Boston University School of Management team presents Coursera, online education company. Team members: Ji Hong, Chris Kluesener, Kobi (Yacov) Magnezi, Jonathan Sobin, Adriane Musgrave, Renato Orozco Pereira, Brent Ellis, Adam Williams, Kelly Mackey.

1. The Battle for the Educational Industrial
Complex
Team Coursera: Ji Hong, Chris Kluesener, Kobi (Yacov) Magnezi, Jonathan Sobin, Adriane Musgrave
Renato Orozco Pereira, Brent Ellis, Adam Williams, Kelly Mackey
Fuld & Company
25 First Street, Suite 301 | Cambridge, MA 02141 USA
phone: +1.617.492.5900 | fax: +1.617.492.7108
Boston | London | Manila | Singapore
www.fuld.com

2. Presenting

3. Round 1

4. Drivers:
The goals management seeks to reach
 To provide affordable access to those who didn’t previously have opportunity
– Began as Social Entrepreneurship
– Founded in the belief that education is a human right
 To be the best online educational experience
 To develop a sustainable business model that satisfies our investors
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5. Current strategy
The road the organization has been following to reach its goals
 Using a distribution channel platform
– Building large bases on all sides of the market (students, content and employers)
– Not currently producing content
 Experimenting with various revenue strategies
– Mainly free to users
– “Freemium” signature track
– Hosting service for universities (Referral model)
– Career services & corporate partnerships
 Simultaneously seeking accreditation and certificate acceptance
– Including a validation and refinement of assessment
 Valuing themselves as potential job board
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6. Capabilities
Your strengths & weaknesses
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 Human capital dedicated to a  Unproven revenue model
superior online education model  High rate of dropouts
 A financial cushion to “get it right”  Most courses not yet accredited
 Partnerships with elite universities
who are first movers
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7. Assumptions
The organization’s beliefs about the road ahead
 Quality education is inaccessible for much of the population.
 Current U.S. higher-education costs are unsustainable.
 There is a mismatch between market needs and the higher-education system.
 We have designed a better way to learn online.
 Our model is scalable.
 Coursera and traditional universities can coexist.
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8. Future strategy
Your organization’s message to the market as it aims to reach its goals
“Coursera: Compete Your Core with Elite Universities and Professors”
 Drive development of online curriculum
 Pilot a hybrid degree program
 Work closely with accreditation bodies to enlarge accredited course pool
 Continue to research and actively communicate student outcomes
 Continue to offer low-fee certificate program
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9. Round 2

10. Adjusted strategy
“Coursera: Compete Your Core with Elite Universities and Professors”
 Drive development of online curriculum
 Pilot a hybrid degree program
 Work closely with accreditation bodies to enlarge accredited course pool
 Continue to research and actively communicate student outcomes
 Continue to offer low-fee certificate program
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11. Customer segment
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12. Revised model
$
Core courses C1 UF
Admit
UF Coursera
Content
$ C2
Knowledge
Free courses Seeker
$
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13. Strategy in response to the scenario
Competitors response
Alternate online
Traditional provider SNHU, UOPX education providers
(Edx, Udacity)
• Create their own • We are targeting • Open platform
online education different provides access
• No cost saving customers but not quality
• Partner with
online education
provider
• Create a metrics
that
demonstrates
how we help
students and
partners
recognize saving
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14. Strategy in response to the scenario
BAAHT-13
• This enhance our brand credibility
• It allows us to focus on the method of educational
Light content delivery
Accelerator • Bring us closer to accreditation
• This removes the barrier for traditional institutions
but does not remove Coursera competitive
Barrier advantage
removal
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15. Early morning indicators
 Category: Social/Economic
 Indicator: Degrees are no longer the primary metric for employability as. Will
monitor gap between the average income of a high school graduate compared to
that of a college graduate
 Effect on Coursera: will need to shift focus from university partnership to direct
certification and/or explore partnerships with Fortune 500 and staffing services.
 Effect on Rivals: EdX and other online platforms will make the same shift.
Landscape for higher education changes: low to mid-tier universities are seriously
threatened. Top-tier universities, our content generators are still viable.
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