4Pillay.qxd


South Africa suffers from a severe skills shortage. There are

various reasons for this state of affairs such as deficient

education and training systems, as well as a high level of

emigration of skilled personnel (see Corrigan, 2003). Substantial

unemployment figures, social and political instability, high

crime rates, low productivity levels, globally uncompetitive

industries, a lack of investment and high HIV-Aids rates represent

factors that have far-reaching implications for both labour

demand and supply (see Gerber, Nel and Van Dyk, 1996).

Not surprisingly, various training and development strategies

have been developed in an attempt to address these problems (see

Gouws, 1997). This is reflected in the White Paper on Education

and Training (1995) which resulted in the establishment of the

South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the National

Qualifications Framework (NQF). Centred around the provision

of learning and the integration of knowledge and skills these

structures can be transferred to different contexts (see Gerber,

Nel and Van Dyk, 2003). These initiatives are generally

considered to be successful, provided that key strategic elements

of training and development are in place and emphasis is placed

on a foundation-training model that facilitates knowledge

transfer, learning and eventually skills development. 

Utilising what has become known as the corporate university

has the potential to ensure that organisations will provide

effective training and development for their employees 

in a continuous learning context. This model is generally

regarded to be effective for delivering training in world-

class companies (see Gould, 2005). Training strategies 

outside the corporate universit y are t y pically used to

implement plans based on proven theories about how people

learn, and training models are often developed in terms of

understanding their effectiveness and act ual outcomes

(usually pertaining to something being learned). These are

evident in models that have made groundbreaking inroads

into the field of human resources in general and training and

development in particular. An example of this is the

Hierarchical Model of training outcomes (Kirkpatrick 1967,

Noe 1996, Kirkpatrick, 2005). 

Corporate universities can be defined in various ways. Firstly, it

may be defined as a “formal entity associated with an

organisation that is chartered with providing employees with the

skills and understanding they need to help the organisation

achieve its business objectives in both the short and the long

term. It is more broadly and strategically focused than a

traditional training and development function, with a direct

connection to achieving the organisation’s goals” (Global

Learning Resources, Inc, 2005). Secondly, it relates to

“continuing education, not education and training gained in the

pursuit of an academic degree. Courses for professional

development are broadly interpreted to be any organised

teaching-learning activity dealing with a topic that supports the

organisation’s needs and plans and is endorsed by the

organisation’s professional development programme” (Roesner

& Walesh, 1998, p. 56). Finally, a corporate university is “an

educational entity existing outside academia; it is the business

sector’s response to the rapid changes in information and

technology that characterise our society. A companion to the

concept of life-long learning, the corporate university enables

businesses, both for profit and not for profit, to maintain and

expand the expertise of their workforces and, as a result, to

secure their positions in the marketplace” (Gould, 1995, p. 508).

From the preceding it is clear that the corporate university, places

strong emphasis on continued training and learning together

with the attainment of organisational goals and objectives. This

approach was highlighted in a study by Roesner and Walesch

(1998, p. 57) where a planned, organisation-focused approach

included the establishment of a “university” as opposed to an ad

hoc, individual-focused approach. Table 1 below highlights the

key differences between the two approaches. 

The corporate university provides a management structure

under which an extensive array of employee learning

opportunities can be developed and implemented. “The

structure also brings to the table planners who are needed to

create the learning vision for tomorrow’s employees” (Gould,

2005, p. 512). 

Attempting to align the training arm of companies with their

vision and strategy these universities were first created in the

1980’s (Frazee, 2002). Taylor (2002) explains that one of the first

corporate universities or corporate classrooms is the Motorola

University, which focuses on providing basic literacy and

numeracy training to lower level employees. Corporate

universities have also been adapted by British Telecom in the

United States,  which focuses on retraining in an attempt to meet

changing demands and Gemini, Ernst and Young and Boeing

where corporate universities are seen as strategic centre.

Corporate universities have grown significantly, and as much as

40% of Fortune 500 companies have a corporate university

(Hirayama et al, 2004). 

K PILLAY

DANIE WIJNBEEK
dwijnbee@absamail.co.za

Department of Human Resources Management

University of Johannesburg

ABSTRACT
The training and development of employees in the airline industry usually take place within a decentralised

structure and may result in fragmented and costly initiatives. To improve the current practice a corporate university

(CU) model to be implemented in the airline is proposed. For the purpose of the study qualitative interviews were

held, human documents were studied and participant observation and the views of employees of the South African

airline industry were sought regarding training in general and CUs in particular. The study revealed support for the

CU concept because it would encourage continuous learning at all levels in the organisation and would place

emphasis on both employee and organisational needs.

