Distance learning as an organizational change intervention

This paper is a case study of an interactive distance learning project at Nortel to introduce a new integrated product introduction (IPI) process for product developers and project managers. This new process involves changing the current gating product development process to one with cross-functional teams, concurrent engineering and business decision points. The instruction was delivered with a partnership between three functions at Nortel: the Employee and Organization Learning (EOL) group, the Nortel Vision group, and the Public Carrier Networks Integrated Product Introduction group. The analysis of this case includes instructional design recommendations, cost alternatives, technology alternatives, evaluation results and how distance learning can be used to form a corporate community to introduce change in far less time than traditional learning methods. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of 700 participants to determine the learning and their views of interactive distance learning. The results of this case are explained in terms of instructional design theories, Everett Rogers's theory of diffusion of innovations, and complexity theory.