ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the relationships between providers and their clients and the providers’ market goods and services. It explores many questions about how client companies made their decisions to adopt the products of a particular vendor and describes findings, within a framework provided by a model of how innovations spread. The classic model of how innovations spread has four stages: awareness, interest, inquiry, and commitment. The chapter describes how companies try to find out about computer based training, and discusses five basic exploratory strategies, the first two of which particularly involved vendors or providers. The best providers will not offer a readymade solution, but will tailor the system to the company's structure and needs, taking into account existing training facilities and equipment. Even the best providers, however, have their prejudices about training strategies and solutions. Understandably, most providers are in business to make a profit, and they operate in a highly competitive and crowded marketplace on average.
