Three questions for Jacques Coquerel, President of the Cegos Group

You're counting primarily on international expansion to drive your company's growth. Why this choice?   Borders don't exist any more and the training sector, like others, is affected by a basic, underlying trend, which is, that companies today look for suppliers who can give them a complete offer as they expand internationally. At present, there are few players capable of meeting such a demand. We've been assisting companies with their international projects for a long time; this activity already represents a third of our sales, close to 60 million euros. In 2010, it should account for 50% of our business. We are changing the paradigm: instead of a French company with foreign subsidiaries, we are now becoming a global company of French origin.

How is blended learning relevant to what's at stake for companies today?

 The companies that we deal with every day, everywhere in the world, from the small business to the multinational giant, have all thrown themselves into the competency battle … in order to always perform better. To beat their competitors on their own territory these companies need innovative programs with "world class" content, on the leading edge of best international practices. Budgets devoted to training and competency development are shrinking. Not only does the pedagogy have to guarantee implementation in the field but it must also allow optimizing the acquisition of such competencies.

The blended learning plan (classroom + e-learning) is a must.

As training leader in Europe, we aim to offer an innovative solution that meets these requirements while staying ahead of our market. That is why we are launching our offer, Global Learning by Cegos®.

Can you tell us more about Blended Learning by Cegos? What makes it unique?

 A Global Learning by Cegos® program comprises two or three days of in-class training sessions, five e-learning modules, and an online training management platform (Learning Management System).

We didn't invent the blended learning concept; but this is the first time we're launching a fully integrated offer which has been designed and developed by a single supplier: us. Clients who are already very familiar with the quality of our in-class training offering will be able to complete these sessions with e-learning modules that are 100% Cegos designed and produced in our own studio with our own consultants.

The Cegos blended offer lets employees access "world class" training content, choosing the modules they want, wherever they want, to complete at their own pace. They can also co-manage their learning track with their company and measure the results.