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eLearning in Singapore 2
TABLE OF CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION TO ELEARNING AND GLOBAL OUTLOOK OF ELEARNING INDUSTRY .......................................... 3
1.1 DEFINING ELEARNING ............................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON ELEARNING ........................................................................................................................ 3
2. RESEARCH PROPOSAL ....................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES .............................................................................................................................................. 4 2.2 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................................................... 5 2.3 RESEARCH STAGES ................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 RESEARCH OUTCOMES AND DELIVERABLES ................................................................................................................... 5
3. SECONDARY RESEARCH ON SINGAPORE ELEARNING MARKET .......................................................................... 6
3.1 MACROECONOMIC OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1.1 PESTEL Analysis .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 ELEARNING MARKET IN SINGAPORE ............................................................................................................................. 7 3.3 ELEARNING IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES .......................................................................................................................... 7
3.3.1 BFSI Sector ................................................................................................................................................... 8 3.3.2 Education Sector .......................................................................................................................................... 8 3.3.3 Retail Sector ................................................................................................................................................ 9 3.3.4 Aviation Sector ............................................................................................................................................ 9 3.3.5 Government ................................................................................................................................................. 9
3.4 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................... 10 3.5 LATEST TRENDS IN ELEARNING INDUSTRY .................................................................................................................... 11
4. DATA ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................................................. 12
4.1 PRIMARY RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................................... 12 4.1.1 Qualitative Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 12 4.1.2 Quantitative Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 14
5. THE ROAD AHEAD .......................................................................................................................................... 18
5.1 STRATEGY APPROACH ............................................................................................................................................ 18 5.2 DEMAND OF THE SINGAPORE ELEARNING CLIENTS ........................................................................................................ 19 5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 21
5.3.1 High Complexity eLearning Projects .......................................................................................................... 21 5.3.1.1 Business Approach for High Complexity eLearning Projects ................................................................................. 21 5.3.1.2 Three Years Plans for High Complexity eLearning Projects ................................................................................... 22
5.3.2 Low Complexity eLearning Project ............................................................................................................ 22 5.3.2.1 Business Approach for Low Complexity eLearning Projects ................................................................................. 22 5.3.2.2 Three Years Plan for Low Complexity eLearning Projects ..................................................................................... 22
5.4 MARKETING IN A COMPLEX SINGAPORE ENVIRONMENT -‐ A CHALLENGE ............................................................................ 23 5.5 METRICS TO MEASURE AND MONITOR ...................................................................................................................... 24
6. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................... 25
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1. Introduction to eLearning and global outlook of eLearning industry As it is truly said the only constant thing in this world is change. Over the years the entire teaching and learning process has undergone revolutionary changes all over the world, across all industries. The modern enterprise learning is an outcome of the transition from traditional computer assisted training to the eLearning era, blended and collaborative learning.
1.1 Defining eLearning Today eLearning is just not about the use of online or technology enabled platforms, but it is the entire management of the learning experience through diverse learning strategies.
1.2 A global perspective on eLearning One of the fastest growing sectors in
the world wide training and learning industry is that of eLearning. According to the latest research done by Global Industry Analysts, Inc , the forecasted market for global eLearning market is $107.3 billion by 2015 (Jose, 2010).
The global eLearning market is
expected to grow with a CAGR of 23% by 2017 (Sangeeta Kakoty, 2011) (Figure 1). As per the latest market research report from GIA, Europe and the United States are the market leaders with 70% of the revenues (Jose, 2010). The fastest growing rate for eLearning could be seen in the Asia Pacific region with the compounded annual growth rate of 33.5% (Kineo, 2011). With this rate Asia is expected to take over Western Europe as the second dominant eLearning market of the world. The self paced eLearning market is expected to reach $51.5 billion by 2016 with the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% (AmbientInsight, 2011).
The corporate and education sectors
are the two most prominent sectors for eLearning worldwide. The corporate eLearning global market is expected to grow at the CAGR of 27 % annually (McGee, 2010). The BFSI and education sector continue to be the biggest customer of eLearning services / online platforms / Learning Management System.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Fig 1: Projected eLearning Market Growth
in billion $
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Based on a market research done by
IDC on U.S Corporate eLearning, few recommendations made for the eLearning vendors which will help them to become competitive in this volatile market are:
! Understand customer’s requirements first
! Offer a breadth of solutions suiting customer’s needs
! Tailor message to client's position within maturity cycle
! Consider adopting a software-‐as-‐a-‐service (SaaS) model to plan your resources effectively and make judicious sets of offerings (IDC, 2010)
2. Research Proposal
2.1 Research Objectives The main objectives of this research are: 1. To do a feasibility study of the Singapore
eLearning Industry 1.1 Analyze Singapore market on a macro scale and identify the sectors where there is high potential for growth for eLearning 1.2 Identify and study the current online/ eLearning platform, software companies and challenges faced 1.3 Understand the perspective of industry and corporate adopters of eLearning services
2. To understand the customer perception towards the use of online/ eLearning platforms
0
4
8
12
16
20
North America
Lain America
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Asia Middle East
Africa
Figure 2: 2011-‐2016 Worldwide Self Paced E-‐Learning Growth Rate by Region
North America
Lain America
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Asia
Middle East
Africa
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2.2 Research Framework The research framework followed for
the whole project is shown below. We have followed a funnel approach, wherein we started with the global perspective on the eLearning market and then performed the qualitative and quantitative analysis to tie up all the findings.
