are more content (Oblinger and Rush, 2003, p.589). Besides providing training and education, corporate universities provide the perfect environment for team building and for developing corporate culture (Oblinger and Rush, 2003, p.587). Some corporations have created their own corporation universities while others rely on educational portals (Oblinger and Rush, 2003, p.598). Corporate universities are different from traditional higher distance education institutions. Instead of traditional subjects, corporate universities concentrate on tailoring to specific business needs such as nurturing managerial capabilities, providing task-orientated education and instilling the corporate culture (Farrell, 2003, p.273).

===Motivations for distance education===
Distance education promotes competitiveness, productivity, recruitment and retention, cost savings and market size and growth. Maintaining the quality, skill and the competitive edge of the workforce would enhance the business success. It improves the bottom line of corporations and creates organisational efficiencies. Corporations-sponsored distance education helps businesses attract and retain employees. There are significant cost-savings where distance education can replace face-face instruction (See case study). Distance education is essential for corporations to improve in the performance of employees and maintain that competitive edge over competitors (Bradshaw, 1998).

===Case Study: IBM and McDonald===
IBM
With an expenditure of US$2 billion on distance education, IBM Global Campus offers a wide variety of courses (includes Web-based courses) and conferences to working adults (Scott, 1993, p.224). It also provides distributed learning training based on products, solutions and industries, to new employees. Web sites such as Video JukeBox are on hand to offer audio and video presentations for both live and playback learning events (Oblinger and Rush, 2003, p.588). Additionally, IBM has developed consultation services, project management, technical support and private tuition on a fee-for-service basis to individuals and institutions (Farrell, 2003, p.272). IBM realised over $100 million from cost savings on travel and lodging expenses by implementing online education (Oblinger and Rush, 2003, p.592). It also seeks to strengthen customer relationships and acquire new customers via strategically-based online educational offerings Recently, IBM has launched Mindspan Solutions unit aimed at helping corporate customers plan, develop and deploy distance-learning capabilities which ultimately reduces the time and money it takes to train employees (Computerworld, 2005) Further partnership with The Learning Continuum Company (TLCC) in delivering distance learning courses has led to the improvement of IBM’s employee skills and a reduction in travelling and training costs, than compared to classroom training. Employees will have more freedom to train at their own pace and their location of choice (The Learning Continuum Company, 2003).

McDonald
With over 28,000 restaurants in 120 countries, McDonald’s trains 1.5million employees worldwide via e-learning. Hamburger University provides training course in 23 languages and e-learning reduces training duration drastically and customises training to suit the needs of every culture (Oblinger and Rush, 2003, p.589).

Further Information

See Also:

• Distance Education - The FernUniversitaet in Hagen, Germany
• Distance Education - The Open University in the UK
• Distance Education - The Empire State College in the USA
• Distance Education - The Central Radio and Television University in China
  
  

===References===

Bradshaw, D. (1998) “Big Blue‘s MBAs go the distance: Business education distance learning: IBM chooses schools with the technology to teach collaboration,�? Financial Times: Inside track, 30 Nov., p. 14.

Computerworld (2005) “IBM Launches Distance-Learning Unit, Software,�? retrieved October 22, 2005, from http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/software/appdev/story/0,10801,45088,00.html

Farrell, G. M. (2003) “Internationalization of open and flexible learning: planning and managing in a global environment�?, in S. Panda (ed.) Planning and Management in Distance Education, London and Sterling, VA.: Kogan Page Limited, pp. 265-274. ISBN 0-7494-4068-6

Oblinger, D. G. and Rush, S. C. (2003) “The involvement of corporations in Distance education�?, in M. G. Moore, and W. G. Anderson (ed.) Handbook of Distance Education, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 587-598. ISBN 0-8058-3924-0

Scott, B. (1993) “IBM distance learning developments using videoconferencing�?, in K. Harry, M. John, and D. Keegan (ed.) Distance education: new perspectives, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 224-229. ISBN 0-415-08941-7

The Learning Continuum Company (2003) “TLCC’s Notes/Domino and WebSphere Courses Help IBM Achieve their Goals,�? retrieved October 23, 2005, from http://www.tlcc.com/admin/ibmsite.nsf/pages/ibmcasestudy

Contributors to This Entry Include:

GuoguangKim 23:02, 25 Oct 2005 (EST)