Coordinating Flows of Organisational Knowledge: The Role of the Corporate University

Abstract

bThis paper seeks to advance the understanding of the corporate university phenomenon by addressing the role that a corporate university plays in coordinating the flows of organisational knowledge. Drawing on the longitudinal in-depth case study of Severstal Corporate University, we illustrate how a corporate university contributes to dynamic knowledge management in the company by serving as a coordinator of its knowledge flows. The study provides evidence of how a corporate university -by performing three different knowledge-coordinating rolesoperates as a corporate function to support evolving business strategies during different periods of organisational development. The findings suggest the following roles of a corporate university are related to the coordination of knowledge flows: knowledge-harmonising, knowledge-disseminating, and knowledge-centralising. As a result of the study, a corporate university appears as a dynamic concept with development stages that can be explained from a teleological rather than life cycle perspective. That is, a corporate university's development is driven by its changing purpose and goals that are constructed and reconstructed according to the evolving knowledge needs of its parent company.

The role and evolution of knowledge network-based intellectual capital in the corporate university

“…As corporate universities evolve, it is essential to adopt a dynamic perspective when examining the evolutionary process of intellectual capital within them . While scholars generally agree that the activities undertaken by corporate universities are becoming increasingly diversified, and the demands for knowledge management functions of corporate universities are bound to dynamically evolve with the development of enterprises (Scarso et al, 2017;Slettli and Grønhaug, 2017;Chen et al, 2019). Knowledge management in corporate universities is regarded as an integrative process of intellectual capital and knowledge flow .…”

“…While scholars generally agree that the activities undertaken by corporate universities are becoming increasingly diversified, and the demands for knowledge management functions of corporate universities are bound to dynamically evolve with the development of enterprises (Scarso et al. , 2017; Slettli and Grønhaug, 2017; Chen et al. , 2019).…”

“…Furthermore, some scholars contend that corporate universities should actively engage in activities related to the knowledge development, collaboration and maturation of enterprises (Patrucco et al, 2017;. A knowledge network represents an interactive system of nodes engaged in symbiotic knowledge relationships (Anderson and Parker, 2013), and corporate universities can serve as knowledge interfaces to facilitate knowledge dissemination and innovation activities (Slettli and Grønhaug, 2017). However, this perspective merely categorizes the functions of corporate universities based on knowledge management theory, focusing on specific knowledge activities such as acquisition, integration and application, while failing to fully explore the interconnectedness and holistic nature of knowledge activities of corporate universities.…”

“…The research perspectives that influence the effectiveness of knowledge management in corporate universities are diverse. Previous studies have examined the key factors that promote knowledge enhancement of corporate universities from the perspectives of human resources (Patrucco et al, 2017), strategic management (Petr and Elena, 2018) and the resource-based view (Slettli and Grønhaug, 2017). Scholars generally believe that intellectual capital, which refers to knowledge that contributes to the value creation of enterprises, is a crucial factor in gaining competitive advantages (Y€ uksel et al, 2022).…”

“…As enterprises evolve, the requirements for the intellectual capital of corporate universities are bound to change dynamically. However, most existing studies have only described individual knowledge activities and supporting capabilities of corporate universities from a static perspective (Scarso et al, 2017;Slettli and Grønhaug, 2017), without adequately considering the interaction between diversified intellectual capital and the knowledge networks of corporate universities, as well as the process of enrichment and expansion of these activities.…”