Key words

Training and learning solution, South African Airline Industry, corporate university

‘THE CORPORATE UNIVERSITY’ TRAINING AND LEARNING

SOLUTION FOR A SOUTH AFRICAN AIRLINE INDUSTRY

29

SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 2006, 4 (2), 29-38

SA Tydskrif vir Menslikehulpbronbestuur, 2006, 4 (2), 29-38



TABLE 1

SPECTRUM OF APPROACHES TO EDUCATION AND TRAINING

PROGRAMMES (ROESNER AND WALESH, 1998, PP. 57) 

“Old” ad hoc, individual-focused “New” planned, organisation-

focused, including a “university”

Most learning is done off-site or Learning is accomplished internally 

in seminars and externally in a variety of ways,

with the communication mechanism 

selected on the basis of cost-

effectiveness

A place A process

Individuals in corporate or main Equal access to training or education 

office have more training or regardless of geographic location

education opportunities

Some participants obtain Organisation is licensed by the 

certificates International Association of 

Continuing Education and Training, to 

award continuing education credits 

Only employees participate Stakeholders are invited to participate

Organisation “pays all” Partnerships between individual and

organisation

Individual selects subject matter Organisation selects or approves

subject matter

Generous time and expense Limited individual time and expense 

budget per individual that budgets

participates

Everyone is expected to participate

Some education and training is All education and training is “part of 

viewed as well-earned rest and the business” and expected to provide 

relaxation a return on the investment

According to Global Learning Resources, Inc. (2005), a corporate

university should ideally operate at three levels: Level 1: talent

planning and strategy; Level 2: research, and Level 3:

development activity design and implementation. At level 1,

emphasis is placed on identif ying skills requirements and key

trends in the labour market; thus in a corporate university skills

requirements are matched to trends in the external environment.

At level 2, the corporate university focuses on the importance of

gathering and interpreting research data; here the idea is to

identif y areas of weakness that can be rectified through

appropriate training and development interventions. Level 3

focuses on the importance of implementing training and

development initiatives and emphasises methodologies that can

be used to disseminate training, such as e-learning and traditional

classroom learning (Global Learning Resources, Inc., 2005). 

Figure 1: The ten-phased corporate university model 

The American Society for Training and Development (Training

and Development, 1998, p. 38) has identified ten steps for

establishing a corporate university. These stages have to be

implemented over an 18-month period (Training and

Development, 1998, p. 38) since rushing through them is seen as

counterproductive and ineffective in implementing a sound

corporate university model. In my opinion, the specification of

the aforementioned implementation period should be viewed as

a minimum time period. While it may be argued that more or

less time is required for implementation, it is important to work

within timeframes enabling observation and evaluation. Other

considerations when implementing the corporate university

entail the following:

Firstly, securing support from executive and senior

management. A system of governance is required so that the

relevant managers can agree on an appropriate vision, as well as

outlining the functions of the governing body (Training and

Development, 1998). 

Secondly, similar to a strategic plan, which is considered to be a

roadmap for an organisation, the vision of the corporate

university paves the way for the future of training and

development (Training and Development, 1998). 

Thirdly, organisations need to take cognisance of the

resources required to implement corporate universities. While

corporate allocations should account for most of a corporate

university budget the remainder may be funded through a

combination of making charge-backs to the business units,

licensing training programmes and exploring the university’s

capabilities, such as distance learning facilities (Training and

Development, 1998, p. 39). 

Fourthly, the scope of the corporate university should be viewed

in terms of whether the training and development activities need

to be centralised or decentralised. 

Fifthly, traditional training departments found in organisations

usually service internal employees from the organisation and

does not extend or develop linkages with other stakeholders

such as customers (Frazee, 2002). Hence, the corporate

university philosophy allows for a different breadth of audience

encompassing the entire value chain, including internal

employees, suppliers and customers (Training and Development,

1998, p. 38).

Sixthly, it is imperative to decide on what training programmes

to develop because they serve a strategic purpose and will always

play a role in guiding future behaviour and best practice

(Phillips, 2004). 

