Case: Corporate Universities: Teaching the Tools of Quality

Although most of us are familiar with major public universities like Penn State, Colorado-Boulder, Georgia, and Ohio State, we are typically unfamiliar with corporate universities such as Motorola Solutions Learning, Intel University, and the AT&T Learning Center. This is because corporate universities are a fairly new concept, and they are created to serve the needs of a particular company's employees and other stakeholders. The term corporate university has been adopted by firms that have significantly upgraded their training and development activities by creating learning centers within their corporations. These learning centers are typically designed to prioritize a firm's training initiatives, and to quickly share with a firm's employees the skills, techniques, and best practices that are necessary to remain competitive. For example, when a new quality tool or technique is developed, it is often the responsibility of a firm's corporate university to develop a plan to equip the firm's employees with the skills necessary to quickly incorporate the new tool or techniques into their work areas. Following are brief descriptions of two corporate universities. After reading these descriptions, ask yourself the following rhetorical question: "Are these corporations well equipped to teach their employees the tools of quality?"

Motorola Solutions Learning (MSL)

Motorola Solutions Learning (MSL) began as the Motorola Training and Education Center. Initially, the purpose of MSL was to help Motorola strengthen its training efforts and build a quality-focused corporate culture. Through the years, MSL has grown in both size and stature and now has a staff of more than 400 employees and seven facilities across the world. The stated objectives of MSL are as follows:

• To provide training and education to all Motorola employees.

• To prepare Motorola employees to be best-in class in their industries.

• To serve as a catalyst for change and continuous improvement to position Motorola Corporation for the future.

• To provide added value to Motorola in the marketing and distribution of products throughout the world.

To accomplish these objectives, MSL does many things. For example, each of the company's employees is required to take a minimum of 40 hours a year of job relevant training and education. MSL also provides its employees consulting services in a number of areas, including benchmarking, cycle time reduction, quality improvement processes, and statistical tools and problem-solving techniques. One unique aspect of MSL is that it reaches beyond the Motorola Corporation. MSL provides training and certification programs for Motorola suppliers and also provides consulting services and training for other corporations on a fee basis.

Sears University

Sears University was established with the ambitious goal of becoming an integral part of the company's turnaround efforts. The university was opened with the idea of offering a wide selection of formal training and self study courses for Sears's employees. In its first year of operation, approximately 10,000 of the company's employees participated in formal programs ranging from one day to one week in duration. Another 4,000 employees completed self-study courses each month. In addition to offering training programs in areas such as merchandising, operations, customer service, and human resources management, Sears University also provides the company's employees programs designed to help them function as change agents and strategic leaders within the corporation. For example, participants in financial management training programs use computer-based simulations to model the impact of various financial strategies on business unit performance. Particular attention is paid to trying to help employees see the company's operations from the customer's perspective. The courses are taught by seasoned line managers along with professional facilitators and Sears University personnel.

Questions

1. Are corporate universities a good idea? If so, why?

2. How can a corporate university do a better job of teaching a firm's employees the "tools of quality" than traditional training programs?

3. Select a corporate university and visit its Web site. How does the company's corporate university facilitate the company's overall quality-related goals and initiatives?