2.3 Research Stages The entire project is divided into three phases:
! Phase 1: Desk Research / Secondary Research
! Phase 2: Tools and Techniques ! Phase 3: Recommendation and Strategy
Qualitative: Various global and local eLearning vendors in Singapore (out-‐side in approach) will be interviewed. The sample size for this interview is 10. We will also hold interviews/ discussion with the customers of eLearning services in various industries like BFSI, Education (inside-‐out approach).This will include people from the HR/ Training/ Learning & Development of various organizations.
The laddering technique of interviewing will be followed.
Quantitative: A questionnaire is designed to understand the customer’s perception regarding the use of online / eLearning platforms in training. The sample size of the survey is 60. Based on the outcome of the survey, we will perform a Factor Analysis. This will be followed by a Regression to indentify the most powerful factor impacting the customer behavior. Based on the factors obtained after regression a cluster analysis will be done to identify the potential clusters for. The cross-‐tab analysis will help us understand how each of these clusters behaves.
2.4 Research Outcomes and Deliverables The final outcome of the project will be an overview of eLearning market of Singapore. The final deliverables will consist of a detailed report and a presentation.
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3. Secondary Research on Singapore eLearning market
3.1 Macroeconomic Overview Singapore is one of the fastest growing
nations of the world with the economy growing at the rate of 1.9 % and the GDP real growth rate being 5.1% in 2012. As per 2011 Doing Business Report of World Bank, Singapore ranks first among 183 countries in the field of doing business with ease (DataMonitor, 2011).
Various factors such as flexible labor market, low non-‐salary cost of employment, regulations for protecting investor’s rights make Singapore one of the best destinations for foreign investments and business entrepreneurs.
The education sector continues to be one of
the strongest performing sectors and around one-‐fifth of countries budget is invested by the government on the education sector. Singapore is one of the major financial centers in the world with more than 700 local and foreign banking and financial institutions.
3.1.1 PESTEL Analysis The figure given below describes the external environmental factors which are currently playing in the eLearning market for Singapore.
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Currently, the Singapore government is making the following investments which could impact the overall learning and training market of Singapore:
• Investing around $ 100 m as a part of Capability Transformation Program supporting business association to scale up their productivity
• An investment of around $ 2.5 bn over 2010-‐15 on Continuing Education and Training to develop expertise in various industries (DataMonitor, 2011)
• Strategy i2015-‐ ICT industry to add around $17 bn, quadrupling the revenue generated out of software & IT services and achieving 90 % household broadband penetration rate
3.2 ELearning market in Singapore The eLearning market of Singapore has
been growing at a tremendous rate and the eLearning market in Singapore was estimated to be around US $ 106 m in 2005 with investment of around US $ 57 m in the corporate sector (Mohammad Iqbal Bashar, 2007). The Singapore eLearning market is expected to be US $ 890 m (considering the CAGR to be 33% which is the growth of Asian eLearning industry). The Porter’s five forces with respect to the Singapore eLearning market is shown in the figure given below.
3.3 ELearning in different industries The Singaporean eLearning market is a
fragmented and a complex market with many local and global players in the market.
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The Defense, Civil Services, Education and Corporate World mainly banking and financial sector are the major users of eLearning. eLEAP (e-‐Leaning Early Adopters Program) encourages companies registered in Singapore to use eLearning platforms and services for employee training by funding almost around 50 % of the investment costs.
3.3.1 BFSI Sector The BFSI (Banking and Financial Service
Industry) sector in Singapore is one of the strongest and growing sectors of the country contributing to around 12 % Singapore’s GDP and employs around 5.5 % of the total workforce. Singapore has around 700 local and foreign financial institutions (contactsingapore, 2012).There are 120 banks; out of which 114 are the foreign banks.
Citibank Singapore is looking forward to integrate various eLearning platforms, online courses, knowledge management platforms to provide one stop learning platform further providing certain critical factors like communication updates, memos and corporate information. Currently, using IntraLearn LMS enables Citibank employees to take up the online courses easily without going through the steep learning curve of understanding the software. During the time of economic crisis in 2009, when organizations worldwide started cutting costs and reducing investments in various training programs, the OCBC bank increased its training course modules from 27 to 62 put together in a structured framework called OCBC Learning Academy (OCLA).
