Pearson: Efficacy 2.0

Company Transformation and Customer Orientation

Elie Ofek

Under the leadership of CEO John Fallon, Pearson had made significant progress over the past seven years toward becoming a learner-centric organization. A major part of this transformation was the work on "efficacy," a novel approach that starts with identifying a desired, measurable outcome among learners. Since 2018, Pearson even began publishing efficacy reports alongside its financial statements. In 2020, the company faced important questions with respect to the future scale and scope of the program.

Assignment Questions:

1. What is your assessment of Pearson's work on efficacy to date? Are you impressed? What are the key criteria that drive your evaluation?
2. The company had identified several opportunities going forward, including which outcomes to focus on, how to better communicate its efficacy work, and whether to re-think pricing models. As the company looks ahead to "Efficacy 2.0", how should it tackle these areas?
3. Do you see Pearson's commitment to efficacy and its shift to being a "learner-centric" company as a competitive differentiator in the marketplace? Is it realistic to try and build a powerful consumer-facing brand around this concept?
4. Does instituting an "efficacy" framework to drive product development, marketing efforts, and pricing make sense for other sectors? If so, which ones?

The case is enclosed below :

• Pearson: Efficacy 2.0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u5nflek5kma52b3/Pearson%20-%20Efficacy%202.0.pdf?dl=0