Exploring the growing phenomenon of university‐corporate education partnerships

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore why corporations are forming corporate education partnerships with universities and the role of corporate education programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents the findings from quantitative research involving 79 senior managers from North America, the UK, and Australia responsible for the management of their university‐corporate education partnerships.

Findings

The research finds that the primary reason for establishing university‐corporate education partnerships is to provide a recognised university award programme to complement an organisation's in‐house education programmes. Also, by aligning with a university an organisation is able to add strength and credibility to its in‐house corporate education programmes.

Originality/value

The research provides an insight into the growing role of university‐corporate education partnerships and helps to quantify some emerging aspects of these partnerships.

Citation

Ryan, L. (2009), "Exploring the growing phenomenon of university‐corporate education partnerships", Management Decision, Vol. 47 No. 8, pp. 1313-1322. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740910984569