In 2008, HSBC incorporated the blended learning for its sales roles .To build a better and efficient way of learning & development program, HSBC collaborated with Kineo interactive designers and developed a complete suite of 30 hrs of eLearning modules which were delivered in two months. In 2010, DBS set up the DBS Asia Hub which simulation facilities and state-‐of-‐ the-‐ art eLearning/platforms labs (DBS, 2010). G-‐Cube won the LearnX Awards 2012, for developing the 3D employee induction program with rich multi-‐media features for DBS. In 2002, Great Eastern Holdings launched the eLearning tool called e-‐campus. The CFe-‐ campus (Centre of Excellence Campus) is a one stop interactive learning center for all the financial planning, products
and services.
3.3.2 Education Sector The Singapore
education industry is one of the fastest growing industries contributing to around 2 % of the overall GDP and it is expected to reach 5 % in 2015. Pulling statistical data from the education industry, we see
the following: 83 % of household penetration of computer, 80 % penetration of broadband access, and 137 % mobile phone penetration. On the education front, all Singapore Institutes of Higher Learning have instituted a web presence through virtual campuses. Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE): Some of the institutes like National University of Singapore (N.U.S) have developed their in-‐house online courseware management system-‐ IVLE. NTU has been using its innovative eLearning program called edveNTUre since 2000.
“We believe an engaged and competent workforce is fundamental to helping OCBC achieve its goals under New Horizons II, the bank’s five-‐year
strategy from 2006 to 2010” -‐Cassandra Cheng, Head of Learning
& Development OCBC Bank.
eLearning in Singapore 9
U21 global, which is a Joint Venture between Universities 21 & Thomson Learning, offers the highest quality online education. Institute of Technical Education's (ITE) e-‐Tutor system: ITE e-‐Tutor system, one of the Intra-‐campus initiatives, allows ITE's 1,200 academic staff to access and share courseware.
3.3.3 Retail Sector The retail scenario in Singapore is
unique and plays a vital role in strengthening the economy of the country by contributing to around 1.5% of the country’s GDP. The concept of megastores is not so much prevalent here. Singapore retail is dominated by FairPrice, Seven Eleven, Giant, Shenshong and Cheers. Convenience stores here hold a larger share of the customer wallet. Retail industry employees about 6% of the working population and with Singapore’s current focus on increasing productivity of employees across all sectors there is an increasing interest in the eLearning platform.
Retail eLearning platforms are more skewed towards the floor employees’ i.e. the ones in direct interaction with the customers. Cost is an important factor for the organization while making a choice since most eLearning modules are customized and hence the companies have a fair idea of what is required. On a broad level learning platforms which track the employees career are popular in several industries and here people prefer standard products with little tweaking.
3.3.4 Aviation Sector The training requirements in the aviation sector are for Regulatory and compliance training, Safety training, Soft-‐skills training, Leadership training, Training on custom IT applications, Technical training to cabin and flight crew, Value added services such
as Training Need Analysis (TNA), Course Portfolio Management, Competency Mapping, Technological Support, and Requirement Analysis (TATA Interactive). Companies across Singapore are harnessing the potential of electronic learning to train and ramp-‐up their staff. Singapore Airlines, for example, in an industry which has cut-‐throat competition, this airline has leveraged eLearning capabilities to build their competitive edge in the global aviation industry. According to SIA, eLearning will enable the company to provide just-‐in-‐time, customized training to their staff based locally and abroad. Cathay Pacific uses NetDimensions Enterprise Knowledge Platform (EKP) as their learning management system (LMS) which helps the airlines manage the end-‐to-‐end learning process.
3.3.5 Government Since 1997, Ministry of Defense
adopted a Self-‐Paced on Time on Need (SPOT-‐ON) concept which has allowed Singapore Armed Forces to successfully incorporate online learning to enhance the quality of training provided. SAFTI-‐MI have leveraged the technological advancements in the field of learning and launched two online learning programs targeted towards mid-‐senior level commanders traveling frequently.
Singapore Armed Force (SAF) rolled out a digital learning system “Learnet” which comprises of online lectures, tutorials, and instant messaging feature. This system has allowed soldiers to access rich and interactive training materials anytime, anywhere at their own convenience and pace. With the use of this learning system, it is estimated that classroom time will be reduced by 10 % enabling soldiers to complete 30 % more modules, thereby creating more time for outdoor and hands-‐on
eLearning in Singapore 10
training. Another company, SingTel, is exploring the use of eLearning to train their employees on Internet Protocol (IP) skills to help smoothen the transition from fixed to IP networks. SingTel's objective is to train about 1,500 staff over a period of 9 months. With several staff members based in different geographic locations, eLearning will be instrumental in helping SingTel achieve its training objective. City Cab's web-‐based Service Excellence
Training Program offers communication training to its taxi drivers.
