CORPORATE UNIVERSITIES

Corporate Universities

Volkswagen (VW) will splash out 300mil Euro (RM1.4b) to set up a new Corporate University to be situated in Wolfsburg, which will open next year.

“We are facing real challenges,” argues Bernd Pischetsrieder, the company CEO. “The speed and complexities of technologies are increasing. In future, we will need competence in fields like information technology and telecommunication, not only in manufacturing. It will be the role of the university to systematically channel innovation impulses from the outside and pump knowledge of the future into our company. In the future, we want to provide mobility services of all kinds.”

“Within 10 years, we want to be number 1 in everything to do with mobility,” says Prof Walther Ch Zimmerli, the founder and future president of the university. VW wants to use the university as a means to diversify its production, in close cooperation with academic institutions and hitech firms. Internationally, there is a trend towards corporate universities.

In Malaysia, we do have corporate universities - University Technology Petronas and Multimedia University by Telekom.

Will Proton also move along this path so as to take advantage of the innovative impulses from the outside and to pump knowledge of the future into the company which would provide some form of human capital and service mobility to enhance their competitiveness and competencies?

It had been reported that Proton had in fact agreed to a strategic alliance and partenership with VW. Hopefully, Proton would be able to tap the benefits of the corporate university that is set up by VW.

As stated by Prof Dr. Zimmerli, the university can be a means to diversify its production with close cooperation with academic institutions and Hightech firms.

Probably, this will be the most strategic way to stay competitive and to survive in the age of globalization and liberalization.