Corporate Universities: Lessons in Building a World-Class Work Force, Revised Edition [Hardcover]

Jeanne Meister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

With more than 10,000 copies sold in its previous edition, Corporate Universities is a welcome update with an entirely new chapter on how to launch a corporate university and the 10 building blocks for running and revitalizing a corporate university. Highlighting the best practices in corporate education and training, this revised edition contains cases and examples of innovative programs from over 30 American companies and reveals the results of author Jeanne Meister's survey report, ``Corporate University Future Directions.'' Key findings in the survey include: Reliance on technology for learning; Business/higher education alliances on the rise; Curriculum focus on building ``Core Workplace Skills''; Interest growth in career development centers; Emergence of a chief learning officer.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Here's what business leaders are saying about Corporate Unversities. "Jeanne Meister has nailed the concept of a great quality corporate univeristy."- Skip LeFauve, Senior Vice President, President GM University, General Motors Corporation. "The growth in the number of 'corporate universities' is one more sign of the information age in which learning has become a lifelong commitment. Conventional colleges and universities are changing as a result, as are corporate learning strategies. We need to learn to know each other better. Jeanne Meister's book will help start that process." - Stanley O. Ikenberry, President, American Council on Education. "As the millennium approaches, corporations will increasingly take a closer inventory of their learning organizations and the manner in which they share and distribute knowledge. Jeanne Meister's book will help you prepare for this new day in corporate learning...by learning from numerous organizations who have already begun the journey." - Patrica Parker, President, SBC Center for Learning. "Jeanne Meister has redefined the territory of corporate sector education and training. She gives a unique insight into the explosion of interest in corporate universities and their impact on the quality of corporate relations with universities, colleges, and learning centers. Anyone who is seriously interested in how corporation will be investing in education and training in the next few years should read this book." - Kitty Chisolm, Director of Development, The Open University. "Jeanne C. Meister takes the reader step by step to point the full scope of how corporations are becoming educators of the workforce. This book is required reading for all those who believe that education is a first class investment that improves productivity and adds value to their organizations." - Luis E. Giusti, Chariman and CEO, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.

About the Author

Jeanne C. Meister is President of Corporate University Xchange, Inc., a New York City-based corporate education consulting firm. An internationally sought consultant, speaker, and commentator on education issues, Ms. Meister continually researches best practices in learning and development. Visit her at www.corpu.com and join an international network of leaders in learning.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 2 edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786307870
• ISBN-13: 978-0786307876
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #910,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeanne C Meister is an internationally recognized workplace learning consultant dedicated to delivering competitive advantage, innovation and improved business results for organizations.

Jeanne is currently Founding Partner of Future Workplace, a consulting firm dedicated to assisting organizations in re-thinking, re-imagining and re-inventing the workplace. Jeanne was recently voted by her peers as one of the 20 top influential training professionals in the United States. Jeanne's name is synonymous with the establishment and institutionalization of global corporate universities. Jeanne is the author of two books entitled, Corporate Quality Universities and Corporate Universities. Jeanne is the co-author of an upcoming book, The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop & Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today (Harper Collins, May, 2010)

Jeanne has worked as a consultant with over 200 organizations on launching, managing and re-inventing a corporate university.

Jeanne has fond memories of her testimony before the Web Based Education Commission for a landmark report entitled The Power of the Internet For Learning.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jeanne Meister hits the mark with Corporate Universities, January 19, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corporate Universities: Lessons in Building a World-Class Work Force, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

Jeanne Meister's book on corporate universities is a review of the key success factors and motives in developing a high level corporate training organization. The majority of the information in the book is taken from Fortune 500 companies who are developing their own 'umbrella' learning organizations. The information was gathered through questionnaires, consulting, and trade shows held by Corporate University X-change, a company who publishing one of the leading industry magazines. The trend for corporate universities seems to be driven by two main factors:

1. Upper-management's need to build a flexible learning organization. A good example of this trend is illustrated in a Shell Oil study on changes in the firms appearing on the Fortune 500 list . This study showed that one-third of the companies listed on the Fortune 500 list in 1970 had vanished by 1983. In fact, the study estimated that the lifetime of the largest industrial firm was less than half the average lifetime of a person in an industrial society. The bright spot of this study was that those who survived 75 years or longer made a point of continually experimenting and exploring new businesses and creating new sources of growth.

2. Technologies that more effectively facilitate the collection and management of key information on the organizations intellectual capital.

I was impressed by the names and company references that this book contains. It appears as if the author has established relationships with these companies and makes the information seem more credible because it appears to be first hand and can be backed up by contacting the individual or company.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Corporate Universities, June 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Corporate Universities: Lessons in Building a World-Class Work Force, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

I found this book quite helpful to me in setting up a corporate university within my company. Meister's book was a great resource to see how the large companies have set up their universities. The general guidelines of "how to do it", gave me some insight as to how to go about setting one up for my company. Visiting the web sites of some of the 50 companies referenced, was also very helpful. A good resource/reference book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Used to Design Many Corporate Universities, May 30, 2005

By 

Michael A. Beitler (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corporate Universities: Lessons in Building a World-Class Work Force, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

This is the revised and updated edition of Jeanne Meister's classic 1994 work. Countless corporate universities (CUs) are now designed based on Meister's guidance. This is "must" reading if you plan to start or improve your own corporate university.

Meister emphasizes the strategic importance of the corporate university and its role as the "umbrella" for all organizational learning activities.

Meister gives very detailed guidance on how to design the CU, implement best practices, forge partnerships, and build a world-class work force.

I highly recommend it.

Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Learning"