3.4 Competitor Analysis The eLearning industry in Singapore has a huge presence of various global and local players. There are no clear market leaders in this industry. There are various Asian based companies in Singapore.
Major Global and Local eLearning Companies in Singapore (Source: Asian ELearning Network (2008)
Content Vendors System Vendors Service Vendors
Local Purple train, ISS, ASPonline, Dnium, SDC Asia
Inchone, National ,Computer System (NCS), Wizlearn, CrimsonLogic
ICUS, Knowledge Platform, SCS, TTS, Asia, IKS, Inkstudi0
International SmartForce, NETg Saba, Docent, Intralearn HP Education
eLearning in Singapore 11
3.5 Latest trends in eLearning industry Since the advent of web based learning in early 90s, the end user learning experience has undergone a dramatic change. With convergence of informal and social media, the society is tending towards more of a closed community. Explosion of Smart phones and tablets in the market has impacted the way people interact with each other. With the evolution of social media tools, the concept of virtual conferences is a common thing. Below are few visible trends which will predict us the future of eLearning:
! Content Curators: With content going digital, there is an overload of information which is available on internet. The future lies in content curators who can gauge relevant data, filter unnecessary information and organize it in a way which adds value to customers.
! Content Cloud: With cloud technology being the latest fad, a large number of platforms for creating and hosting learning experiences are web-‐based. As the software is always online rather than being on the desktop, this creates a flawless path from online course creation to launching the course itself and helps authoring tool publishers in providing team collaboration features easily.
! Integrated Learning: The integrated learning model is immensely useful in the field of education as it enables students to receive homework in form of videos, screen casts and podcasts.
! Gamification: Gamification is increasingly being used in education, defense, airlines and healthcare sector. Using simulation based games increase the level of engagement, provide astonishing levels of realism to the end user and make the experience effective and long lasting.
! HTML5 for Mobiles: In the recent times, Flash format has been used to deliver most web-‐based learning. However, with explosion of Smart phones and tablets in the market, Flash technology is outdated and is no more supported on all mobile devices. This calls for a need of another technology to present interactive multimedia content effectively over the web. HTML 5, a web technology has replaced the functionality of Flash. Using HTML 5, it is easier to deliver multimedia to mobile browsers as there are no compatibility issues.
! New Blended Learning: Many organizations still feel the need for following an apt combination of instructor led and online learning to increase overall effectiveness of training. This has given birth to the trend of Blended or Hybrid learning.
eLearning in Singapore 12
4. Data Analysis
4.1 Primary Research The qualitative analysis has been based on the following approach:
4.1.1 Qualitative Analysis 1. Outside-‐in approach: To understand the perspective and opinions of eLearning vendors in Singapore, we have interviewed ten eLearning vendors. These vendors include major global players like HP Education Services, Intuition, and local players like eLc, IAL and startup companies like 3-‐sixty solutions. Through these interviews we have gathered the following information:
! Major Industries using eLearning in Singapore
! Offerings and product portfolio of the existing eLearning players in Singapore
! Challenges and scope of improvements ! Road ahead for eLearning in Singapore
The key findings of our qualitative analysis are:
! It is necessary to align the eLearning and training programs of the companies and various organizations with the objectives of the companies. ! The companies and organizations should know what their training and learning requirements are and then approach eLearning providers. This would lead to less mismanagement of expectations and actual delivery between the customer and the eLearning vendor. ! There are some technical challenges that eLearning players are facing. In Singapore due to the tremendous amount of iphone / iPad penetration, the eLearning platform developers are facing challenges wherein there is a shift from flash and multimedia based platforms to old
xhtml based platforms as iOS does not support flash. The latest trend of m-‐Learning is facing the compatibility issue with various platforms such as windows, androids etc. ! Availability of dedicated subject matter experts is important to develop the content. Hence it is important that companies should either provide the eLearning vendors with SMEs or sponsor the one that the eLearning vendors provide. ! While choosing a vendor for eLearning, the companies in Singapore look at the previous record of the vendor, type of service, sample of product from vendor and their budget. One of the eLearning vendors makes a conscious effort to see that the designer and developer of the product is also the sales person for the product. This way the company ensures avoiding discrepancies such as unrealistic promises to deliver eLearning solutions in short time and in less development cost. ! The demand of custom solutions drives most of the revenues of the eLearning companies. The level of customization depends on the amount of customization required by the companies, time within which customization needs to be implemented and the cost involved. ! There are no major players in the market. There are various global, local and startups in Singapore who have targeted most of the industries with their existing eLearning services and platforms. Instead of playing price games, the eLearning companies should provider certain differentiating features and more value to their customers. ! There has been always emphasis given on the “e” aspect of eLearning by providing latest and cutting edge technologies. However the learning part is highly neglected. The eLearning companies should understand the difference between training and learning and must focus on providing a learning experience.