Seventhly, since a distinctive feature of a corporate university is

the extension of its linkages, it is important that guidelines are

set in place as to who becomes a learning partner to the

university. Whilst organisations may choose to have linkages

with learning partners without the corporate university concept,

I believe that learning partners are important for the successful

implementation of the corporate university. The 1998 Survey of

Corporate University Future Directions cited in (Training and

Development, 1998, p.41) highlighted selection criteria for

training partners. This is summarised in Table 2.

Eighthly, the model focuses on combinations of one-on-one,

classroom training and/or technolog y in delivering the

interventions. In addition, some types of training may be

executed utilising learning laboratories or online-based training.

However, more than a one-on-one interactive approach appears

to be most useful where training is required at a higher

concept ual level, particularly at senior management and

executive level (Athey, 1998).

Ninthly, an evaluation system has to be set in place to assess the

extent of knowledge transfer, learning and skills development.

PILLAY, WIJNBEEK30



TABLE 2

SELECTION CRITERIA FOR OBTAINING A LEARNING PARTNER

1. A shared mindset in which 2. Flexibility in working with the 

customer service, innovation learning partner, including the 

and continuous improvement ability to teach on site, share 

are paramount to success. libraries, laboratories or equipment.

3. Responsiveness and mutual 4. Complementary needs and goals 

interest in developing a that range from funding joint 

particular type of curriculum. research to developing customised 

executive education programmes.

5. Respected reputation and 6. The ability to develop 

prestige of the educational collaboratively a clear path of study 

institution. leading to a new accredited degree 

programme.

7. Openness to experimenting 8. Ownership rights to intellectual 

with technologies to accelerate property clearly delineated at the 

learning. onset of the partnership.

9. Financial and non-financial 10.An infrastructure open to 

measures spelled out carefully experimentation, for e.g. having the 

in advance and agreed to by the organisation assign a full-time 

key players. person to work with the

educational institution on 

partnership issues.

11. A global education network 12.Commitment to fostering open 

and capabilities. dialogue and to continually

renewing the partnership with

fresh thinking.

Since the corporate university focuses on a long-term, strategic

approach to learning, qualitative assessments are considered

particularly useful in identif ying how employees have improved

and applied their skills. 

This has been referred to as a “patient-capital” mindset in which

long-term investments are made into human capital (Training

and Development,1998, pp. 41-42).

Finally, in order for the corporate university to function

properly information has to be communicated as to its purpose

and need. It is important that employees see a link between

training and the incorporation of a university system. People

must be made aware of the functioning of the university, its

governance, and the administering of training programmes,

curricula, time frames for learning, other learning partners, the

method of funding, and they must be clearly informed about

how training will impact on promotion and upward mobility in

the organisation (Training and Development, 1998, p. 42).

In the light of this relatively large support for the concept abroad

I argued that the South African industry generally, and its airline

sector particularly may benefit by implementing a corporate

university. Consequently research into experiences and views of

the staff of a local airline about training practices was launched,

attempting to explore how the 10 steps of the model could be used

to create a "Training and Learning Academy" for the company. 

RESEARCH APPROACH

Scientific beliefs 

In this study my position as to the nature of social phenomena

is social constructionist, i.e., perceptions of the airline are

continually being created by its actors. More specifically, I

viewed the reality of the airline as multiple being built up over

time through communication, participants’ interactions and a

shared history. My assumption of the company’s staff and

stakeholders was voluntaristic, i.e., they actively interact and in

order to shape their environment create reality; in this they are

not determined by some outside influence(s). 

Since I did not believe that the airline could be regarded an

objective entit y which has a realit y external to the

consciousness of its actors (to be studied by applying principles

and procedures of the natural sciences), I opted for a qualitative

methodology which respects the differences between objects and

people and enables a process through which people's rich

subjective meanings can be understood. Such a methodology

typically applies participant observation to attain an insider’s

view or knowledge of people's shared meanings but also uses

various other unstructured or flexible methods to capture these

cultural shared meanings which are forever changing. It also

enables a holistic appreciation of a particular social entity, i.e.,

describing its political, social, economic and cultural context . 

