Article

_{DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-20220035}
^{E&S 2022,3: e20220035}

Luana Yoneda Coletti e Marcelo Victor Teixeira

The idea behind the concept of “lifelong learning” consists of intentional learning that can and should occur throughout life^[1]. Lifelong learning adds new demands to the educational system, as well as to the structure and content of the courses offered to students by institutions^[2].

People of all ages have realized that they want or need to continue learning throughout their lives, which has led to the growth of other areas of education, such as short-term courses^[3]. A few years ago, many companies offered training to their employees in courses that lasted entire weeks, but nowadays the responsibility falls, in the vast majority of cases, on the employee themselves. Therefore, there has been an increase in demand for online courses, as long and in-person training is expensive and online courses allow for greater flexibility, whether in relation to schedules or the location for course attendance, and can even be carried out in the employee’s own work environment^[2].

So, education is a form of production and learning is a form of consumption, that is, those who learn are a consumer market^[3]. Following this context, online courses can be organized punctually, aiming to address specific areas of theoretical or technical knowledge, or learning paths (LP) can be developed, that is, a structured and didactic organization that encompasses a series of knowledge for complete training in a given area of knowledge.

The use of TAs allows students to enjoy online courses more productively and effectively^[2], as these paths can be followed by the student during their interaction with textual and audiovisual resources available in virtual learning environments^[4].

Online courses and tracks, however, need to be produced with attention and quality, as they are characterized as a market without major entry barriers, which leads to an increase in the number of competitors and produced content.

With the growing production of information generated in the digital environment, the term and concept of “content curation” are being applied more frequently, with the aim of filtering, categorizing, and organizing the large volume of information^[5]. However, the development, production, and adaptation for offering excellence courses and tracks require the implementation of new practices by institutions, making it necessary for organizations to incorporate new concepts into their processes and involve qualified people, so that strategic objectives and institutional mission are also achieved^[6]. Therefore, benchmarking techniques must be adapted, as they coherently contribute to the achievement of the organization’s objectives. It should be emphasized, however, that aspects such as the type and size of the company, as well as the market, organizational culture, and other relevant factors must be considered^[7].

Benchmarking aims to evaluate products, services, processes, and functions, and each specific study focuses on a different aspect of competitors. The comparison is made with competitors who stand out as the best in the subject being studied. It is noteworthy that this is a systematic process, involving the establishment of routine procedures within the company to study competitors.

The benchmarking technique requires continuous information gathering, as companies are in a constant process of improvement to ensure their success and survival^[8]. In addition to the improvement promoted, the adoption of benchmarking assists in the justification, acceptability, and adherence of change strategies for company members and other stakeholders. As the market and industry are dynamic, organizations that benchmark perceive more clearly the need to continuously adapt to this dynamism.

Knowing how to do and adapt benchmarking in the organization’s process allows for the visualization of competitive opportunities and threats, constituting a path to excellence, as the accumulated intellectual content of other organizations is observed, making it possible for errors to be avoided or minimized^[9].

The objective of the present work was to analyze the competitors of an online course platform that aims to restructure the sales model of individual courses to then also offer learning paths.

The research was exploratory, descriptive, and bibliographic. Exploratory, due to the low occurrence of studies addressing this theme in the environment of institutions offering short-term courses in learning paths; descriptive, because it sought to establish a faithful snapshot of the behavior of these institutions in the digital environment; bibliographic, because materials already produced, accessible to the general public, mainly censuses, scientific articles, and research on websites and social media, were used.

The object of this study was a short-term course platform that has been operating in the education market for 34 years, but which seeks to reorganize the produced content and create learning paths to add value for customers and, in the future, improve course sales.

For the study, benchmarking was used as an analysis tool. The benchmarking process adopted was the generic one, consisting of the comparison between institutions that present products similar to those offered by the institution under study. This process aims at the identification and determination of best practices for a given area^[9]. In summary, the analysis was based on four stages: planning, data collection, data analysis, and adaptation and improvements.

The planning stage takes into account two main issues: what the product is and who should be analyzed^[9]. A rigorous evaluation of the market, environment, and competitors will add realism and practicality to the marketing plan. Market analysis is the foundation of the marketing plan and should include a clear explanation of market segmentation, target audience, and forecasts^[10]. The products analyzed were platforms that had learning paths in their portfolio. For this purpose, we searched for the previously mentioned terms (learning path and knowledge path) through online search tools, and only institutions that offered short-term courses and online specializations were selected.

The data collection, in turn, consisted of searching for public domain information, published on the institutions’ own websites^[9]. The items evaluated were those that made up the curriculum, investment values, and course load hours of the programs offered, aiming to verify the performance differences between competitors^[9].

Finally, the adaptation and improvement stage consisted of determining actions for product improvements after verifying the ^[9] survey. For this, what has already been published on the subject was also considered, in order to complement the ideas for adaptations and improvements.

