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: E-learning: A Successful Experiment
I'd like to jointly create this type of social venture in my home town:
You can create a Social Venture in your home town based on the business model in this page. The Social Entrepreneur Institute will assist you to make a business plan, funding the project and provide a More information on the Social Entrepreneurship Institute

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Company/Organization: E-learning: A Successful Experiment

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Please write about your business concept in five paragraphs with sub-title for each

Answer: Briefly describe the usefulness and uniqueness of your social venture Before Buckman Laboratories International embraced electronic learning, new employees hired to sell its specialty chemicals to paper companies were required to attend a two-week training course at its home office in Memphis, Tennessee. But many struggled through the first week?a rigorous introduction to the paper industry. "Some people just could not keep up," says Sheldon Ellis, vice president of the company's Learning Center, a project that includes instructor-based training and online tutorials and courses. Now the first week has been turned into a 13-week online course that new hires can absorb at their own pace.

1: Interactive Features

1: Issues to be addressed by this social venture (or case) Some of the more creative aspects of the course include animated graphics of paper machines that employees can put together on screen. One part of the papermaking process, the wet-end chemistry, has been turned into an on-screen board game. Players answer questions to move ahead, and a wrong answer generates a tutorial. Course materials can be viewed online, downloaded, or ordered on a CD. After completing the introductory course, new employees must still attend a five-day training session in person, where they discuss case studies and do lab work.

2: Big Cost Saving and Global Standardization

2: What is the unique idea to solve the issues? "Our retention rate is much higher," says Ellis. "And we removed a week in Memphis, which meant big savings." At $800 per day for U.S. employees and $1,100 for employees based in other countries, those recovered expenses added up. But the online tutorial is just one of the e-learning courses Buckman offers employees. Money, however, was not the primary motivation behind the e-learning initiatives at Buckman. In 1993, Bob Buckman, son of the founder and now the retired chairman of the board, entrusted Ellis with moving much of the company's training to the computer. When it came to the financial benefits, Buckman advised Ellis, "Don't even try to measure it for the first three years." The globalization of the chemical industry led Buckman to believe that standardizing training throughout the multinational company was necessary, and the Internet offered the best route. The company's affiliate units make chemicals used in many industries worldwide, including paper, leather, and water treatment. Buckman's 1,350 employees do business in 100-plus countries and in 15 different languages."E-learning was the only way to expose our people to more information about our business and our customers' businesses," explains Ellis, who oversees an annual budget of $1.2 million. Before the e-learning program, training was handled at regional Buckman offices. But that wasn't ideal. "We needed to standardize training," says Ellis.

3: Dramatic Drop of Cost of Training

3: Revenue Model & Organization With Click2Learn's ToolBook authoring tools and production help from Medell??, Colombia?based Solutech, Buckman has developed extensive online tutorials and courses in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. About 85 percent of Buckman's employees carry notebooks?mostly IBM ThinkPad T20s?so a salesperson can log on to the Learning Center from anywhere for a refresher course. Ellis considers the Learning Center a resounding success. In addition to higher retention rates, financial benefits are also up. Over the last four years, the cost of an hour of training has dropped from $1,000 to just $40. With that success, Buckman has begun to offer online training to its customers. Ellis expects that in five years, his operation could become a profit center rather than a cost center. That's the kind of business transformation you don't need any training to understand.

4:

4: Targeted Benefit & Outcome

5:

5: Strengths and Risks of the business model

The Project Owner: Explain your experience and skills within 150 words.

Business_Partners: Describe what types of business partners are you seeking

Position1 (Investors):

Position2 (Management & Staff):

Position3 (Management & Staff):

Position4 (Professional Staff):

Position4 (Professional Staff):

Position6 (Outside Experts):

Business Partners can jointly develop a business plan

Mode:

I'd like to jointly create this type of social venture in my home town:
You can create a Social Venture in your home town based on the business model in this page. The Social Entrepreneur Institute will assist you to make a business plan, funding the project and provide a More information on the Social Entrepreneurship Institute

About Your Project:		Reference Project:
Company/Organization:		E-learning: A Successful Experiment
Project Code:
CategoryID:		United_State
County:
City:
Please write about your business concept in five paragraphs with sub-title for each
Answer: Briefly describe the usefulness and uniqueness of your social venture		Before Buckman Laboratories International embraced electronic learning, new employees hired to sell its specialty chemicals to paper companies were required to attend a two-week training course at its home office in Memphis, Tennessee. But many struggled through the first week?a rigorous introduction to the paper industry. "Some people just could not keep up," says Sheldon Ellis, vice president of the company's Learning Center, a project that includes instructor-based training and online tutorials and courses. Now the first week has been turned into a 13-week online course that new hires can absorb at their own pace.
1:		Interactive Features
1: Issues to be addressed by this social venture (or case)		Some of the more creative aspects of the course include animated graphics of paper machines that employees can put together on screen. One part of the papermaking process, the wet-end chemistry, has been turned into an on-screen board game. Players answer questions to move ahead, and a wrong answer generates a tutorial. Course materials can be viewed online, downloaded, or ordered on a CD. After completing the introductory course, new employees must still attend a five-day training session in person, where they discuss case studies and do lab work.
2:		Big Cost Saving and Global Standardization
2: What is the unique idea to solve the issues?		"Our retention rate is much higher," says Ellis. "And we removed a week in Memphis, which meant big savings." At $800 per day for U.S. employees and $1,100 for employees based in other countries, those recovered expenses added up. But the online tutorial is just one of the e-learning courses Buckman offers employees. Money, however, was not the primary motivation behind the e-learning initiatives at Buckman. In 1993, Bob Buckman, son of the founder and now the retired chairman of the board, entrusted Ellis with moving much of the company's training to the computer. When it came to the financial benefits, Buckman advised Ellis, "Don't even try to measure it for the first three years." The globalization of the chemical industry led Buckman to believe that standardizing training throughout the multinational company was necessary, and the Internet offered the best route. The company's affiliate units make chemicals used in many industries worldwide, including paper, leather, and water treatment. Buckman's 1,350 employees do business in 100-plus countries and in 15 different languages."E-learning was the only way to expose our people to more information about our business and our customers' businesses," explains Ellis, who oversees an annual budget of $1.2 million. Before the e-learning program, training was handled at regional Buckman offices. But that wasn't ideal. "We needed to standardize training," says Ellis.
3:		Dramatic Drop of Cost of Training
3: Revenue Model & Organization		With Click2Learn's ToolBook authoring tools and production help from Medell??, Colombia?based Solutech, Buckman has developed extensive online tutorials and courses in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. About 85 percent of Buckman's employees carry notebooks?mostly IBM ThinkPad T20s?so a salesperson can log on to the Learning Center from anywhere for a refresher course. Ellis considers the Learning Center a resounding success. In addition to higher retention rates, financial benefits are also up. Over the last four years, the cost of an hour of training has dropped from $1,000 to just $40. With that success, Buckman has begun to offer online training to its customers. Ellis expects that in five years, his operation could become a profit center rather than a cost center. That's the kind of business transformation you don't need any training to understand.
4:
4: Targeted Benefit & Outcome
5:
5: Strengths and Risks of the business model
The Project Owner: Explain your experience and skills within 150 words.
Business_Partners: Describe what types of business partners are you seeking
Position1 (Investors):
Position2 (Management & Staff):
Position3 (Management & Staff):
Position4 (Professional Staff):
Position4 (Professional Staff):
Position6 (Outside Experts):