Rademakers, M. (Ed.) / Publisher: Kluwer (2012)

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The book is aimed at senior managers and HRD professionals, and revolves around the strategic role of corporate universities ('drivers of the learning organization'), and includes:

Four conceptual chapters (intro, business strategy, three generic corporate university strategies, final chapter on strategic paradoxes)
Eight cases on how corporate universities shape(d) their strategic role. They are authored by corporate university executives, and edited by the lead author. Companies included are Shell, ING Bank and DHV Group, and also (Dutch) non-profit companies in the water industry, housing, and government. Also included (in Chapter 15) are examples of IKEA, Exact, and Ducati.
Three visionary chapters about the past, present and future of corporate universities, featuring the development of ING Business School, and identifying different generations of corporate universities, including Disney, Apple, Heineken, TNT and Ahold. Attention is paid to the impact of new technology en social media on learning in organizations.
In the final chapter, an analysis is being made of the cases in the book. Five strategic issues for corporate universities are identified, such as the questions of being vision-driven or issue-driven.

In short, "Corporate Universities: Aanjagers van de lerende organisatie" is a challenging book that caters for the growing need for knowledge and insights into the strategic potential of corporate universities. The state-of-the-art frameworks and examples are a must-read for managers and professionals who want to get the most out of the strategic learning capability of their organization.

Rademakers, M. / Publisher: Routledge (2014)

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Complementary cases for educational use

Organizations constantly need to adapt themselves to stay aligned with an ever-changing and increasingly complex environment. Corporate Universities puts ‘smart learning’ at the forefront, with strategies to secure alignment between organization and environment, which need both speed of learning and learning in the right direction. Across the globe, corporate universities have emerged as vehicles of such strategy-driven learning.

Corporate Universities bridges the gap between the disciplines of strategic management and corporate learning, combining general strategy with the concept of corporate universities, which, to date, has predominantly been a HR topic. Readers will find new concepts, as well as generic corporate university strategies to link corporate strategy to organizational learning. In-depth cases show how corporate universities are used to renew, transform and optimize strategy and include important lessons learned by corporate university executives, from both small and global companies, as well as governmental organizations across different industries.

Written for academics in strategy, HRD and organizational behavior disciplines, as well as practicing managers alike, Corporate Universities is the first book that offers a consistent set of concepts, frameworks, and cases to integrate general strategy with organizational learning.