The platform’s main competitors presented only courses as content in their tracks, with varied workload and investment in the track varying according to the institution’s business model. Those that already had the content subscription model included the track in their portfolio. Furthermore, a variation found was the use of parts of the institution’s undergraduate courses as a track. In addition, another institution, depending on the course taken and the track chosen, offered equivalence of subjects in its specialization (Table 1).

Table 1. Main competitors of the short-term course platform and analysis of items that composed the track, investment, course workload, and other observations

Competitor	Items that make up the track	Investment	Workload of the courses	Considerations
Player 1	Only courses	Varied	Varied	Varied courses gathered into tracks, which can be sold individually
Second Player	Only courses	Access to all courses and learning paths upon subscription to the platform	Varied	The courses present in the tracks can be used as equivalency for the MBA of the institution
Player 3	Only courses	Free – BRL 29.90	Varied	The tracks bring together the courses in an organized and specific sequence so that the student is trained in a determined order
Player 4	Only courses	BRL 49.90 – BRL 120.00	Varied	Courses originating from undergraduate disciplines of the institution
Player 5	Only courses	Free	Not available	Public institution that usually offers free content
Player 6	Webinars, lectures, quiz	Free	Varied	The track was created with free content, in order to present the institution’s consultancy
Player 7	Only courses	Access to all courses and learning paths upon subscription to the platform	Varied	The tracks bring together the courses in an organized sequence so that the student is trained in a determined order
Player 8	Courses, texts, lectures	Free	Varied	Public institution that usually offers free content; many links to the materials do not work
Participant 9	Only courses	BRL 90.00	Varied	Only one track
Player 10	Courses, study with consultants, webinars, exclusive content	BRL 499.00 – BRL 1999.00	Varied	Access to the content is expanded depending on the value paid for the subscription
Player 11	Only courses	Varied	Varied	The trails can be all released upon payment of the subscription, but it is also possible to purchase only the desired trail
Player 12	Only courses	Free – BRL 257.00	Varied	Varied courses grouped into tracks, which can be sold individually

Source: Elaborated by the author

Considering that some of the analyzed institutions compile a specific sequence of content to be watched, it can be inferred that they aim to serve an audience that cannot dedicate much time to courses, for living at an accelerated pace, for example. Likewise, while established companies are dealing with an aging audience, emerging companies are competing for a younger and more productive audience^[11].

When considering the young audience, in addition to age, it should be considered that these consumers are increasingly adopting the big city lifestyle and mostly belong to the middle class, having a good level of income to spend or invest. This audience aspires to achieve great things, try more sophisticated products, and imitate the behaviors of the upper classes, traits that make them an attractive market for marketing professionals. What distinguishes this new type of consumer from other markets is their tendency towards mobility, as they tend to move around a lot and live at an accelerated pace, so that everything has to be instantaneous so that time is somehow saved and directed to other activities ^[11]. Therefore, courses with very extensive hours may be unattractive to this audience, and this is where the niche of opportunity in the online courses and tracks markets comes in.

Consumer behavior has changed with the increased access to the digital world. The importance of online recommendations is more significant, as consumers turn to their peers and user-generated content (reviews, ratings, etc.) to gather information about a particular brand^[12]. Therefore, it would be interesting if there were an indication of different content, not just courses, since it must also be considered that online courses reach a large number of students, which configures heterogeneity with different purposes and learnings^[2]. Thus, the use of content that generates interest and is disseminated by users would attract new potential consumers without the need for direct investment, as consumers would be the protagonists and would choose the content to be disseminated.

In this case, the studied platform would produce exclusive free content, along with its professors, in order to generate interest in sharing. Taking into account the student’s learning preferences is extremely important, as both teaching and learning happen during communication and interaction^[2]. According to Google’s digital marketing tool, Think with Google^[13], 90% of media interactions have become facilitated by screens, whether smartphone, tablet, laptop, and television. Screens have become important, as, on average, more than four hours a day are spent on leisure using various screens sequentially and simultaneously. The internet has been the backbone of these screen-based interactions, which can be exemplified by the fact that total internet traffic grew thirtyfold from 2000 to 2014, connecting four out of every ten people in the world^[11].

A proposal for improvement for the studied platform would be the inclusion of textual content and also content made available only in audio format, such as podcasts. The latter could be developed with the intention of reaching a young audience, who has less time, as the content could be listened to while performing other activities on the smartphone screen, for example. In this case, connectivity is, possibly, the most important agent of change in the history of marketing, although it can no longer be considered a novelty, and it has been changing many facets of the market, besides showing no signs of slowing down^[11]. Connectivity also transforms the way professionals view competition and consumers, directly influencing the success of a marketing campaign or even the organization.

