E- learning Initiatives at

Motorola
INTRODUCTION

• Motorola is US based largest providers of electronic

product and services.
• Motorola was founded in 1928.
• The Motorola University (MU) in 1989 cemented
Motorola's reputation as a leader in corporate training.
• In the year 1928,the company encouraged learning by
employees.
• Motorola had emerged as a model organization in
corporate world for employee training and
development.
• SLD approach adopted by Motorola.
 BACKGROUND
pioneer in Fm radio
The company successfully communication and
commercialized car radios semiconductor
under the brand name technology, joined
“Motorola" combining Motorola as director of company`s name
“motor" with “victrola.” research. changed.

1930 1936 1940 1941 1947 1949

Motorola entered in the subsidiary sales research and

new field of radio corporation. development facility
communications with the launched.
product police cruiser.
 Self Directed Learning
•Individuals identify their training needs, set training goals and formulate strategies for achieving them.
•SDL helped employees to update their skills when required

Seven step model for incorporating SDL into company’s training strategy

Motivate employees to take up SDL

3
Assessing employee readiness Employees to formulate individual learning
in taking SDL courses 2 4 objectives both long term and short term

5 Development and acquisition of learning

Identify employee learning needs 1 resources identified by employees.

7 6 Implementation of the learning plan by the

Evaluate the efficacy of learning
employees

• SDL helped in reducing time and cost spent on training

 E-learning program
• The aim of e-learning is to eliminate the restrictions due to time, distance and travel.
• Employees could learn new skills from their desks using the internet and intranet from the e-learning portal.
• E-learning offered both trainer led and self directed training programs for the employees.

E-learning portal had a six step online training process for the employees

Checking the availability of courses relevant to the Enrollment into relevant courses
employee’s learning needs 2 3

Identification of skill gaps and training Charging of fee asper the employee’s usage which
requirements 1 4 was charged from the employee’s department
budget

Listing of credits earned by the employees for the Employees were given 3 months to take the courses and the
6 5 tests after each module
undertaken course

• A value chain was developed for e-learning that analysed company’s business needs and assessed employee skill required.
• The course content was either developed internally or sourced from external parties.
Learning Guides:

In order to increase the user experience, MU devised a ‘Learning Guide’ that assisted employees, in
case there is any difficulty faced while taking e-Learning courses. This guide acted as a personal
assistant to employees offering assistance through electronic messages. There are majorly 4 steps
involved:
o Guide sent an email to the employees when they registered for an e-learning course
o Follow up email
o E-mail sent to the employee’s manager
o Follow up email sent to the manager

Before the guide was fully Operational, MU decided to do some research, and after doing the
research MU arrived at the conclusion that applying external pressure would increase the start rate
of e-learning courses.
o Completion Rates no longer relevant
o Focus on Relevant learning
Recent Developments:

Now the aim behind recent developments was to deliver the required
information as and when the employees needed it
• Convenience due to Motorola’s m-learning initiative
• Flexibility
• User friendly
• Enhancing the overall understanding
• At the same time when there were advantages, questions were raised
considering the practicality
1Q) Motorola has successfully integrated e-learning into its corporate
training strategy. Examine the benefits of following e-learning approach
towards corporate training. Discuss the drawbacks of this approach.

Benefits Examined on E-Learning approach towards corporate training :

• E-Learning approach has a high exposure:
• Avoids time, distance and travel costs and is a environment friendly :
• Technology integration with the appropriate platform and tools:
• Updating on a regular basis
• Consistency in learning
• Highly innovative problem solvers

Drawbacks of the approach:

• Lack of enthusiasm and motivation
• Technological problems
• There is a little room for debate more than discussion
• Cheating is unavoidable
2Q)Learning guides were used to build an e-learning culture within Motorola in order to
maximize the take up of e-learning courses by employees. Analyze the importance of
culture in e-learning and suggest strategies to make e-learning initiatives sustainable.

Importance of culture in e-learning

• Their focus of e-learning is to allow employees to learn what they need .
• And also their aim is not on completing the course but they crave for relevant learning
• The implementation of Learning guides are required to assist an employee which results in a change in
managers attitude .
Suggest strategies to make e-learning initiatives sustainable.
• The Learning Guide could be considered by the learner as a contact point, providing assistance in any
aspect of support required.
• Learning guide acts as an external influence which motivates employees to take up the courses.
• Manager has to talk to the employee and support him in his training efforts. Has to acknowledge that
e-learning is legitimate training.
• Remove hindrances to the employee when he is learning at his desk such as phone calls, people
dropping in etc
• Focus on relevant learning rather than course completion.
3Q)Motorola decided to make learning available on mobile devices is 2002. Analyze
the benefits companies could realize by incorporating m-learning in their corporate
training programs. What challenges do companies face in implementing the same?

Benefits companies could realize by incorporating m-learning in their corporate training programs:
• No need to be physically present in front of a computer.
• Mobility is simple.
• In poor countries, they have an advantage.
• Content is multilingual.

Challenges do companies face in implementing the same

• LONG HOURS ARE IMPOSSIBLE
• Every content that is provided by the company is not accessible in mobiles effectively.
• It's practically not possible to focus on content for long hours in mobiles
• Lack of user experience can lead to less motivation
THANK YOU