CNN.com - 'Do-it-yourself' approach growing

Corporations such as McDonald's have their own universities to educate and train staff.

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FT's Executive MBA Rankings
1. Wharton, U.S.
2. Kellogg, U.S.
3. Chicago GSB, U.S.
4. Stern, NY, U.S.
5. Fuqua, Duke, U.S.
6. Hong Kong UST, China
7. Columbia, U.S.
8. Instituto de Empresa, Spain
9. London Business School, UK
10. Tanaka, Imperial College, UK
Source: Financial Times 2005

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(CNN) -- Keen to extract maximum value from executive education budgets while maintaining control over content, growing numbers of companies are taking a do-it-yourself approach.

Instead of sending executives to established business schools to undertake EMBA degrees or customized short courses, some companies are creating their own education facilities.

Dubbed corporate universities, the in-house schools first appeared in the United States during the 1980s before spreading to Europe.

Industry estimates put the number of U.S.-based facilities at more than 2000 with a further 1000 in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Companies that have established their own corporate universities include telecommunications company AT&T, automotive giants Ford and Fiat, and electronics manufacturer NEC.

One high-profile example is Hamburger University, established in 1961 by burger giant McDonalds. Rather than lessons in how to flip patties or pour the perfect soft drink, participants are schooled in the management techniques that have allowed the company to expand internationally for more than 45 years.

Hamburger University now has more than 30 resident professors and teaches everything from staff management techniques to the basics of running a successful franchise. Courses are also offered at other campuses in locations such as the UK, Australia, Japan and Germany.

Another example is UK-based automotive and logistics conglomerate Unipart, which established its corporate university in 1993. The facility offers more than 200 courses in practical aspects of the company's operations, covering topics such as supplier and team management, IT skills and problem solving techniques.

Unipart chief executive John Neill says the key objective of the university is to train and inspire staff to improve their personal standards.

"The Unipart University has become the platform from which we can set the direction for the future," he says. "There's a good commercial argument for it -- it's a route to competitive advantage and it enhances shareholder value by preventing our people's skills from becoming obsolete."

The spread of such facilities has been attributed to growing concerns that more traditional executive education courses, in particular MBAs, are losing their relevance in the modern business world. Increasingly companies believe there is better value to be gained from investing their training budgets in courses directly relevant to their specific requirements.

Some find their internal universities become so successful they are able to open their doors to outsiders.

U.S.-based communications equipment company Motorola, credited with developing the popular Six Sigma approach to quality improvement, has been running the Motorola University for more than 18 years.

Outside parties

As well as instructing its global management teams in the complexities of the Six Sigma system, it also encourages outside parties to join classes. Participants are drawn from suppliers and partners, with the objective of further strengthening the performance of the host company.

A similar approach has been taken by the Walt Disney Company. The fantasy theme park operator and content producer has been very successful at developing a distinctive company culture which has allowed it to prosper over an extended period.

As well as instilling this culture in its own staff, the company regularly conducts courses for staff from other organisations. Participants learn how to motivate teams, improve customer service and the importance of brand management.

But despite the success of corporate universities around the world, some educators caution that they cannot provide the types of benefits staff derive from attending external courses.

Director of executive education program development at Stanford Business School, Sean Bendarkar, says much of the benefit of participating in courses comes from what you learn from fellow students. If all students are from the same company, this naturally limits the perspectives that can be shared.

"People are looking for an 'ah-ha' moment when they are undertaking training courses," he says, "And it's more difficult to get that from a group coming from the same place."

Bendarkar says that while in-house training serves a need, there will continue to be an important role for external courses.

"There's always that casual conversation with someone from a completely different company or field that can spark a new idea," he says. "You can't quantify the value you can get from that sort of thing."

'Do-it-yourself' approach growing

But in-house training may limit perspectives

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