As developing economies embrace digital transformation to bridge educational gaps, the intersection of business strategy and educational development offers significant opportunities. This study explores how private sector engagement in e-learning can drive business growth and achieve development outcomes in Bangladesh's higher education sector. Through mixed-methods analysis of 780 stakeholders across institutions, we examine how educational technology strategies create shared value while addressing accessibility challenges in developing markets. Our findings show that well-structured e-learning implementations simultaneously achieve commercial viability and development impact. Six critical success factors were identified: administrative infrastructure, technological architecture, content development, instructor capabilities, learner characteristics, and social support. Infrastructure partnerships with balanced public–private investment sharing achieved 75% success rates, while content development collaborations enhanced learning outcomes by 35%. The study highlights three mechanisms supporting Sustainable Development Goals: innovative business models balancing viability with impact, public–private partnerships leveraging corporate expertise, and inclusive stakeholder engagement frameworks. Theoretically, we extend stakeholder value theory by demonstrating how complementary value creation can be optimized across multiple stakeholder groups in educational technology implementations. We contribute to business model innovation frameworks by identifying specific mechanisms through which sustainable value is created, delivered, and captured in developing market contexts. These insights are valuable for businesses entering emerging e-learning markets and for policymakers creating enabling environments for sustainable educational technology initiatives. © 2025 ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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