Case Study: Market Driven Corporate Learning

Various approaches exist at an organizational level in respect of the professional development of a workforce however there remains immutable fact - that in order for an organization to compete effectively in the information age, it needs to take a strategic view on how to develop and educate employees in a systematic manner in order to build the competencies required to meet the organizations’ business objectives.

The birth of market-driven corporate learning models can be traced as far back as the 1940’s in the United States with the establishment of General Electric’s

Crontonville Institute. “From a United States perspective, the emergence of corporate universities was as a result of the gap between academic and vocational skills as well

“Firms want a strategic umbrella to systemize the training effort, centralize its design, development and administration, facilitate innovation, apply consistent measures and reap the cost efficiencies of a shared services model of delivering education. The corporate learning model promises participants an experience which will prepare them for success in their current and future career.” (Meister, Corporate Universities, pp 34)

In respect of market-led corporate learning best-practice globally today, institutes such as the Motorola University, General Electric Crontonville, Disney University and McDonald’s Hamburger University are widely regarded as the most effective models for employee learning. Hence the question that arises is where do we find the mediaspecific solution in respect of a market-driven learning model?

Given the emphasis on speed, flexibility and competitiveness at media firm’s today, high performance companies are going beyond purely addressing the developmental needs of their staff internally, but extending this training to include customers and suppliers across the value chain. In essence this results in organizations

This approach is informed by need to harness the collective wisdom of its management teams in the areas of quality, leadership and union management. Thus they have moved beyond the generic case study approach at business schools to a much more customized approach based on practical, proven measurables.

Organizations are further realizing that given current market dynamics, incremental change is no longer sufficient and that market leadership and being at the forefront of transformational change in a rapidly evolving environment is the primary strategic challenge in business today. In this regard, having a strategic unit which is capable of contributing to the on-going education of a workforce is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage in today’s economy.

Consequently a market-driven corporate education model informed by a need to network the entire organizations knowledge through an integrated learning process is steadily rising up the strategic agenda of high-performance organizations. Thus rather than simply sending high potential managers to external executive education programmes, these organizations are developing market-driven, focused and customized action-learning programmes which impacts on improved organizational performance via a set of measurable