Education in the Workplace: An Examination of Corporate University Models
©2001
Denise R. Hearn, edited 5/10/02. Available from <
http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Hearn721.html >.
Introduction
According to Jeanne Meister, the phrase "corporate university" can be defined as a " ... centralized strategic umbrella for the education and development of employees ... [which] is the chief vehicle for disseminating an organization's culture and fostering the development of not only job skills, but also such core workplace skills as learning-to-learn, leadership, creative thinking, and problem solving," (1998, Ten, p. 38). Jeanne Meister is the president of a New York consulting firm that specializes in corporate university management called Corporate University Xchange (CUX). She claims that corporate universities are developed by those corporations who have shifted their focus from employee training to employee education as a result of "the emergence of the knowledge economy" (1998, Extending, p. 52). The phrase "knowledge economy" expresses that these corporations have recognized their responsibility to provide employees education that can evolve with changing business needs in order to foster the business' sustained success. Many corporations believe that through continued employee education, they can "achieve strategic goals and performance improvement" (Meister, 1998, Extending, p. 52).
In 1993, corporate universities existed in only 400 companies. In 2001, this number jumped to 2,000. Nelson Heller states that according to CUX, this number will grow to exceed 3,700 by 2010, which is more than the number of private United States universities (2000). In an interview with Lillian Beltaos, dean of the School of Applied Media and Information Technology at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Sandra Dillich found that "companies form corporate universities in order to systemize the training function, maximize the investment in education, drive change in the organization, spread common culture and values, develop the employability of the workforce and remain competitive in the marketplace" (2000, p. 25). Judith Mottl further believes that the primary factor for developing a corporate university is to "improve employee productivity and keep staff in touch with the latest technology" (1999, p. 23). While, Jill Vitiello explains that corporate universities do not only focus their curricula on junior and midlevel employees but often provide leadership and executive development education as well (2001).
With the mission of corporate universities in mind, this paper will examine the models that companies use to establish such programs. Recommendations for developing successful corporate universities will be reviewed. In addition, actual examples of corporate universities will be presented and the technology they use to support these programs will be discussed.
Keywords:
problem solving in consulting,
corporate social performance,
intersubjectivity in technologies,
responsibility in models,
knowledge in education,
school organization,
performance,
workplace
http://www.google.com.br/search?hl=pt-BR&q=orientation+social+human+%22performance+improvement%22&btnG=Pesquisar
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GregorioIvanoff - 12 Apr 2016, 18 Jul 2007
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