The Next Generation of Corporate Universities: Innovative Approaches for Developing and Expanding Organizational Capabilities (review)

When someone not familiar with the concept hears the term "corporate university," it may bring to mind inaccurate ideas. Misconceptions might include the increasing managerialism at traditional colleges and universities, the large contingent of for-profit higher education institutions, or conventional company training programs. None of these ideas accurately defines the important movement afoot in many corporations and nonprofit organizations that is described in The Next Generation of Corporate Universities, edited by Mark Allen.

Allen's background with the topic is significant; he edited a previous volume, the Corporate University Handbook (2002) as well as various articles and does consulting on this growing area. Allen is a participating adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University and also has professional experience in executive education with various corporations and other organizations. While the new book is aimed at professionals working in training and human resources, it is well suited to anyone interested in reading an informative multi-faceted compendium of cases, conceptual approaches, and learned guidance on how organizations can and should arrange corporate universities to support their mission.

The field of training and development has been around for many years, but the newer idea of corporate universities expands these endeavors by creating an entity that serves as a strategic tool for mission support by performing activities that nurture individual and organizational learning, as well as knowledge and wisdom management. This fundamental definition of the term is stated early in the book by Allen and is subsequently supported in 18 chapters authored by experienced professionals in the field. It should be noted for readers of the Review that corporate universities are not defined as competitors to traditional colleges and universities, except perhaps for a narrow segment of executive education that some postsecondary institutions offer.

The book is divided into four parts, starting with the basics of corporate universities as strategic business partners, followed by chapters on internal corporate university functions and others on distinctive settings for corporate universities, and concluding with an examination of the next generation of corporate universities. Allen wrote the first and last chapters, plus introductions to each chapter author and introductions to the four parts.

The book offers a blend of views regarding approaches to corporate universities and real-world examples from different types of organizations such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Satyam Computer Services, Chesterfield County Virginia, and Northrop Grumman, among others; it also contains reports from consultants in the field. Like many edited works, the book contains some very different writing styles among the chapters that can require adjustment as the reader moves through the book. Since it is a trade book, it naturally leans heavily on practical advice and anecdotal comments but is a bit lean on research-based scholarship and literature references (with a few notable exceptions) that academic readers may be seeking. Nevertheless, there are informative lessons about how many organizations today have implemented these internal corporate university enterprises.

Part 1 deals with corporate universities as strategic business partners. After a succinct yet important overview of corporate university functions in the first chapter, the second chapter emphasizes that employee development is more than training, with experiences taken from a large corporation. The third chapter offers the concept (from a corporate university consultancy perspective) that learning can be a competitive business variable with strategic implications.

Part 2, beginning with Chapter 4, examines internal corporate university functions. The chapter elaborates on concerns and offers thoughtful advice about the movement toward e-learning in corporations with which many individuals in higher education would probably agree, perhaps partly because the chapter is by Roger Shank, a renowned professor from Northwestern University. Shank declares that the emphasis should be on what he calls "splendid learning," focusing on ensuring learning instead of the technological aspects.

The next three chapters in this second section of the book examine how corporate universities can be branded to bring added organization value...