Research tradition

The particular variety of qualitative research I used in the study

reflected the modernist tradition coined by the two esteemed

qualitative researchers, Denzin and Lincoln (2000). According to

Schurink (2003) the modernist phase (from the 1940s to the

1970s) built on the works of the traditional period, social realism

and nat uralism, and still prevails in recent studies is

characterised by interpreting reality by means of formalised

qualitative methods and by applying rigorous data analysis (e.g.

analytical induction and grounded theory). He, (Schurink

(2003) points out that strategies of inquiry range from grounded

theory and the case study, to methods of historical, biographical,

ethnographic and clinical research. 

Research perspective/paradigm 

In line with my social constructionist viewpoint within the

modernist tradition, I applied the general paradigm of

symbolic interactionism as a guide for designing and

executing the study. This research paradigm emphasises the

diversity of social roles and subcultures, as well as the manner

in which participants construct roles and identities through

interaction with others (see Schurink, 2003). Thus the staff and

stakeholders of the airline industry tended to develop their

viewpoints of the nat ure of their work based on their

interactions with each other and other significant people;

resulting in “shared behaviours or common definitions”. The

paradigm also highlights the important concept of “self”, a

construct not regarded as being situated inside the individual

like personality traits, motives and needs (see Schurink, 2004).

People view themselves in relation to their interactions with

others and how others perceive them. 

Research design

I used case study as research strategy/design. According to

Zonabend (1992) a case study gives special attention to

completeness in observation, reconstruction and analysis of a

case or cases under study. In undertaking a case study the views

of the “actors” in the case under study are incorporated. Case

studies can be particularly useful when researching behavioural

and social trends amongst small groups of people or even single

individuals. They may be single or multiple-case designs, where

a multiple design follows a replication rather than sampling

logic (Tellis, 1997). Case studies may also take the form of

exploratory studies, explanatory studies and descriptive studies

(Yin, 1993; Tellis, 1997).

In the case of exploratory studies, research is normally

conducted before the research questions and hypotheses have

been defined (Tellis, 1997). They are often done in instances

where an area of research is new or uncharted.  

Research methodology

Research setting 

This research study was undertaken within a large South

African airline. There were eight functional departments

within this organisation. Each department was responsible for

its own training and conducted its training activities

independently from the other departments. There were a total

of 47 employees who were categorised as trainers or facilitators.

In 2004, the training budget for the divisions amounted to

R91.8 million. 

TRAINING AND LEARNING SOLUTION 31



TABLE 3

SUMMARY OF TRAINING COURSES (ADAPTED FROM TRAINING

RESEARCH DOCUMENT 2004)

Course Departments (Schools) Conducting

Training

Customer Service Plan Safety and Service

Customer Service Plan GPS

Customer Service Plan Cargo

Customer Service Plan Voyager

Customer Service Plan Reservations

Touch Points – Economy Class Safety and Service

Touch Points – Premium Class Safety and Service

Customer Service Touch Points GPS

Cargo Touch Points Cargo

Touch Points Voyager

Customer Touch Points Reservations

Crew Resource Management Safety and Service

Crew Resource Management Operations

AxsRes- Check-in staff GPS

AxsRes (5 days) Reservations

AxsRes (10 days) Reservations

Airport Passenger Handling GPS

Passenger Handling Reservations

Telephone Technique GPS

Telephone Etiquette Reservations

Personal Business Writing Corporate Development Centre

Business Writing Skills Reservations

On-job Coaching Corporate Development Centre

On-job Coaching Safety and Service

The organisation’s systems in training were clearly fragmented

and not well linked to its overall strategic plan. More particularly

the following core problems were identified: (i) a lack of

alignment of training and development to the strategic needs of

the company leading to inappropriate and/or a lack of skills, and

(ii) waste created in the decentralised training structures resulting

in increased costs, duplication, ineffectiveness, differing quality

standards and a lack of standard evaluation practices.

The organisation’s training structure was contrived according to

its specified functional areas. Each functional area had a

training unit which operated in isolation of each other in terms

of its training and development strategy. Training was executed

in a decentralised manner and each of the training units

developed its own plans and strategies to train employees. 

