IBM partnered with SMG in the summer of 2000 to create online courses for their worldwide sales force. The first course, ’emerging business models,’ has been taught in virtual classrooms since October 2000 and is still being taught; a pilot for a new course focused on wireless technologies will end in approximately a week.
“The old class was how e-business changes the business models of our customers,” said Lauge Sorensen, director of IBM’s High Performance Selling Program. “The new class asks what happens when you add wireless technology in the equation.”
IBM hopes 600 to 1,000 of its 30,000 salespeople will complete the new course, which will be offered monthly and will begin with the instructor explaining his objectives in a conference call. For the next two and a half weeks, students will use an IBM computer program called Learning Space to review the course material, complete daily assignments and discuss topics. This should require one or two hours per day, and the system allows students to choose what part of their day to devote to the course.
“It’s very collaborative,” Sorensen said. “Whatever they add, everyone can see and comment on — even colleagues on the other side of the world.”
The emerging business models course uses IBM-developed content and takes three weeks to complete. Although surveys from the 600 employees who completed the class are still being analyzed, Sorensen said the response seems positive.
“The feedback says that it is a great course and is tying in with the business issues they deal with everyday,” he said. “It’s something they can use in their day jobs and [use to] increase their sales performance.”
According to Sorensen, IBM pays Boston University an undisclosed amount per class and a separate fee for the content development of the new wireless course. Although the wireless case study is used in Masters in Business Administration classes, SMG tailored it to apply to a different audience and fit the IBM sales model.
“For salespeople, it offers a way of thinking creatively — saying to their customers, ‘Look, I have an idea about how you can use wireless technology in your business,'” said John Storck, the course creator and director of SMG’s Master of Science Program in Management Information Systems.
For example, manufacturers can use wireless technologies to track locations of parts they order.
“It’s extending wireless technology from people to objects,” Storck said. “Because of wireless technology, people are going to change their behavior and business is really going to change.”
The idea for the course originated a year ago, and Storck said the online learning method suits corporate needs.
“It’s a way of reaching thousands of employees and also provides consistency in teaching and learning,” he said.
The partnership also benefits SMG, said John Chalykoff, director of the BU-IBM online learning program and SMG’s associate dean for academic programs.
“There’s lots of benefits to working with a first class organization like IBM,” Chalykoff said. “Part of the idea is to build our faculty’s online education skills.”
Professor Jonathan Hibbard is teaching the pilot, and Chalykoff said about 10 other faculty members are interested in the course. Although instructors will not have control over the course material, they will be able to modify assignment deadlines and decide what questions are asked.
IBM assessments and instructor feedback substitute for traditional grades, but Chalykoff emphasized the dedication required for students to succeed.
“There’s a myth that online courses are easier, but it really takes a total commitment of time to do it well,” he said.
The distance learning initiatives are one example of BU and IBM’s commitment to each other, and the current partnership developed from an existing relationship. IBM belongs to SMG’s Systems Research Center, which studies how information technology can improve business performance. The corporation also flies senior executives to Boston for one-week courses where they learn about industry analysis, leadership skills and other topics.
Sorensen predicted that IBM will maintain its “strong relationship with BU for quite some time,” and Chalykoff indicated that BU shares an optimistic view of their future.
“I think we’ll continue to do in-house training and continue developing more online courses,” Chalykoff said. “I see that the relationship contains a lot of mutual respect and we work well together, so I just see it growing.”
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