Introduction
With the increasing technology changes, the nature of learning will be affected almost at the same pace as the changes occur in the world. It has been seen with the advent of the MOOCs rising, and more people rooting for this kind of learning given its convenience, low costs and the flexibility that comes along with it. As such, it would be important to note that this kind of learning will greatly affect the nature of professional training as people know it. It will, therefore, imply that the corporate training and development has to consider ways in which they can still stay relevant in the market amidst the competition from MOOCs. Staying relevant in the competition can only be possible if the corporate training and development companies can adopt marketing strategies that help them to stay competitive in the advent of MOOCs. One of these strategies is by emphasizing on their ability to narrow the skills gap that exists in the professional arena (Saleem 34). The corporate training and development companies have a more practical approach in whenever they train their employees through the traditional approach. It means that through the classroom interactions, the students can be able to interact with their tutors, and this provides them the opportunity of getting to know what it feels like to get and experience information first hand. The students can improve their skills through their internship programs or by learning from their colleagues when they share experiences. Such kinds of interactions are important to for them to learn directly from those people who train them during their professional careers, a process that cannot take place with MOOCs (Krause et 23). In these kinds of program, face-to-face interactions are completely blocked out of the training sessions, and the fact that the students hardly interact with their tutors directly eliminates the possibility of seeing how things are done. These courses also do not emphasize on hands-on experience from the fact that they only focus on passing across their message (Haber 45). It creates a situation whereby a student is used to theoretical knowledge, and they are not in a position to apply the knowledge in their professional lives. The fact that the attendance and performance rates are not tracked creates a wide skill gap in the industry. It is what poses as a challenge for them in the corporate training and development world. To be able to overcome this kind of challenge, schools should be able to offer digital learning tools to students on various devices. Much as they will be coming to class, they also have the alternative of going digital when they attend classes. Another marketing strategy that they can consider adopting is to consider making a section of their courses online as the MOOCs. It will attract customers and even better they will be able to retain their customers since this kind of approach offers more flexibility as compared to the training and development approach. For instance, they could consider making some of the classes offered, especially those that introduce the programs to be online. It will work to the advantage of the customers since they are assured of flexibility and the benefits that come along with traditional training (Baron 45). It will be a competitive edge for these companies since the customers will have the option of benefiting from both kinds of learning methods. Plus, it gives them the opportunity of being able to make comparisons of the benefits of one program over the other. In marketing, when businesses give their customers the ability to choose it not only ensures customer satisfaction but it also allows for a business to know their customers through their tastes and preferences. It can only be possible for the corporate training and development companies if they can give their customers options in their business. Market condition Currently, the market situation of the MOOCs is that have not taken roots on the corporate market. It is now that people realize its benefits and more people are opting to try it out for their convenience. With time, the impact of this kind of approach to learning will be realized. The market for the corporate MOOCs will become mature when the big multinational companies start realizing the central role that this approach in learning will play in developing talents (Rust et al. p56). It will involve the identification and helping the employees to master competencies required for their job proficiency. Currently, in most of the MOOCs, there can be hundreds or even thousands of people who register for these courses. They will then take courses relevant to improving on their computer skills and then start attend their virtual ‘lectures’. This upsurge in the number of students that enroll for MOOCs surpasses that of corporate training and development by far. Hence, the competition between these two types of companies is very stiff. 7Ps of marketing Mix Once a business has identified its marketing strategy, there is a need to consider continuous evaluating and reevaluation of the company’s business activities. It is done using the 7ps in marketing. The 7ps include product, price, promotion, place, packaging, positioning and people (Rust 34). For a product, the MOOCs is a product that the majority of the people in the current world would yearn for their convenience due the flexibility and savings that come along with using it. Technology is improving fast, and this has allowed for more flexible modes of learning and training in the corporate world. The competition in the market will result in lower prices, especially for an increasing number for the MOOCs as compared to the corporate training course that are offered face-to-face. To increase their competitiveness in the market, the corporate training and development