INLS 131
Management of Information Agencies
Fall 1999

Getting Ready for Class of Oct. 25, 1999

Case Study: SCORE! EDUCATIONAL CENTERS (A)
Conintued

In this second session on SCORE! you may find it useful to go back to an earlier reading by Kaplan and Nolan on the "balanced scorecard." In that article they assert that organizations need to design some outcome measures that address:

• how the customers see the organization
• what one or two aspects at which the organization must excel
• how the organization can continue to add value
• how the company looks to the stockholder

Consider how you would answer these questions relative to SCORE!

We will have a second case study about this company later in the semester. Some recent history, however, may be of interest to you. In October 1996, the company learned that the Computer Curriculum Corporation (CCC) had decided NOT to sign the exclusive licensing agreement with SCORE! Rather CCC had decided to award the exclusive license to Kaplan Educational Centers. According to the terms of the original deal, Tripp could only open another eight sites.

This meant that Tripp would probably sell his company through an IPO (initial public offering) to one of his competitors (either Kaplan or Sylvan). As Thomas Layton, the president and COO (Chief Operating Officer) wanted to work for an independent company and as the tension between Tripp and Layton continued, Layton resigned within one week of losing the software license.

On April 17, 1996, Kaplan Educational Centers, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, acquired SCORE! for under $5 million (see the article by Katrina Burger and Lisa Gubernick, "Girls Always Have Trouble with Math," in Forbes, April 21, 1997, p. 120.

Kaplan maintains a website and has a set of pages about SCORE! Educational Centers. Go to the section on Job Opportunities and read what they say about Career Development, especially the rewards of working at SCORE! Look at "A Day in the Life of a SCORE!" Coach" as well, and check out the Current Openings. If you have time look at Company Information and check out the current cost of SCORE! (It's under the FAQs)

We will discuss in class (and you may want to reflect on the topic in your portfolio) some of the personnel issues. I will append some notes on Personnel to the schedule page.