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According to the ten eLearning vendors, the top three industries to use eLearning are Government, Education and BFSI /IT. The eLearning vendors highlighted that the government and education sectors have been one of the early adopters of eLearning in Singapore. The “others” include industries like healthcare, hospitality, retail and aviation. This is shown in the figure given below:
2. Inside-‐out approach: We have interacted with eLearning clients from the training / HR / Learning and Development departments to understand the following:
! Needs and requirements of the companies
! Relationship with eLearning Vendors and criteria considered to select an eLearning vendor
! Challenges and scope of improvement
From our qualitative interviews we have found that various industries have adopted eLearning in their own ways for different operations.
! Education sector in Singapore has been one of the early adopters of eLearning. Universities like National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed their own internal eLearning tool and have their own internal team to support the whole application. However majority of the institutes work with external vendors. Blackboard is one of the most widely used LMS in the education sector. As highlighted by one of the industry expert, the important factors leading to successful implementation of eLearning in education sector are: - Professor Friendliness - Standardization - Deployment
Use of eLearning in education sector in Singapore also enables institutes to tackle problems like SARS. As some of the colleges expand in terms of their student strength and global exposure, they adopt eLearning. In the corporate sector, the eLearning is adopted greatly in the BFSI and IT sector. From the qualitative interviews we found out that the following factors are responsible for the companies to adopt eLearning in Singapore:
- Geographical expansion of companies - Increasing number of employees - Mandatory courses - Sustainability of content
! Most of the MNC located in Singapore have two types of eLearning programs. One is for the global audience and is localized as per the regional or country needs.
! The companies mostly like working with their preferred set of vendors who complete skill set and knowledge and know the culture of the company.
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4.1.2 Quantitative Analysis The main objectives of the quantitative analysis are:
! To understand customer behavior towards the use of online / eLearning based platforms and services for training purpose in corporate and education sector
! To find out the factors impacting the overall satisfaction of end users regarding online / eLearning platforms, positively or negatively
! To analyze the challenges and expectations of end users ( students / professors in education sectors or employees in the corporate world)
Sampling:
! Total sample size= 60 ! Sampling Methodology= Convenience
Sampling ! Mode of Questionnaire: Online (40) and
Face to face (20)
The respondents have been chosen from various industries like IT, BFSI, Retail, and Education. 76 % of respondents have used a mix of offline and online training in their organizations. As seen in the figure given below majority of the respondents have been from BFSI / IT sector. The area where eLearning is used in each of the sectors is shown in figure given below.
eLearning in Singapore 15
Tools and Techniques: A questionnaire has been floated across for the customer survey.
Factor & Regression Analysis
Through our data analysis we found out that, there are many factors impacting the customer behavior towards the use of eLearning and online platforms. We applied factor analysis to group the related factors in 4 major factors. The output of the factor analysis with some of the important factors has been shown in the figure given below.
After applying factor analysis, we used regression to find out which factors have a positive and negative correlation with the customer satisfaction. The Ease of usability and Content Features have a positive correlation to the overall customer satisfaction. However the factors like Level of Involvement and Technical Issues have a negative correlation.
Ease of Use
UI comfortable to use
Anyime anywhere access
Convenience
Ease of navigaion
Ease of access
Level of Involvement
Collaboraion with employees/
students
Mulimedia Sharing of Files
Feedback
Personalizaion
Technical Issues
Compaibility with muliple plaqorms
Complexity
Technical Errors
Content Effeciveness
Amount of Flash and Mulimedia
Effects
Duraion of Course
Simplicity of Content
Quality and Quanity of content
Impact and Relevance
eLearning in Singapore 16
Cluster and Cross-‐Tab Analysis
Based on the factors obtained above, we performed a cluster analysis to find out potential customer profiles which ELearning companies could target. The cross-‐tab analysis helped us to find how these clusters behave with respect to various attribute .The three distinct clusters which we have found are given below:
1. Intensive Users: The first cluster comprises of customers who use eLearning platforms the most. They have undergone more than two online training over the last six months and on an average they spend around 8 to 9 hrs weekly on various online and eLearning platforms. For them eLearning platforms is just not about training but also about collaboration with others, knowledge sharing and higher degree of involvement. They also prefer using eLearning when they are on the go. Hence for them compatibility of eLearning services on multiple platforms is very important. The two main features for this cluster are Level of Involvement and Technical Issues. These intensive users are from the corporate sector (BFSI & IT) and education sector.
