Corporate Universities as a New Paradigm and Source of Social Innovation, Sustainability, Technology and Education in the XXI Century

Abstract

In recent years, Corporate Universities have become a critical element in the development of human capital inside companies, institutions and organizations, promoting strategies based on knowledge management as an essential factor to achieve social innovation and sustainable competitive advantages aligned with the strategy. Therefore it is essential for these institutions to reach the highest levels of efficiency and excellence in company processes and structures and to achieve planned corporate goals and objectives. In this work an extensive and thorough review of the current literature was carried out in relation to the concept, in order to analyse the latest trends in Corporate Universities. A comparative evaluation with traditional university aspects was performed, identifying their own differentiators, for example the impact on social innovation, the development of sustainable competitive advantages, the influence on the company’s internal environment, the importance of cultural and technological factors, and the relationship with the organizations strategy, which are important factors in its successful development and interconnection within the company processes. The information obtained from the aforementioned literature review, in combination with the experience gained by the team of consultants and researchers at the PRIME Business School, Sergio Arboleda University, Bogota, Colombia, allowed to present proposed in general terms a new implementation model of Corporate University. This new model is based on five distinct phases, and with minor adaptations could be to any sector in an organization. The study shows that through this Corporate University model, an organization could gain differentiators to increase social innovation, in time gain sustainable competitive advantages, and a desirable alignment with the objectives and strategic goals of the organization.