EE204: Business Management for
Electrical Engineers and Computer Scientists

Group Written Assignment

Read

1. Coursera  (HBS course materials)
2. Supplementary readings:
1. Still Questioning The Model: Elite Universities' concerns over MOOCs
2. Coursera's MOOCs Go To Work: What MasterCard Is Learning
3. Coursera Hires First Chief Marketing Officer
4. Baidu Hires Coursera Founder Andrew Ng to Start Massive Research Lab
1. Andrew Ng Making Breakthroughs for New Employer

Group Case Analysis

The first written case analysis is a group assignment. The paper must be strictly your own group's individual work, independent of discussions or consultations with other groups. This means the first case will be done in teams of 4-6 students. Please refer to the Guidelines and Grading for Written Case Analyses page of the web site. Prepared following the guidelines given in that document. You should attempt to present important background case information, and use the tools discussed in class and in the readings as a basis for your analysis. Make sure that your paper addresses the written assignment. The study questions should be addressed as part of the written assignment. The case will be due at 9AM, before the beginning of class on the due date. Papers submitted after this date and time will not be accepted (including but not limited to later in the same day).

Case Summary

By providing free and open-access online courses at a large scale, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms seek to innovate the business models of the traditional higher education industry. In a little over a year, Coursera had grown at a rapid rate to emerge as a leader of the MOOCs in terms of the number of student enrollments, courses, and partners. The case examines two aspects of these developments in the industry : (1) What choices did Coursera make that enabled it to grow so quickly? (2) In what ways did Coursera's success impact the success of is competitors, Udacity and edX? Would one player naturally come to dominate the industry, and if so, what choices should Coursera make to retain its market positioning?

Written Assignment

Recommend a comprehensive corporate strategy, including a marketing strategy and implementation plan, to put Coursera on a path to success. Support your recommendation with an analysis of case facts and answers to the questions below.

NOTE: Only the facts presented in the case should be used in your recommendation. This assures consistency of information and consistency in grading.

Discussion Questions

Answers to the questions below should be incorporated into your writeup.

1. How did MOOCs reshape the competitve forces of higher education?
2. How would you define Coursera's strategic vision? What, if any, changes would you make to maintain Coursera's position?
3. What value does Coursera derive from its partnerships? How should it manage these moving forward?
4. Coursera has almost no marketing efforts. What, if anything, would you change about its word-of-mouth approach?
5. Which potential revenue model would you choose for Coursera? How does this compare with the approaches of Coursera's competitors?
6. As one of your exhibits, create a five-slide summary that could be used to present your findings at the next board meeting. Note: These slides should be as simple as possible. All exhibits in total count for 4/20 in the grading criteria.

In-Class Presentations

At the start of class, each group will be asked to present a SHORT (two-sentence) summary of what strategy their team recommended and why. No slides are needed. Each group should elect one member to state the group's recommendation.

FAQ

• Is it okay to use information from past cases?
  • Yes. Any information covered in class so far, including readings, cases, and case exhibits, may be used in your paper.
• Is it okay to use information from future cases that we have not covered in class yet?
  • No. To keep as level a playing field as possible, please restrict your supporting material to what has been covered in class.
• Should the exhibits in the writeup be exhibits from the case?
  • No. The exhibits in the writeup should be created for the writeup. They may contain elements of existing exhibits, but we advise against directly re-presenting information as it was presented in the case.
• What point of view should we take in the paper? Do we work for Coursera or for a third party?
  • Either viewpoint is fine.
• What should the slides be like?
  • Your slides should contain whatever information from your recommendation and analysis that you feel most pertinent to make a compelling argument to the Board of Directors. Complicated slides are not necessary - bullet points are sufficient. Be sure to stick to the five-slide limit.
• For citing the case and other course materials, is it okay to use endnotes or a reference section at the end of the document? Can we exclude the reference listing from the 5-page limit?
  • Yes. A reference page (as used in the case itself, for example) may be used and does not count toward the page limit.

SCPD Students

Submit the written assignment as described above. There is no other writeup due for this day of class.