Academy Schools

School of leadership Commercial School

� Executive and leadership � Specialised product, systems & 

development technical training: GPS, CC, Cargo, 

� Management & supervisory Voyager, Reservations, Avmed.

development � Legislative kknowledge

� Coaching and mentoring � Core competencies:

� Core organisational � Customer service

competencies – customer � Safety & emergency

service, behaviours that � Sales and marketing

reinforce company values � Call centre skills

and culture, generic � Aviation medicine

competencies, teams � Passenger loyalty, reward &

� Supporting EE and diversity recognition

� Supporting organisational change � Common product & systems 

� Bursaries knowledge

� Business and industry 

knowledge

� Practitioner development

School of Flight Operations School of Aircraft Maintenance

� Fleet training � Apprenticeship training – avionics

� Pilot training – conversion & & mechanical

recurrent � Refresher training

� Cadet training � Focus is on engine maintenance,

� Safety and emergency procedures avionics and interface

� Legislative kknowledge � 3rd party systems, programmes 

� Aviation authority compliance & licensing

� OCC training � Safety and emergency procedures

� Knowledge of regulations and 

llegislation

Figure 2: Training Structure of the South African airline

firm (Adapted f rom Training and Research Document, 2004)

The Operations Division was divided into the following areas: (i)

safety and service; (ii) operations training; (iii) airline control

training; (iv) pilot training/ simulator, and (v) global passenger

services (GPS) (Training and Research Document, 2004.) 

An assessment of current training practices was undertaken and

the following were highlighted: (i) training is not strategic or

transformative, i.e. it is too rooted in the status quo; there is too

little consideration of how training will support business

improvement and transformation; (ii) training across schools

does not support organisational change; (iii) training is

dispersed and fragmented; (iv) there is limited coordination,

steering and learning across schools, which results in large

quality variations, duplication and waste, and limited cross

learning and assimilation of best practice; (v) these problems are

evident in relation to planning, designing, scheduling,

procuring, managing, quality assuring and evaluating training;

(vi) much training is school (versus demand) driven, which

coincides with the somewhat limited ad hoc involvement in

most schools; (vii) learning and development is not integrated

with the Human Resource strategy and systems (Resolve Group

Presentation, 2004).

As an employee of the organization at the time, at senior-

management level, I had the opportunity to interact with

“gatekeepers” and to reach an agreement with key figureheads to

undertake the study. Prior to the commencement of the

fieldwork I contacted the Head of the Training Division in which

I work, as it was vital to gain permission and support for the

study. In a meeting with the training department head, I

discussed the nature of what I intended to research and the

relevance of the study to my particular division. This was

important as research involving corporate universities was

presented to the organization a few months earlier by the

Resolve Group. This allowed for ‘buy-in’ into the concept as the

Resolve Group research highlighted serious problems in training

and my research could potentially provide a solution(s) to those

problems. My research was an extension of the Resolve Group

findings and has strategic implications for the firm. As a result I

received the approval of the Training head.  My department head

then suggested that I start highlighting who would be

appropriate subjects for the research and made some suggestions

as well as directing me to the Human Resources division to

obtain further information. After liaising with the Human

Resources division, I was able to draw up a list of potential

participants. Thereafter, initial contacts were made

telephonically and appointments were set with these potential

participants for face-to-face interviews prior to the

commencement of the focus group. 

Sampling data sources 

The research participants chosen for the study were selected

from a cross section of employees in the Johannesburg office.

The reasons for selecting Johannesburg as location were two-

fold. Firstly, the Johannesburg office was considered the Head

Office and secondly, the Johannesburg region provided me with

a convenient location in order to conduct the focus group

discussions as I reside in the area. 

As was pointed out the airline organisation had a complex

organisational structure; necessitating including managers at

executive level, senior manager level and middle management

level in the study. I applied theoretical sampling to identif y key

managers to take part in the study. More specifically, I selected

research participants from both managerial and non-managerial

backgrounds. 

The non-managerial employees were selected on the basis that

they were employee representatives. There were a large number

of managers and this presented some difficulty in securing a

suitable sample. As pointed out earlier 47 employees are trainers

or facilitators. The Human Resource department was also

contacted, to check if these were the key managers and non-

PILLAY, WIJNBEEK32



management employees to interview. Table 4, provides an

outline of the research participants involved in the focus group

discussion. 

TABLE 4

SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

Respondent Position

1. Executive Vice President-Operations

2. Vice President-Customer Services

3. Executive Manager-Training

4. Senior Manager

5. Senior Manager

6. Senior Manager

7. Middle Manager

8. Middle Manager

9. Non-managerial Employee

10. Non-managerial Employee

Various methods are available when one conducts a qualitative

study. I now outline those I used in the study. 

