Corporate University

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A corporate university is a company-operated training facility that provides training and further education for employees. Curriculum and training plans are based on the strategic direction of the respective company. Contrary to the name, it is not a university. The degrees awarded are usually not recognized by the state.

Goal setting

Since there is a lack of a uniform understanding of corporate universities and there is no conceptual framework for systematisation, the term hides a range of essentially different models: Some are only used for in-house training , others operate on the open market or are active in both sectors. Some serve as elitist forge , others as innovation-stimulating contact exchange. Many only pursue management development, others comprehensive personnel development , still others jump straight into holistic corporate development.

features

Corporate universities can ideally be characterized as follows:

  1. Orientation towards the strategic direction of the company (platform for core strategic initiatives and activities).
  2. 'Study' on the basis of an accompanying project.
  3. Supporting the internationalization of the company.
  4. Virtual learning with the help of modern IT and communication technologies, for example tele-learning, business TV, multimedia, internet or intranet.
  5. 'Studies' largely on the basis of self-organization: the company provides the framework that is filled out by employees or work groups.
  6. Corporate culture development .
  7. Network of experts including a business school.
  8. Linking individual and organizational learning.

Expressions

  • The AutoUni sees itself as a "further education institution with a scientific profile" and, according to its own statements, offers "cross-brand events in which internal and external experts can discuss the current challenges and objectives of the group with the participants and bring their knowledge to the group."
  • The Bertelsmann University is an example of the contact exchange that stimulates innovation and culture - a control center for the global networking of over 300 profit centers. This is to ensure business policy a common "language", especially since all Eleven guided by the same corporate objectives. In this respect, the Bertelsmann University has an integrative function for the decentralized governors. It aims at the homogenization of the corporate culture and serves as a transmission belt for a "culture evolution". This CU is intended to convey the feeling of being an important part of the corporate community.
  • The Daimler-Chrysler -Uni stands for elitist exclusivity. It was planned as a strategic platform for cooperation between the two automotive groups.
  • The Motorola University, on the other hand, embodies the type of an in-house adult education center.
  • According to the company, the Telekom School of Transformation should become "an internationally oriented center of the group as a nucleus for the further development of the corporate culture ."
  • The Wöhrl Academy , which was founded in 1988, is one of the oldest corporate academies in Germany, and serves the professional and personal qualification of employees as well as management development. A special trainee program (iMEP) has also been offered across companies since 2010.
  • Small and medium-sized companies , on the other hand, usually operate a targeted network strategy in order to have social capital (especially " trust "), high-skilled workers (highly qualified employees, professionals or simply "experts") and to acquire or direct capital flows (see also fraternity ).

However, combinations are also conceivable in which personal development is coupled with personnel development and this with corporate and strategy development. A corporate university can, like classic further education, focus on people, but also promote organizational learning in order to increase the company's success.

A point of view seems to be gaining ground to operate learning in the company systematically and alongside strategy and to link this with business functions such as procurement and sales. In the case of in-house management schools, the focus is on the company's benefit.

Current situation

40 percent of the largest companies in the world already have corporate universities. There are now around 1700 in the USA, including the Disney University and the Hamburg University of McDonald’s . Around 200 were founded in England. (As of 2007)

A study by the English Henley Management College predicts that by 2010 more Americans will complete their studies in corporate universities than in traditional universities.

In Germany, Deutsche Telekom, Merck, Lufthansa, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Siemens, SAP, Daimler-Chrysler, Bertelsmann and the Metallgesellschaft are among the founding pioneers. About three years ago they converted their training departments into company universities. They drew their legitimation for this from their size, their level of awareness and their economic importance.

These company universities endeavor to legitimize the designation university through cooperation with renowned business schools . Well-known companies such as Daimler, MLP and Bertelsmann therefore work with top-class elite schools. Partners here include Harvard , INSEAD, Duke , Stanford , MIT and the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne.