2. Moderate Users: The second cluster as shown below consists of people who use eLearning platforms only when required. They spend on an average 2 to 3 hrs weekly on various training and online platforms. They do not seek for any sort of collaboration and want simpler content and courses with shortest duration. They also want content with less flash and animation. For this cluster the two most important features are Ease of Usability and Content Features. Some of these users are from the BFSI, IT sector and from sectors like automobile, retail and government.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Technical Issues
Ease of Usability
Content Features
Level of Involvem
ent
Intensive Users ( n=12)
Intensive Users
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Technical Issues
Ease of Usability
Content Features
Level of Involvem
ent
Moderate Users (n=14)
Moderate Users
eLearning in Singapore 17
3. Non Users: This comprised of a very small percentage of our sample. We found that there is a certain set of customers across all the industries who use on face to face training. This cluster looks like the figure given below: The two main features which if improved can migrate these non users to users are Ease of Usability and Level of Involvement. The biggest demand of the non users is regarding the user interface such as ease of navigation and regarding the higher level of involvement and interaction with the courses delivered. The want to have an exact replica of face to face training in the online or eLearning platforms.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Technical Issues
Ease of Usability
Content Features
Level of Involvemen
t
Non Users(n=8)
Non Users
Some other outcomes of Quantitative Analysis:
• 70% of respondents from the non –education sector did not know the name of the brand of the eLearning platform used.
• 65 % of the eLearning users access the eLearning platforms through mobile phones and tablet devices.
• 85 % of the respondents want to
have their training and learning programs through blended learning.
• In the corporate sector around 60
% of the respondents have undergone more than two online trainings over the last six months.
eLearning in Singapore 18
5. The Road Ahead
5.1 Strategy Approach From our quantitative analysis, the potential clusters of end users are the Intensive Users, Moderate Users and Non Users. On mapping these clusters with the learning and training requirements of the organization the eLearning projects of any organization could be divided in the following two categories:
• High Complexity (Customized Projects-‐Intensive Users)
• Low Complexity (Standard Projects-‐ Moderate Users & Non Users)
The strategy for the eLearning industry cannot be created based on industries but it should be based on the requirements of various
industries. For e.g. if we consider the banking sector, there are certain areas (Low Complexity-‐Standard projects) like products which are compliance based features which could be dealt with off the shelf products. But there are certain areas (High Complexity-‐ Customized Projects) like leadership training which needs to be customized as per the requirements of specific banks. The eLearning clients have different requirements for these two types of projects. The high complexity projects demand for higher level of interaction between the client and the service provider and hence the amount of proximity required is more. The low complexity project could be dealt with standardized products and services with offshore teams. The diagram given below provides a clear indication of the perspective of the clients while making a decision for vendors.
High
Level ofComplexity
LowProximity to Client High
Legend:
Perception Chart from a clients point of view
Preferred Not Preferred
High Complexity -‐ Low ProximityNot a good area to be in, clients are not comfortable to deal with vendors in this matrixThe basic perception is that any work which requires great level of interaction, it is important to have face to face meetings on a regular basis
Low Complexity -‐ Low Proximity-‐ Projects that are standard in nature and simple to execute-‐ Cost plays a major role in deciding a vendor for such projects
High Complexity -‐ High Proximity-‐ Projects that are very important andhave level of complexity-‐ Cost is not a prominent factor while making decisions on a vendor-‐ A company with a local office and a team is preferred
Low Complexity -‐ HighProximityIn such a scenario most often than not the projects are awarded to offshore vendors with lower costs. Again it is not a good matrix to be in for a vendor as he is not cost effective due to high cost of having office in Singapore
eLearning in Singapore 19
As shown above the cost holds less importance if the level of interaction required is higher. In such a scenario the proximity becomes more vital. For example a vendor with a team in Singapore will have a higher chance of securing a contract/business rather than a vendor in India, even though the costs might be higher. It is important to understand the kind of business a vendor is targeting. If a vendor is looking for a high margin business than he must target to establish himself in the complex customized business space. Whereas, if the vendor is looking for higher volumes then standardized products make more sense.
5.2 Demand of the Singapore eLearning clients The above ERRC grid has been created based on the demands of the Singapore eLearning market which are described below:
1. Demand for Non Flash High Resolution In Singapore where tablets and smart phones will take precedence over personal computers or laptops (smartphone penetration – 80%) and most of the communication and usage will shift to these two devices. For ELearning companies to enter the
eLearning business, it is essential to realize that the tablet will play a much bigger role and hence it is important to understand the technological shift the tablet brings. One thing that has become a need for the whole Singaporean eLearning industry is the requirement for tablet compatible learning software. The biggest problem with this kind of requirement is to develop the software without using flash and reverting to xhtml based eLearning platforms. Hence we have raised the Mobile Learning in the ERRC grid. This is also one of the requirements of the intensive users cluster obtained in our quantitative analysis. This shift along with the positioning for ELearning companies is shown in the figure below.
