Emergence of corporate universities in Indian context

Abstract

A Corporate University is an educational organization established and run by a company. The successful execution of a firm s strategy depends largely on the relevance of their workforce. In ever changing external environment, only those firms that ensure constant upgrade of their workforce skills which are aligned to the firm s objective remain competitive in the industry. At this juncture, many successful companies in their own practice have setup continuous education programs that impart wholesome learning to their workforce. This learning is different from just a mere skill upgrade in the form of training for short duration. The constant education and learning programs have ensured that the work force stays relevant in the industry and contribute to the firm s interests in better than expected way. The current report examines various forms of such continuous education programs under the new emerging organizational form called Corporate University . We analyzed some of the most profitable companies in fast growing economic sectors of India to examine various organizational setups they have internally or tied up with to ensure constant education of their employees. We came up with a contextual framework that explains if a given organizational entity that is engaged in training or learning activities can be called a Corporate University or not. We also examined the alignment between corporate universities and the firm s overall strategy in Indian context. We sincerely thank our project guide Professor V. Anand Ram for guiding us throughout this study and providing us with necessary contacts in our field work.