KNOWLEDGE ENABLEMENT AND THE EXTENDED ENTERPRISEHOW A NEXT-GENERATION LEARNING PLATFORM CAN ENGAGE AND EDUCATE

ACROSS AN EXTENDED ECOSYSTEM OF LEARNERS

ABSTRACTWithin the global business landscape, no company

operates as an island. Organizations today are made up

of a complex network of partner relationships–customers,

vendors, suppliers, and distributors, who come together

to design, build and bring products and services to market.

Having a learning management strategy that keeps this

extended enterprise current and engaged in your

business’s brand is a top priority for most industry leader

Extended enterprise learning can help businesses reduce

training costs, improve awareness of products and

services, and increase sales–to name just a few benefits.

s.

But how should that learning be delivered in an extended

enterprise scenario? The traditional enterprise learning

management system (LMS) was designed to help workers

stay abreast of the knowledge, skills and abilities required

by the business, and comply with regulations and laws.

However, in the dynamic extended enterprise learning

environment, the formal hierarchical design and

architecture of a traditional LMS quickly becomes

a barrier to adoption.

Partners around the globe, representing thousands of

diverse approaches to learning, need a more flexible,

adaptable platform designed from the ground up for

dynamic learning. They need a next-generation LMS

that delivers dynamic content in bite-sized chunks,

offer anywhere, anytime, any device learning, and

most of all–engages and captivates to keep

partners coming back for more.

In this whitepaper, entitled “Knowledge Enablement and

the Extended Enterprise” we look at the characteristics

that define the extended enterprise, and examine how

next-generation learning needs to be redefined in order

to help organizations engage and educate stakeholders

across the broader partnership relationship network.

1Benzo, Jeff. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 2"What Is Extended Enterprise? Definition and Meaning."BusinessDictionary.com. WebFinance, Inc., n.d. Web. 3Lahey, Zach. Extended Enterprise Learning: Educating the Channel to Improve Results. Rep. Aberdeen Group, 24 Mar. 2014. Web.

LEARNING FROM THE OUTSIDE IN“There are two ways to extend a business. Take inventory of what you’re good at and extend out from your

skills. Or determine what your customers need and work backward, even if that requires learning new skills.”1

–Jeff Bezos, American Technology Entrepreneur

In this world of digital connections and globalization, no

company is an island. Enterprises today are dependent

on a network of partner relationships representing

customers, employees, suppliers, franchisers and/or

distributors who come together to collaborate on the

design, development, production and delivery of

products to market.2

Ensuring this diverse network of stakeholders is trained

to represent a company’s brand is a high priority for most

organizations. According to a 2014 survey by the industry

research firm the Aberdeen Group, 86% of companies

indicated learning as critical to extremely critical to their

organizational ability to execute business strategy.3

Traditional learning management solutions were built to

help workers stay abreast of the knowledge, skills and

abilities required by the business. Training programs

delivered by an LMS may be oriented to help employees

advance their careers, demonstrate a particular

competency, or pave the way for succession planning.

Often, an LMS is used for records tracking and to

prove organizational compliance to laws (such as the

Occupational Safety and Health Act) and regulations

(for instance FDA 21 CFR Part 11). An LMS and the

content it delivers is typically built around the

hierarchical structures that exist and must be

maintained within a large organization.

But the learning needs of the extended enterprise

are different. In this scenario, we are talking

about reaching a large, diverse group of

stakeholders–dealers, franchisees, suppliers, partners,

and customers–scattered all over the world, representing

many different demographics and learning styles. For the

delivery of learning to the extended enterprise, the

formal hierarchical design and architecture of a

traditional LMS becomes a barrier to adoption.

4Schawbel, Dan. "Why You Can't Ignore Millennials." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 4 Sept. 2014. Web.5"Mobile Millennials: Over 85% of Generation Y Owns Smartphones." Newswire. The Nielsen Company, 9 May 2014. Web.6Schrader, Brendon. "Here's Why The Freelancer Economy Is On The Rise." Web log post. The Future of Work. Fast Company & Inc, 10 Aug. 2015. Web.7Carroll, Jim. "Trend: The Future of Knowledge." Web log post. Jim Carroll. n.d. Web.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EXTENDED ENTERPRISEIt’s not necessarily about tracking

While it is important for companies to monitor employee

understanding and adherence to laws and regulations,

compliance is not always the primary driver for learning

across the extended enterprise. An automotive original

equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) dealer network wants

to stay current on latest product offerings. A retailer’s

franchisees want to access mentorship, best practices,

and tools to help them grow a successful business and

drive more revenue.