2. Demand for Simpler and Relevant Content The latest need of the eLearning industry is to have short, crisp and to the point content and courses. This is the need of the cluster of moderate users and as shown in the figure
Early 2000's -‐ Monologue Content -‐ Here the content was long and flash based mainly on PC's (Windows based plaqorm)
Current -‐ Conversaaonal Content -‐ The content needs to be engaging and short. The content is on Windows based plaqorm
Future -‐ Paracipaave Content -‐ The content will take inputs from content user. It will be based on muliple plaqorms like Android, Apple and Windows
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ELearning companies needs to provide simpler and shorter content. Hence in the ERRC grid we have reduced the Content feature. This is to reduce the flash, duration of the course and animation effects of the content and to increase the simplicity of the content.
3. Demand for Collaborative e-‐ Learning platforms Both from our qualitative and quantitative analysis we found that there is a demand for collaboration among employees or students through eLearning based training. So far what we have seen is a majority of the eLearning players both local and global pay emphasis on the technology i.e the “e” aspect of e—Learning and lesser on the learning part. If ELearning companies has to differentiate itself from other players in the Singapore
eLearning industry it is important that ELearning companies should position itself in the quadrant as shown below providing more collaboration and interaction for its users. This will meet
the requirements of the two clusters of Intensive and Non Users.
4. Demand for Learning Consulting The learning consulting plays a vital role in determining the training and learning requirements of an organization. In this case, ELearning companies can leverage its several years of experience. Although it is an important factor, we have reduced the level of Learning Consulting in the ERRC grid as ELearning companies could focus on one aspect of the entire learning and training process which is the reinforcement stage. ELearning companies already have the required expertise to target all the other phases.
5. Creating Cloud Offering With cloud computing, it seems that a lot of smaller organizations will be able to have access to higher storage space and they might look at content based products in a different way. Server space storage which is an issue for many small organizations since it is a part of Capital Expenditure becomes less of a problem once organizations start shifting to cloud based server services since it becomes an Operational Expense. In such a scenario a lot of new small businesses are expected to look at eLearning services. Therefore we can expect a first time entrants in this space.
5.3 Recommendations As explained earlier there are two types of eLearning projects – High Complexity and Low Complexity. Both the projects will have a different business approach. As it can be seen in the figure given below for High Complexity project the two most important factors that will come into play are Collaboration and Availability. The Low Complexity project will be governed by two major factors of Time and Cost.
5.3.1 High Complexity eLearning Projects These are essentially the projects which require rigorous meetings from both ends; the vendor as well as the client. In such a scenario the vendor would prefer someone who could meet him frequently and more importantly the vendor should be available for urgent meetings. The highly complex jobs can be defined by the number of people it is going to affect in the clients organization (in a percentage form) or by the level of customization involved. As per our discussion with a few clients, all of them were unanimous in pointing out that if the project is
complex then a local vendor is preferred. Therefore if the target is large projects than it is advisable to have a local presence of a small team of designers, sales staff as well as a technical team.
5.3.1.1 Business Approach for High Complexity eLearning Projects For complex projects it is important to approach this business on capability rather than on cost differential. Clients are generally looking for vendors which will be able to meet them on regular basis. One might argue that with video conferencing and telephone staying connected is easy and the proximity can be maintained. However, physical meeting means a better grasp on the problem given at hand and with the time difference coming into picture between two geographies handling emergency calls or needs of the client becomes difficult to handle from an overseas location. The complex one is dominated by local vendors or by companies which have a local presence.
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5.3.1.2 Three Years Plans for High Complexity eLearning Projects Year 1: During the first year it is important to not take up projects which might seem do-‐able but are not part of the objective as it might create a confusing identity. The company must focus on the BFSI sector only to build better understanding of a particular sector and at the same time they might be able to service that sector better than the competition.
Year 2: Once ELearning companies is through the understanding of the BFSI sector better it can look at small scale businesses and at the same time bring in its consulting services. Therefore this year the focus must be on the existing BFSI sector and the small scale businesses.
Year 3: ELearning companies can low look to expand to other lucrative sector like Defense or it can look to become a dedicated BFSI player. The industry is too dynamic to predict what exactly might happen. But with the current technological advances and the multiple platforms there will be increased workload in every sector.
Pricing Strategy: For High Complexity Projects, ELearning companies must follow a value based pricing approach. The focus must be on providing support to the client even post sales. The pricing must take into account the extra services that ELearning companies will be providing apart from the core product/ offerings. Pricing projects for clients in this space will be a challenge.
In order to price the products in an appropriate manner it will be important to understand the relative importance of various attributes in a project to a client. It is important give the weightage to every attribute and then accordingly price the product. The pricing strategy is not so much on the product but it is on the service revolved around the product.
5.3.2 Low Complexity eLearning Project These are essentially projects which are standardized in nature. These are not a core part of the business for the client. A good example would be legal regulations which are mandatory for the employees to know. Such things although important are not part of the core learning’s that the organizations want a person to know. Most of these courses are general and can be provided to clients after minor modifications.
