Handbook of Corporate University Development

Book excerpt: From the moment the first corporate university (CU) was created and the term was coined, the central metaphor of university has proved a double-edged sword. The emphasis on university has been a driving force in moving companies beyond a restricted and siloed approach to training, to a central vision for learning within the organization. On the other hand, there have been failures and many corporate universities have struggled to bring a business rigour to learning or to align their development with the key business and financial drivers of the organization. Handbook of Corporate University Development draws on experience from around the world, to provide anyone responsible for strategy and learning - at senior levels in government, education and business - with a picture of current best practice. The Handbook is not a prescriptive 'how-to', rather an exploration of key issues such as: Who owns a corporate university initiative? How is the funding managed? How is the CU aligned with business strategy? How do CU directors and project managers deploy resources? How do they deal with suppliers? How do they report and measure CU performance? What are the processes and technologies needed to provide and support different forms of learning? How can you blend different media? How do you assess what learning has taken place? What are the future prospects and potential for corporate universities? It is time for the corporate university to demonstrate how business rigour, handled deftly and with strong and perceptive leadership, can revolutionize learning both inside and outside the organization. Handbook of Corporate University Development is an important catalyst towards this process.