Corporate University
Scope and
Governance
Defining the Audience
Structuring Roles of The Governing
Board
Prepared by:
Corporate University Xchange
Research Services
Highly Confidential
VERSION 1.0
© Corporate University Xchange 2004
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September, 2004
Corporate University Organization Structure
Overview
Building a Model for Success
Scope of Corporate University
The extent to which a corporate university serves an organization’s
entire workforce varies across organizations.
One corporate university might include a 20-person staff dedicated
exclusively to worldwide executives and not employees across
organization business units.
Other corporate universities provide
learning services enterprise-wide for all employees. Those with
broader scope often work in cooperation with business units which
supplement core training areas offered by the corporate university.
Many corporate universities provide “general” enterprise-wide learning,
with business units providing “unique” learning that is specific business
needs.
A large number of corporate universities begin with a narrow focus on
a specific segment of the employee population and expand breadth
and influence over time as they build credibility.
Leadership
development often is cited as the initial focus of the corporate
university. Organizations recognize an urgent need to build greater
depth within their leadership pool and launch a corporate university to
devote time and resources on programs designed to develop the pool
of supervisors, managers and executives.
The scope of a corporate university is determined by a number of
factors:
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The talent, bench strength, and performance requirements of
the current and future business strategy
The extent to which the corporate university function is
supported and/or promoted by senior executives
The source of funds for the corporate university, either through
corporate allocation, overhead or charge-backs to business
units, or tuition payments by individual learners
The consistency of systems and processes for the management
of learning and development across the enterprise
The extent to which common core curriculum should be made
available across the enterprise
The nature and number of unique technical and functional skills
that must be developed within business units
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Corporate University Organization Structure
Defining the corporate university’s scope drives decisions about where
the corporate university function resides in the organization, the level
and type of governance activity required, and the conditions for which
activities are managed in a centralized or decentralized fashion.
Reporting Structure for Corporate University
The function or individual within an organization to which the head of
the corporate university directly reports indicates the strategic
importance the corporate university holds within the organization. The
human resources department often has a portfolio that includes at
least some of the learning at any organization, regardless of whether it
has established a corporate university.
Corporate universities often fall within organizational development or
report through a chief operating officer. Some corporate universities
use dual reporting lines to ensure that both tactical and strategic
needs are met.
A growing number of corporate universities report to the office of the
president or chief executive officer. This direct relationship affirms the
value an organization’s leadership attributes to employee learning and
development, but is not essential for corporate university success.
Linkage to Human Resources
The function of the corporate university is to contribute higher levels of
performance to the business by helping people develop skills they
need to do a better job.
Organizations often include financial incentives for learning as part of
the performance review process. Companies might recognize teaching
and learning as a core value that is measured and that directly affects
some percentage of discretionary salary. Annual bonuses can be based
in part on a manager and his or direct report’s involvement in
corporate university programs. Some corporate universities directly
support performance management processes by requiring individual
development plans that feed into corporate learning needs analysis.
Succession planning also ties into learning efforts in many
organizations. For example, succession plans can be one input in a
training needs assessment process. Most corporate universities aren’t
directly responsible for succession planning, so they use information
developed by others.
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September, 2004
Corporate University Organization Structure
Governing Structure
While strong visible support from the top is critical to the overall
success of a corporate university, direct guidance from business unit
heads assures that learning serves business objectives. To this end, an
organization must create a governance system in which the top
champion and the next level of senior line business managers jointly
develop a vision for the corporate university. Governance systems vary
considerably, ranging from chairman-led policy boards with line, area,
and corporate staff representation, to steering committees drawing
representation from labor, management, and employees. Some of the
more prominent corporate universities, which exercise broad strategic
influence within their companies, have governing boards composed of
senior line and corporate staff executives. Some very large
multinational corporations also have regional corporate university
boards throughout the world.