5.3.2.1 Business Approach for Low Complexity eLearning Projects For Low Complexity Projects it is important for ELearning companies to understand that price becomes a defining factor. The few things that go with price are the speed at which the content can be completed by the vendor for the client. Therefore speed and price play a very important role.
5.3.2.2 Three Years Plan for Low Complexity eLearning Projects Year 1: Focus on taking up compliance based projects for the BFSI Sector. These compliance based projects are applicable to the whole industry and hence with a little tweaking these projects might be applicable to different companies.
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Year 2: Focus on the BFSI sector. Focus on selling the off the shelf compliance based projects to the small Singapore finance related organizations.
Year 3: Once the company has built a strong hold in the BFSI sector understanding, ELearning companies can look forward to other sectors. But they must continue to focus on compliance related projects. Ideally they must look at sectors which are governed by a lot of legal laws.
Pricing Strategy: Due to the general nature of the projects, pricing will become a basis of the marketing communication to get clients. Hence they must keep the operations based out of India and keep the costs low. They must look at cost plus pricing.
Let us consider the pricing option given above for Low Complex approach. Based on our analysis of various pricing models a calculation has been shown in table given above.
Assumptions:
1. We have assumed the costs of a project based on our secondary analysis
2. We have assumed that the payback period for a certain development project will be on a 3-‐year period
It is also important to factor in the competitor pricing. Volume will play an important role to recover cost and make a surplus. Therefore it is critical to decide which product developments to do. The products developed must be applicable to the industry at large so that the product can be appropriate for other companies with a little tweaking.
ELearning companies could either go for the High Complexity Projects or Low Projects as per the strategy mentioned. However we would recommend ELearning companies to concentrate on the Low complexity project during the first year and then venture into high complexity project.
5.4 Marketing in a complex Singapore Environment -‐ A challenge For an entry strategy to be successful, it is important to first increase awareness about the company. In Singapore, it is difficult to meet with the clients directly. Therefore ELearning companies must look to participate in Conferences and Industry meets to build relationships in Singapore. ELearning companies must try and have presence in HR conclaves, BFSI related conferences to start engaging in talks and show its presence. ELearning companies can participate in various road shows and national level exhibitions to show their offerings to the industry users. ELearning companies can also tie up with various Singapore based institutes like SHRI (Singapore Human Resources Institute) and STADA (Singapore Training and Development Association). This will provide ELearning companies with a strong hold of the Singapore eLearning industry.
Cost Plus Pricing (in SGD) Projected clients for a single product 10
Cost of one time development 100000
Salesman cost/year 80000 No. of projects/year/salesman 24
Dist of Dev.Cost/ Year 33333 Dist. Salesmen Cost/Project 3333
Total Cost Per Project 6667
Gross Margin 60% Asking price per project 10667
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5.5 Metrics to Measure and Monitor In order to evaluate the company performance in Singapore, ELearning companies must track the following ratios on a regular basis:
Finance
Payback: ELearning companies must decide as to what kind of investment they want to make as well as keep an eye on the pay back and the company’s progress in terms of the percentage of return. Therefore keeping a track of this ratio is very important.
ROMI: Return on Marketing Activity becomes very important to track because cost can run out of hand especially in a capital exhaustive market like Singapore. This will help the company keep a check on its expenditure to get business. ELearning companies must fix a certain percentage of the total revenue as a marketing budget which should be then divided on the number of expected projects in a year.
Customers
CLV (Customer Lifetime Value): It is very vital to understand the Customer Lifetime Value. This will help ELearning companies segregate from the well paying clients to the one that are loss making. This can help ELearning companies direct their energy and efforts in the right direction
Sales Force Effectiveness: In order to understand the return on investment in Singapore it is critical that the deployed sales employees are tracked in a circular manner. They must not be tracked on the basis of getting new clients but also on maintaining relationships with the current customers. ELearning companies must also keep a track of the revenue each new client’s brigs versus the
cost it incurs. These revenues must be pegged to the relevant Sales executive to understand his effectiveness.
Internal Processes
Request Fulfillment Time: In order to gauge the time taken to complete the tweaking every client demands in the already developed products, this is very useful tool. This will also help ELearning companies understand the time an order will take and it can accordingly inform its client.
Cost of Reworked Order: This will help understand the cost involved every time a project is reworked. Also this will help understand what kind of reworks cost more or less. In this manner it can segregate the costs and also know how to price the product.
Learning and Development
Employee Satisfaction Survey: ELearning companies must continuously understand whether its employees are satisfied since employees are its biggest strength. This will help keep the company aligned with its people.
6. References
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IDC. (2010, August 11). Worldwide and U.S. Corporate eLearning 2010-‐2014 Forecast: Changing Patterns of Consumption. Retrieved October 1, 2012, from http://www.marketresearch.com: http://www.marketresearch.com/IDC-‐v2477/Worldwide-‐Corporate-‐eLearning-‐Forecast-‐Changing-‐2764010/
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