Tutor Vista connects students in the USA with tutors from India using a proprietary technology platform. The tutors are highly trained “independent contractors” who work with Tutor Vista. For $100 per month and with an “all you can eat philosophy”, students in the USA can connect and be taught a wide variety of subjects at their convenience by a network of tutors.

Students can access the service “on demand”; a tutor is available when the student is ready. The student can pick “preferred tutors”. The scheduling algorithms seamlessly connect the students (based on grade and subject) with tutors. Tutor Vista makes considerable investments in IT platforms, focused analytics, tutor training and developing academic content. The lessons are customized to student needs; the student can decide on the tutor, the time for the lesson, number of lessons and the level of mastery they wish to achieve.

This is a personalized, co-created value (N=1). The firm does not employ any tutors; they are all contractors. Tutor utilization differs based on their preferences. The tutor network spans 100 cities in India. Resources are widely distributed, and the firm has unique access to the tutors. The firm has established the standards of customer care (R=G).

Tutor Vista has a customer base of Grades 1-8 (52%), grades 9-12 (28%) and college (20%), and more than 600 tutors are involved.

Source: Prahalad & Krishnan (2009)