Organizations without a governing board have other ways by which to
align the corporate universities’ efforts with the organizations’
respective goals. They involve business managers through business
needs analyses that are conducted by corporate university staff
members. Large organizations, those with more than 10,000
employees, where diverse interests and perspectives regarding
learning compete, nearly always have governing boards to represent
the diverse needs and mediate among groups. European companies,
which particularly value consensus building among executives, are the
most likely of any geographic group to organize corporate university
governing boards.
Guidelines for Operating a Corporate University Governing Board
1. Board Composition
 Invite top managers with diverse roles and business
backgrounds to serve on the board
 Invite influential, interested and available leaders who can
make a long-term commitment
2. Board Mission and Scope
 Concentrate on strategic issues only – not implementation
or day-to-day operations
 Define clear roles for each board member like you would for
a director of a corporate board
a. Board Members Provide a Service
i. Provide quality of counsel and advice by virtue of
their independence from the learning
organization. Consults with and coaches the CLO
who relies on the Board for advice and counsel.
Board members possess the level of industry
experience needed to make optimal choices for
resources. Carefully selected board members
should contribute to enhancing the corporate
university’s general reputation and credibility.
b. Board Members Prioritize Resources
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Corporate University Organization Structure
i. Board members understand how to effectively
manage the organization relationships. They
serve as boundary spanning agents who provide
access to valued resources and information,
facilitate inter-department commitments, and aid
in establishing legitimacy.
c. Board Members Administer Controls
i. Charged with aggressively monitoring and
evaluating CLO actions. Must be able to avoid
conflicts likely to arise in attempting to maintain
loyalty to the CLO while evaluating his or her
actions
 Have each member sponsor a specific learning program to
increase member awareness and ownership
 Ensure members understand how their involvement will
serve their own interests
 Empower board members to make decisions by establishing
a clear decision-making procedure
 Make members accountable for the corporate university’s
success
3. Board Management
 Train members on their role and the board’s scope
 Meet quarterly
 Have a well thought out and scripted agenda for each
meeting
 Lay out an agenda and get feedback pre-meeting
 Use member time carefully, as if they were high-priced
consultants
 Develop and distribute pre-reading/pre-work to make faceto-face meeting time productive
 Give members specific tasks and deliverables
 Communicate early and often by presenting information in
clear, concise bits
 Keep members informed of learning activities and issues
facing the corporate university so they can help and serve
as ambassadors
 Provide regular feedback on how your organization
compares to others
 Keep them interested in what happens, or they will quit the
board
 Rather than getting members’ help designing a learning
program, have them provide feedback on the overall
program
 Be confident in your plans, but allow them to “own” the
plans by making changes. By doing so, you can get their
buy-in over the long run.
 Reward members for a job well done.
BOARD PLANNING:
Directs the process of planning
Staff
Provides input to long range goals
Joint
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Corporate University Organization Structure
Approves long range goals
Board
Formulates annual learning objectives
Staff
Approves annual learning objectives
Board
Prepares performance reports on achievement of
goals and objectives
Staff
Monitors achievement of goals and objectives
Joint
BOARD PROGRAMMING:
Assesses stakeholder (customers, community) needs Staff
Oversees evaluation of learning products, services
and programs
Board
Maintains program records; prepares program
Reports
Staff
Prepares preliminary budget
Staff
Finalizes and approves budget
Board
Sees that expenditures are within budget during the
Staff
Year
Approves expenditures outside authorized budget
Board
PERSONNEL:
Directs work of the staff
Staff
Hires and discharges staff members
Staff
Approves decision to add staff
Board
Settles discord among staff
Staff
ORGANIZATION RELATIONS:
Interprets corporate university organization
employee communities
Board
Writes news stories and manages other PR activities Staff
Provides organization linkage with other
Business unit or department organizations
Joint
BOARD COMMITTEES:
Appoints committee members
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Board
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Corporate University Organization Structure
Promotes attendance at Board/Committee meetings Joint
Recruits new Board members
Board
Plans agenda for Board meetings
Joint
Takes minutes at Board meetings
Joint
Plans and proposes committee organization
Joint
Prepares exhibits, material and proposals for Board
and Committees
Staff
Follows-up to insure implementation of Board and
Committee decisions
Staff
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September, 2004