The workforce is getting younger

One in three workers is now a millennial

(individuals born between the years of 1982 and 1993),

and this group will make up 75% of the workforce by

2025.4 Over 85% of millennials today own a smartphone

or other mobile device5 and use it as their primary source

for information and learning. This younger stakeholder in

the extended enterprise won’t have the patience to

navigate heavyweight content delivered by an LMS in a

hierarchical format. They don’t want to wade through

manuals and documentation. They want learning to be

dynamic, social, and collaborative. In addition, they want

multi-media learning experiences with content provided

in actionable, bite-sized chunks.

A good number will be freelancers and contractors

We are heading headlong into the freelance economy.

By 2020, 40% of the American workforce will consist of

independent contractors, freelancers or temporary

workers.6 This shift in workplace composition will

further define the extended enterprise as billion dollar

organizations capitalize on the business value

independent workers bring to the table. Contract

employees have different learning demands, but may

still need to comply with the same laws and regulations

governing traditional enterprise workers.

Lean, mean and oh so flexible

Some experts predict that by 2020 the workforce

will be centered on just-in-time knowledge, with the

most valued professional skills focused on the ability

to get the right knowledge for the right purpose at the

right time.7 While the LMS leveraged in the delivery of

content needs to be powerful, it also needs to be easily

deployed and accessed by stakeholders scattered

around the globe; and provide reliable support for

individuals located in low bandwidth areas. An LMS for

the extended enterprise also needs to be adaptive;

supporting personalized learning paths for the many

diverse learning styles of individuals in hundreds, if not

thousands of partner organizations.

8Benavides, Melissa. "Delivering Learning across an Extended Enterprise: A Case Study / Brandon Hall Group Member Center." Brandon Hall Group, 29 July 2015. Web.

Engagement is the name of the game

The main driver for eLearning in corporate environments

is often regulatory compliance for risk mitigation. Within

the four walls of an organization, employee adherence

can be tracked and enforced. Compliance training

already exists in the extended enterprise–there are third

party companies who deliver compliance-based training

to partners. However, these external providers need to

offer their “customers” a more compelling reason to visit

the online learning portal and engage. In the external

enterprise, a certification engine is not enough.

Stakeholders need to have a positive, engaging

experience so they come back for more. Beyond

compliance, eLearning in the extended enterprise needs

to engage and even entertain to attract and retain users

who are not obligated to take part. This means learning

must be collaborative, personalized, leverage tactics

such as gamification, and for that growing population of

millennials, offer support for mobile access, social

channels, and multimedia content.

Benefits of Extended Enterprise Learning8

1. Reduce training costs

2. Reduce training travel time

3. Increase awareness of products/services

4. Meet compliance requirements

5. Increase user engagement

6. Improve customer relations

7. Meet or exceed corporate objectives

8. Increase sales

9. Maximize client retention

10. Reduce turnover

9Key Technologies Enable Extended Enterprise Learning Success. Rep. Aberdeen Group, Nov. 2010. Web.10Ibid.

MOVING BEYOND LEARNING ‘MANAGEMENT’ TO LEARNING ‘ENGAGEMENT’

40

According to industry research, organizations that focus

their learning methods solely inside the corporation

experienced a revenue increase of 5% per full-time

equivalent (FTE) year-over-year (measured over 12

months). Conversely, those organizations that extended

some sort of learning to customers and partners saw a

40% greater increase in revenue per FTE at 7%

year-over-year. Organizations with a formal learning

program for the extended enterprise saw an even

greater increase at 9% per FTE year over year.9

Given the immense value provided by an organization’s

extended enterprise, providing these partners with

ongoing knowledge and training is a no brainer. What is

ripe for disruption is the way that learning content is

delivered. To captivate and retain all partners in a

learning strategy, enterprises should strongly consider

replacing (or supplementing) their traditional LMS with

a next-generation system that better supports and

addresses the needs of the extended enterprise. This

means that the LMS should no longer just be about

managing learning. It should be about engaging learners

at every step. Within the context of the extended

enterprise, this would require a platform designed from

the ground up to be cohesive and flexible, easily

deployed to users around the globe, and one that

supports interactive content while meeting the

anywhere, anytime, any device demands of a diverse

population of workers. This next-generation LMS would

also gather robust analytics along the way, allowing

enterprises to precisely measure the participation

(engagement) of this diverse population, the

effectiveness of content, and allow organizations to

connect partner learning back to business goals and

objectives (such as revenue generation).

