Legal corporate universities are getting popular. Originally they represented a centralized approach to deemed necessary training, in which the legal parent organization created a set of programs and discipline-specific owners that run the “colleges” or learning program areas.
Today corporate universities can serve more and broader purposes. Legal corporate universities can help transform the parent organization or help explore new value opportunities.
The new book Corporate Universities, drivers of the learning organization by M. Rademakers (2014) provides a useful overview and update on the phenomenon of the corporate university. It sets out frameworks on developing strategies, value and learning formats. It illustrates theory with extensive case descriptions.
I enjoyed the penetrating analysis of constant attunement in the value chain stretching form the market environment on the one end towards the learning by the individual legal employee at the far other end. The dynamics of how strategy should be developed from market opportunities and threats and subsequently be implemented through a value creation system into the business and translated through the organization for and by the individuals.
Development of strategy and its implementation is a continual learning process constantly striving towards the perfect fit. Any misfit leads to “silver in the mine”, untapped potential. The abstract issues of business development, organizational development and management development come to live both in the analysis and the case descriptions.
In brief, this book should be read by anyone involved in setting up or running a modern legal corporate university.