The business and learning benefits of an LCMS

Purpose – An outline of two large organisations’ independent searches for a suitable system that enables them to create, collate and curate digital learning materials, along with updating, managing them and monitoring their use efficiently and effectively. The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges and issues each organisation faces – and sets out how they have overcome them satisfactorily, having reached, independently, a common conclusion. Design/methodology/approach – Two case studies, making use of producer, distributor and user interviews. Findings – Discovering the appropriate learning content management system (LCMS) for your organisation can bring tangible benefits – for the organisation (via improving productivity, efficiency and eliminating “silos” in production), learning and development professionals (in charge of the whole process) and individual workers/learners. Research limitations/implications – The value of a LCMS in meeting business and learning needs – from the points of view of both content creation and accessing learning materials. Practical implications – Implemented successfully, an LCMS can improve learning content developers’ productivity in quantity and quality terms – among other things, through providing a standard framework that produces homogeneity of approach and look-and-feel to the learning materials. This helps improve learning and development professionals’ efficiency and effectiveness. It also enables the organisation to achieve its business targets and goals through developing its people. Moreover, accessing the LCMS through the Cloud means that all the custom-built content produced by third party developers exists on the system. This makes it simpler, easier and faster to update these materials. Social implications – Through the LCMS, learners can access what they need as and whenever they require it. Originality/value – An attempt to discern modern approaches to in-house learning content development through two recent cases.