companies should consider the integration of digital learning as a way of promoting their products. It will increase the learning flexibility while at the same time improving on the convenience of marketing through such promotions to the potential students. In terms of packaging, the MOOCs have an upper hand since they give the impression that the student will still be able to maximize by not going to school while at the same time saving on their learning costs. The impression to the customers here is that they will still manage to get the same quality and content when they decide to go the MOOCs way, although they do not focus on the content of delivery or the manner of delivering the content (Pride 39). The manner of packaging will influence the extent to which the product can be marketed because of the impressions that people make. The fact that the MOOCs are free and in case of any charges they tend to be very minimal allows for most of the potential customers to be willing to pay for the products so that they save on costs of attending face-to-face sessions. The people in MOOCs are not as capable of questioning the value of the lessons or the theories that they apply in class than the people in face-to-face training and development sessions. They do not focus on the content, but rather they focus on the context of what they are taught. The objective in such situations is to complete the course instead of maximizing the value of the content. Some of the service markets that the face-to-face corporate training and development could target in response to the advent of the rising MOOCs are the tourism and hospitality industry, law, fashion and design and online teaching. Tourism and hospitality management are service-oriented businesses and therefore a huge portion of the course programs are likely to be more theoretical than practical. Using MOOCs in such kinds of learning environments will make it easy for the students to get exposed in various fields. They will be able to know the technological processes behind the successful online marketing with regards to various international hotel industries. This international exposure is what gives the students the creativity to come up with other hospitality services that they can offer online. In fashion and design, creativity plays a huge role in the innovativeness to come up with various designs and products. The course does not have to be entirely face-to-face since skills required for the completion of the course can be offered online. With law, most of the parts of the course are better suited being done online to save on costs of having to attend lectures to so that the student can spend more time reading on their various topics. The service marketing strategies for corporate training are effective depending on how they are used to market the corporate training. Some of the techniques that can be applied are online marketing through the use of social media or establishing links with various sites in the region. The design of the website will affect the perceptions that people have towards the website and their interest in what the company has to offer. This in turn means that they will be at a position in which they are able to know the kind of influence they have in the market, inclusive of the decisions that they can make to attract more customers. Another strategy is through recommendation from those who have previously attended courses in the program. It may be one of the best means of the customers interacting with people who they believe can inspire them to join the program. It helps them to confirm their opinions about the program. Also, seeking the opinions from experts in the field of MOOCs can play a huge role in helping the customers decide the kind of program that they would like to pursue. These strategies can only be helpful if they apply the principles of service marketing. One of the principles of service marketing is to value whatever the customer says it is. Regardless of the amount of time and money invested in designing a program or service, the customer does not care; they are only interested in what the company’s programs benefit them with. As the business owners, one needs to identify the most profitable customers and evaluate their needs so that they can make decisions that suit them best in any particular scenario. Another principle is that of staff support. Every person that works in the development of a product takes responsibility in its value to the customer. The implication here is that the staff has to be given the opportunity of taking a leading role in giving marketing a personalized approach. Here, the customers will feel valued, and they will continuously come for more services or products whenever they have to. If the staff’s work is not contributing to customer loyalty, they are wasting the company’s resources. The fact that as an organization they can only do very few things well mean that the company should be able to maximize its strengths. Accepting that as an organization your resources and potentials are limited should help in focusing on the strengthens that you have and develop it to a world class level. Not thinking that as a business owner you know what the customer needs is the right perception in dealing with the customers. Issues, needs and the expectations of the customers are too complex to be understood by the standard way of researching on consumer tastes and preferences. Constantly keeping in touch with the customer helps with knowing the customer tastes and preferences. It is important in establishing a relationship and trend in the consumer’s needs. Most importantly, the business people should realize that every person is a stakeholder in the business and so their opinion counts.
Works Cited
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