Organizations that extended some sort of learning to

customers and partners saw a 40% greater increase in

revenue per FTE

Top Drivers for Extended Enterprise Learning10

1. Business growth strategy and revenue

2. Business changes requiring re-education

and realignment

3. Lack of key skills in the marketplace

4. Changing customer needs and expectations

%

NEXT-GENERATION LEARNING CAPABILITIES FOR THE EXTENDED ENTERPRISEIntegrated and adaptive Learning should be easy for everyone, regardless of an

individual’s preferred learning style. An extended

enterprise’s network of customers, suppliers, and

franchisees represents thousands of individuals with

diverse learning styles and demands. And as we learned,

by 2020, 40% of those individuals will be millennials. A

next-generation LMS serving the extended enterprise

should be architected from the ground up to support

this adaptive style of learning, providing workers with the

flexibility to embark on their own personalized learning

paths, view content in multimedia formats, collaborate

with others for a more social learning experience, and

move quickly through course content as they

demonstrate mastery.

Mobile-friendlyBusy partners are on-the-go and have their own

responsibilities and jobs. They want to learn on a plane,

on a train, or at home and have made their mobile device

the preferred platform for learning today. The extended

enterprise knows no geographic boundaries and the

proliferation of mobile devices around the world today

means that any next-generation LMS needs to be

mobile-friendly with a responsive interface and include

dynamic, interactive content.

Social and collaborativeFor a working population that is far flung around the

globe, traditional learning delivery methods, such as

user/partner conferences and training events are not

financially prudent or even possible. That said, partners

across the extended enterprise still find value in

connecting with mentors, industry experts, and each

other. A next-generation LMS should provide ample

opportunities for partners to connect via social

channels, share knowledge and experiences, and

collaborate in their learning.

GlobalizedIn order to deliver knowledge and learning to a global

partner network, a next-generation LMS must include a

multi-lingual interface, deliver content in a wide variety of

languages, and support partners engaging across many

time zones. Finally, the next-generation LMS should offer

cloud-based delivery that is easily deployed, supported,

and accessed even in remote parts of the world with low

bandwidth access.

GamifiedGamification makes learning more fun and engaging

for all. A next-generation LMS offers workers the

opportunity to earn badges, points, and other rewards

help to attract, engage and retain extended enterprise

partners so there is continued participation in an

organization’s learning strategy.

Measurable

At the end of the day, offering learning across the

extended enterprise is about making that network

of suppliers, distributors, dealers, franchisees and

others more productive and valuable.

A next-generation LMS should provide powerful

reporting and business analytics, so enterprises can

track partners’ learning progress, compare and

contrast methods and directly tie extended

nterprise learning to business goals and objectives.

NEXT-GENERATION LEARNING AND THE EXTENDED ENTERPRISEAn extended enterprise learning strategy, realized

through a next-generation LMS, can serve as an

agent for transformation for companies seeking to

get the most out of their global partner network. The

financial returns realized by companies who embrace

this broader approach to learning speak for themselves.

However, the key to this strategy is understanding that

partners are not employees. They don’t abide by the

same hierarchical structure that exists within the

organization. They don’t necessarily care about

compliance or want their performance tracked.

What they want is to be drawn into the learning

process, and sufficiently engaged so they’ll return

time and again for more.

Organizations seeking to “light up” learning within the

extended enterprise need to realize that a one-size-fits

all LMS will not work in serving the needs of this broader

network of relationships. What is needed is a disruptive

new learning platform, built from the ground up for

flexibility, adaptability and engagement, capable of

captivating and retaining all partners in an extended

enterprise learning strategy.

So are you ready to move beyond management to

engagement, and knowledge-enable your extended

enterprise? The time has never been better–or the

technology more ready–for you to make the change.

ABOUT D2L

D2L is the software leader that makes the learning experience

better. The company’s cloud-based platform—Brightspace—is not

a common one-size-fits-all learning management system (LMS).

It’s easier to use, more flexible, and smart. With Brightspace, you

can personalize the experience for every learner to deliver real

results. The company is also a world leader in learning analytics:

its platform predicts learner performance so that you can take

action in real time to keep them on track. Brightspace is used

by learners in higher education, K–12, and the enterprise sector,

including the Fortune 1000. D2L has operations in the United

States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore.

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