Andersen Consulting is a worldwide consulting firm with over 40,000 employees in 47 countries. The firmís main training center in St. Charles, Illinois, delivers thousands of hours of classroom instruction, but the costs and productivity loss associated with travel for training are a significant organizational issue. Furthermore, there are growing questions about the instructional effectiveness of traditional classroom methods for teaching certain courses. These two motivations led the Professional Education Division to investigate the use of interactive multimedia for self-study, "point-of-need" learning.

The first course to be converted to this form was a Business Practices course that consisted of 65 hours of instructor-led training. Annual enrollment in the course was 3,000 employees and the audience was expected to increase because of additional hiring. The course teaches basic business functions using a case study company; the learners goal is to conduct a business review of the company's operations and make recommendations to improve the business and customer satisfaction. The resulting 40 hour multimedia program consists of 15 modules and is distributed in CD-ROM form. It takes the form of a simulation and features video segments for briefings and interviews with employees as well as working models of all the key functions (e.g., sales, product development, cash management) in the company.

The value of the new business practices course is summarized by Acovelli and Nowaskowski (1994, p27): "In a traditional classroom setting or in paper-based self-study, tasks are often isolated from one another and from a realistic context...On the job, consultants should be able to understand how the people and processes of a client interrelate. Consultants should be able to see connections and determine effects as they are gathering information; it should be a seamless process. Effective learning systems, then, are those designed to make learning more valuable by simulating tasks that have the look and flow of those found in the real world...Interactive multimedia computer learning systems can do this." In addition, it is estimated that the course saves Andersen Consulting an estimated $10.5 million annually in travel expenses.

Source: Acovelli, M. and Nowakowski, A. (Nov-Dec 1994). The business practices course: Self-study learning reengineered. Educational Technology magazine.