Currently, collaboration with competitors and co-creation with customers are fundamental. Competition is no longer a zero-sum game, just as customers are no longer passive recipients of a company’s segmentation, targeting, and positioning actions. Thus, a possible partnership with competitors, by offering content that one institution has and the other does not, can be a solution for the need for constant updates, potentially reducing costs. The platform studied could also leverage the competitor’s contact network to increase its outreach, in a synergy that would expand the reach of both organizations, without prejudice to the content of one over the other.

Connectivity accelerates market dynamics to the point where it is practically impossible for a company to remain alone and depend solely on internal resources for success. Companies must face the reality that, to win, they must collaborate with external groups and even involve customer participation^[11].

The study highlights that only when the company knows its positioning and that of its competitors well, can it work on a marketing project in the virtual sphere. Although each business can promote online actions in its own and even innovative way, it is important to have an analysis and planning model to ensure greater synergy and optimization of resources^[14].

The platform studied has projects to structure its tracks, but it should also study the types of content to be produced, as well as what type of content each knowledge area of the courses would be interested in. The production of this content generates expectations in its stakeholders, needing to be assertive so that the time demanded is not called into question.

Another item to consider is how a knowledge track should be conveyed to users and future clients. Observing competitors, it is noted that there is no standard for creating a track, since the vast majority is composed of a compilation of content from existing courses. Thus, learning paths can be those traversed by the student during their interaction with the resources available in the virtual environment^[4].

Upon observing the data analyzed and presented in Table 1, it is noted that player 10 presented a more heterogeneous track proposal. Although the intention is the sale of company consulting, the possibility of absorbing other types of content, in addition to the courses offered, ends up being the proposal that this institution seeks. A suggestion that can be absorbed from this player is the possible offer of mentorships with the professors responsible for the courses. These mentorships would also be a way to promote the consulting work of these professors.

The market is complex and many variations are found daily. Thus, future studies are (and will continue to be) necessary, so that the institution must take into account the possibility of conducting a market study of this content offering model, as well as what types of content should be offered to its audience. Furthermore, the best way to promote this model must be structured, as there is no established standard among competitors.

As previously discussed, it was noted that knowledge tracks, for the most part, are composed only of a compilation of existing courses on the analyzed platforms, which, today, is not enough to be attractive and capture the public’s attention and interest. Because there is no standard track model, it should be taken into account that knowledge tracks can be more attractive and include content different from courses, such as the recommendation of books, videos, and podcasts.

References

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[2] Seehusen S.; Lecon C.; Kaben C. Specification of learning trails in virtual courses. 2000. University of Applied Sciences, Luebeck, Alemanha.

[3] Jarvis P. Adult education and lifelong learning. 2004. Routledge Falmer, Longres, Inglaterra.

[4] Ramos D.B.; Oliveira E.H.T.; Ramos I.M.M; Oliveira K.M.T. Trilhas de aprendizagem em ambientes virtuais de ensino-aprendizagem: uma revisão sistemática da literatura. In: Simpósio Brasileiro de Informática na Educação, 2015, Maceió, AL, Brasil, Anais…. p. 338-347.

[5] Oliveira R.M.S. Curadoria de conteúdo como ferramenta de contexto para informação digital [Monografia]. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo; 2014.

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[8] Rocha A.; Ferreira J.B.; Silva J.F. Administração de marketing: conceitos, estratégias, aplicações. 2012. Atlas, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

[9] Zenone L.C. Marketing estratégico e competitividade empresarial. 2007. Novatec, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

[10] Berry T.; Wilson D. On target: the book on marketing plans. 2000. Palo Alto Software Inc., Eugene, Oregon, EUA.

[11] Kotler P.; Kartajaya H.; Setiawan I. Marketing 4.0. 2017. Sextante, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.

[12] Etermel A.V.; Basçi A. Effects of Zero Moment of Truth on consumer buying decision: An exploratory research in Turkey. Int. J. Soc. Educ. Sci.. 2015; 1(2): 526-536.

[13] Think With Google. new multi-screen world study. Google; 2012. Disponível em: <https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/mobile-marketing/the-new-multi-screen-world-study/>.

[14] Torres C. Marketing digital: como influenciar o consumidor no meio virtual. GV Executivo. 2012; 11(2): 59-61.

Como citar

Coletti L.Y.; Teixeira M.V. Benchmarking de instituições de ensino EaD que ofertam trilhas de aprendizagem. Revista E&S. 2022; 3: e20220035.

Sobre os autores

Luana Yoneda Coleti, Mestre em Ciências e Especialista em Agronegócios, Gestão de Projetos e Marketing, Piracicaba, SP, Brasil

Marcelo Victor Teixeira, Mestre em Comunicação e Práticas de Consumo e Professor de Marketing, São Paulo, SP Brasil

Editorado por: Edson Pereira da Mota

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