Problems of the term University

The term university is usually associated with lecture halls, libraries, a campus , professors and academic ordinations. The company universities have only one name in common with a conventional university . In most cases they would not meet the strict regulations of German university law.

A corporate university is not a place for free research and teaching. Your teaching content is based on business needs. That is why they are strongly integrated into the cultural, organizational and strategic framework of the company and pursue its purposes and goals.

Often the name University only hides the existing training center, the personnel development department or simply a coordination point for the company training program.

The use of the term university is problematic; the state university laws prohibit the use of the term university or its foreign-language designation.

practice

The practice of corporate universities is as diverse and diverse as previous forms of corporate personnel and management development. A corporate university has the full range of teaching methods available: traditional training seminars, project-oriented forms of learning, computer-based training, near-by-the-job training, self-study programs and video conferences.

Some companies offer the learning material within the IT framework of the net learning community. The local campus library is partly replaced by the network-based database, which can be accessed by mobile phone. Since the opportunity costs of absenteeism are increasing, some authors take the view that in the future an ever larger part of in-company further training will be carried out virtually online.

Despite the possibilities of modern telecommunications, the learning material is still conveyed using conventional methods. The proportion of face-to-face seminars is often 80 to 90 percent. Some companies prefer face-to-face events because face-to-face contacts allow the exchange of know-how and experience more easily than through digital media. Other companies combine face-to-face events with e-learning. Some corporate universities offer ready-to-use learning packages, others determine educational needs in special design workshops and compare them. Self-organized learning plays a special role here. Adults and above all high potentials should be given the opportunity to learn independently.

The student managers are taught knowledge, skills and tools for generating ideas and shaping the future of the company. There is also the option of recruiting young candidates for high-level management tasks. This increases their motivation and loyalty to the company.

Some corporate universities use their own company as a case study. At the Siemens University , savings potential could be generated, as students found out how the costs for mobile calls in the British branches can be reduced by 60%.

Management development

In the area of ​​management development, the study topics can be assigned to three areas:

Normally, the course at a corporate university ends without a recognized academic degree, depending on the focus of the training, company-specific certifications are often carried out. Internal titles such as Certified Business Leader , Certified Project Manager or Certified Marketing Manager are sometimes awarded. However, the value of the practice-oriented final certificates is limited to one's own company.

As far as there is cooperation between a corporate university and state and accredited private universities, internationally recognized degrees such as ' Bachelor ' or Master of Business Administration ( MBA ) can be obtained.

literature

  • The Oxford English-Reader's Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Langenscheidt; HORNBY, AS and PARNWELL, EC; Berlin, Munich, Oxford 1952, p./S. 113, 562:
  • Walter Simon: Corporate Universities, in: Rolf Berth (ed.), Top in Training and Consulting, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-497-01630-6
  • Walter Simon: Corporate Universities in Theory and Practice, in: Uwe Seebacher u. a. (Ed.), Handbook of Leadership Development, Forchheim 2004, ISBN 3-937461-04-3
  • Walter Simon: Corporate Universities in Theory and Practice, in: Handbook for Human Resources Management, Deutscher Wirtschaftsdienst, 2/2003
  • Annette Gebauer: Introduction of Corporate Universities, Reconstruction of Development Processes in Germany, Carl-Auer, Heidelberg, 2007.
  • Sebastian Gradinger: Future model - why the corporate academy is more contemporary than ever: a field report, in: Factbook Retail 2013, pp. 225–226, Neuwied 2013, ISBN 978-3-88688-254-0
  • Birga Teske: The Comeback of Corporate Universities, in: HumanResourcesManager from September 4, 2014

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AutoUni . Homepage of the further education institution. Retrieved November 19, 2019
  2. ↑ Deutsche Telekom is building its future in Berlin . In: Berliner Morgenpost , February 14, 2011, accessed on November 19, 2019
  3. ↑ Future model - how do you properly qualify employees? ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Handelsjournal des HDE - Retail Factbook 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.woehrl-akademie.de