ADDIE’s Solution to Incorporating Business Management Courses

Sherri G. Jenkins

CUR/516

July 17, 2017

Dr. Shirley Burnett

 MEMORANDUM
TO: Dr. Shirley Burnett, CEO, Tristian Corporation (TC)
FROM: Dr. Sherri G. Jenkins, Harvard Business Review (HBR) Consultant
DATE: July 17, 2017
SUBJECT: ADDIE’s Solution to Incorporating Business Management Courses
CC: HBR ISD Team

The decision to offer Tristian Corporation (TC) employees’ business management courses is an
informed strategy that has far reaching benefits then first considered. Aside from being framed as
a healthy addition to the already robust TC compensation package, the opportunity to expose
employees at home and abroad to the tenets of effective business management will strengthen the
mission and visionary buy in of TC. Ultimately, this move hedges to positively move the
organization’s bottom line as well. Harvard Business Review’s (HBR) ISD Team of instructional
designers (ID) will detail the most efficient ways to rollout these courses from the framework of
the first three steps of the ADDIE Model.

Analysis: A thorough analysis considering factors such as a needs assessment, problem

identification, and task analysis helps cement the direction of how to proceed. Hence, the
instructional goals and a list of potential tasks are the outputs gleaned from this leg of the
process. Note as well, what is uncovered here will serve as the inputs for the design phase
(McGriff, 2000). As the foundational phase of this model, the problem in this instance is
determining how to best offer business management courses to the associates of the multinational
enterprise (MNE), TC. Hodell (2016) postulated that this includes gathering information related
to the content, the population to serve, the delivery systems and methods, and the budgets. The
focus here is to walk away with an eye for the needs and goals and with tangible action items
that will help carve out any instructional challenges as well as procuring the necessary resources
to help make dissemination seamless. Thus, obtaining specific information related to learner data
is paramount before moving forward. Understanding the motivation and attitude of the learning,
the demographics, implementation preferences, technological prowess, and overall buy in of
distance learning is necessary to build a thorough learner profile.

Cultural Considerations: Cultural considerations also factor into the analysis and design
phases. Business management strategies in North American are different from those in Asian
countries and the like so content is predicated on the economy, the cultural norms, the political
environment, as well as the demands on the learner. A recommendation here would be to tailor
the courses based on the region as these behaviors are determined by the overall climate.
Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2010) argue that an inclusive learning environment is essential
especially since TC is an MNE. This cannot be overshadowed or minimized.

Instructional and Distribution Methods: Both instructional and distribution methods are
pounded out during the analysis phase and how content mastery will unfold or be determined.
Because myriad decisions will be made at this juncture, it is clear that that the analysis phase
helps determine the Who?, What?, How?, When?, and Where? (Hodell, 2016). In short, the
analysis phase helps “determine possible solutions” (McGriff, 2000, para. 1).

Design: The framework is under construction after the conclusion of the analysis phase. Taking
the outputs gleaned during the analysis and planning a strategy for instruction is at bat. The
instructional goals identified take a different turn at this point and thus the IDs must determine
how to reach those goals. The instructional foundation is thus expanded. McGriff (2000) posited
that some elements to consider are “writing a target population description, conducting a learning
analysis, writing objectives and test items, selecting a delivery system, and sequencing the
instruction” (para. 4). Naturally, these outputs will fuel the development phase of the model.

Development: Building on both the analysis and design phases, the development stage consists
of constructing lesson plans and the course materials. In short, this is where all of the
instructional material is generated such as any media, supporting documents, and hardware and
software selection. All of the delicate work conducted in the first two phases is realized in this
final stage of this recommendation.

Recommendation Justification: TC is positioned to deliver a unique value-added benefit to

their associates in North American and globally. The above recommendation is grounded in a
strategy that will ensure that the construction and dissemination of the course material is orderly
and will delivery what is promised. The ADDIE Model follows a natural order and takes into
consideration the often-overlooked components of course design. All of the phases require a
commitment and resources and that is why such emphasis is placed on the analysis phase. The
utility of focusing on diligence and understanding the target audience will almost certainly
increase the chances of overall program success. HBR welcomes the opportunity to deliver this
product to TC and look forward to our next meeting.
 
 References

Hodell, C. (2016). ISD from the ground up: No-nonsense approach to instructional design (4th

ed.). Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

McGriff, S. J. (2000). Instructional system design (ISD): Using the ADDIE Model. Retrieved

from https://www.lib.purdue.edu/sites/default/files/directory/butler38/ADDIE.pdf

Wlodkowski, R. J., & Ginsberg, M. B. (2010). Teaching intensive and accelerated courses:

Instruction that motivates learning. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.