Thecorporate
universitymodelfor
continuouslearning,
trainingand
development
AkramA.El-Tannir
Introduction
Corporateuniversity(CU)isanemerging
modelforcontinuoustraininginthe
corporateworldandcontinuouslearningfor
employees.Thefirstpioneeredcorporate
universitywasGeneralElectric'sin1950and
morerecentlysuchamodelfortraining
employeeshasbeenadoptedbyalarge
numberofcorporationsworldwide.
Accordingtoupdatedstatistics,therewere
400corporateuniversitiesintheUSAatthe
beginningofthe1990sandthatnumberhad
growntoalmost1,800bytheendof2000
(Anderson,2000).
Traditionally,thepurposeofacorporate
universityhasbeendeterminedbytheneedto
trainemployeesandtodeveloptheirgeneral
skills.Itwasasimplyanalternative
denominationfor``trainingdepartments''that
basicallyorganizedtrainingcoursesand
distributedthoseprogramsamongthe
corporatestaffintheformof``catalogues'',
fromwhichthestaffchosecoursesand
enrolledintothecorrespondingtraining
activity.Suchcourseswereusually
subcontractedwithuniversitiesorother
trainingproviders.
Thisrole,however,hasevolvedto
incorporatemorerelevancetoimminent
businessneeds.Anumberofstrategic
directionshavebeenidentifiedasdriversfor
thenewroleofcorporateuniversities
(AndresenandIrmer,1999)asbeing:
.
Aninitiative-drivenapproach,wherethe
servicesofCUsfocusonfacilitatinga
corporate-wideinitiativeorbusinessplan
orproject,suchasinitiativesabout
globalisation,productivityandprocess
reengineering.
.
Achange-managementcatalystthathelps
shapeandcompleteatransitoryprocess
forthecompanysuchasembarkingona
newstrategyoraccomplishingamerger
oracquisitionprocess.
.
Aleadership-developmentagentto
upholdnewmanagerswithnewtoolsfor
leadershipandstrengtheningcorporate
internalmanagement.
.
Abusinessdevelopmentinstrumentthat
exploresanddevelopsnewbusiness
opportunitiesandinducesemployees
withnewsynergyduringthisprocess.
.
Acustomer/supplierrelationship
managementtoolthatfocuseson
integratingstandardsinthesupplychain
Theauthor
AkramA.El-TannirisattheSchoolofBusiness,Hariri
CanadianAcademyforSciencesandTechnology,Beirut,
Lebanon
Keywords
Continuingprofessionaldevelopment,Training,
Informationtechnology,Workplacelearning
Abstract
Thispaperdiscussestheemergingmodelof``corporate
university''(CU)forcontinuouslearninginthecorporate
world.Withspeciallytailoredtraining,CUsaimat
improvingtheproductivityandskillsofemployeesusing
thelatestadvancesininformationandtelecommunication
technology.Traininginthismodelparticularlyismore
responsivetocorporateneedsthanotherlearning
interventionmethodsandaddsvaluetothecompany
businessgoalsbyhelpingrecruitandretaintalent.Their
specialfocusisondisseminatingcommoncultureand
drivingchangesintheentireorganization.Thearticle
presents,briefly,themaincharacteristicsofcorporate
universitiesandthreeexamples.Thearticlesuggeststhat
theCUmodelissustainabletosuitcontinuousemployee
learningandskilldevelopmentandhighlightsthenew
approachof``activelearning''thatisincreasinglybeing
adoptedasthefuturetoolfortraininganddevelopment.
Electronicaccess
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76
Education + Training
Volume 44
.
Number 2
.
2002
.
pp. 76±81
# MCB UP Limited
.
ISSN 0040-0912
DOI 10.1108/00400910210419973