A corporate university allows top management to set the firm’s strategic learning agenda

Developing a corporate university is a tangible means for structuring the knowledge management within a firm. It is a powerful way for top management to give direction to the strategic learning of the corporation. It can also be a highly visible signal to employees, buyers, suppliers, allies and shareholders that the firm is serious about investing in intellectual capital.
What a corporate university should not be is a relabeled traditional training department. Training is a vital part of disseminating new ideas and bringing people up to speed in certain areas of business knowledge (e.g. marketing, finance, e-commerce or strategy). Yet corporate learning should also include the exchange of best practices, specific research projects, round table discussions and individual coaching. It is not the task of the corporate university to teach, but to do what is necessary for all people within the corporation to learn. This could mean a formal curriculum and university building, but it could also be a ‘virtual university’, focused on bringing people together to learn from each other.