Unstructured inter views

Interviewing is one of the most common and most powerful

methods used when one strives towards understanding human

beings (Fontana & Frey, 2000). Interviews are commonly used

within qualitative research studies. When I made the initial

contacts with the research participants, it was deemed

appropriate to utilise unstructured interviews in order to obtain

a more open-ended approach with the interviewees. This

method allowed for easier communication and interaction

between the interviewees and me. 

I briefed the interviewees as to the purpose of the study and took

care not to highlight the corporate university concept. This was

important as I did not want participants searching out

information prior to the focus group session as their views and

experiences might be affected. It was highlighted that training

and development was the topic under investigation and that I

wanted to review their thoughts and experiences. These initial

interviews only involved brief note taking, as the concern was

more in getting consent and participation from the interviewees.

Some of the information obtained during this phase was then

used to develop the schedule for the focus group discussion,

particularly questions that related to general training.

Human Documents

Documents are also a valuable source for information and I used

documents of the company such as internal training manuals

and training policy documents. 

Participant obser vation

In participant observation, the researcher is typically engaged in

experiencing the research setting while at the same time trying

to understand it through personal experience, observations, and

interactions and discussions with participants (see Schurink,

2003a). Participant observation can take place with the observer

taking on different roles. These roles include, full participant,

participant-as-observer, observer-as-participant and full-fledged

observer (see Schurink, 2003a). In addition, participant

observation may be covert or overt. For example, a researcher

may opt being overt, that is being transparent by informing his

or her research participants about the study. My familiarity with

the research participants and strong involvement within the

training division enabled me to act overtly as participant-as-

observer and observer-as-participant. 

Finally, I used focus groups as it combines the advantages of

both observation and face-to-face interviews. 

Focus groups

Kreuger (1994) as well as Coldwell and Herbst (2004) express the

advantages of focus groups as the ability to quickly and reliably

get common impressions, an efficient way to get much range

and depth of information in a short period of time, and lastly,

being useful in conveying key information about programmes.

Coldwell and Herbst (2004) explain that the challenges of focus

groups lie in them being tough to analyse peoples’ viewpoints,

the difficulty to find a good facilitator, and the scheduling of the

focus group at a time suitable for the research participants. 

I planned the focus group session for a time and venue suitable

to all participants. I also developed a focus group schedule to

ensure that certain issues were covered during the discussion.

Hence, the discussion was based on a semi-structured format to

facilitate both discussion and structure. 

It took four weeks to make initial and subsequent contacts with

research participants and to organise the focus group session.

The interviews involved 10 participants; it was conducted in a

comfortable and relaxed manner, and lasted approximately 2

hours. 

It was necessary to provide a definition of a corporate university

used in the discussion. In line with the definition espoused by

Gould (2005, p. 508) I defined focus groups as “a formal system

of training that exists within a company…The university

provides training initiatives that is based on company needs and

individual needs…this is not a t ypical training

department…instead, the focus is on continuous learning…the

corporate university is an integral part of the organisation and it

plays a strategic role in the organisation” (Focus group

discussions, 2005). 

I ensured to the best of my ability that patterns in the

experiences and perspectives of the research participants were

uncovered as well as similarities in opinions that the research

participants shared. However, I was also looking out for

“deviant” or “negative cases”. 

Transcribed taped focus group session

The focus group session was taped and was later transcribed.

Thereafter, I grouped further notes based on the entire

transcribed session according to four categories, namely,

executive management, senior management, middle

management and non-managerial employee to review

differences and similarities of the opinions of the research

participants at various management levels. The transcriptions

were considered to be a true reflection of the discussion that

ensued and was stored as hard-copy.

Field Notes

I captured the data by writing field notes during the initial

individuals interview sessions and the focus group session. This

enabled me to identif y areas of agreement between the research

participants and any differing opinions that emerged during the

focus group discussion. The field notes were compiled utilising

the typology suggested by Schurink (2003b) and included

observational notes (notes on what happened with little, if any

interpretation provided); theoretical notes (self-conscious,

systematic attempts to derive meanings from the observational

notes) and methodological notes.

These notes also ensured that there was consistency in

information provided by the transcriptions and the field notes. 

Data analysis

I obtained valuable and varied data from the research

participants’ experiences and views regarding training in the

company and the application of the corporate university. I

managed the data procedurally according to the format

TRAINING AND LEARNING SOLUTION 33



presented by Schurink (2003c), i.e., firstly, I recorded the data,

secondly, I categorised them according to themes and topics;

thirdly, I assessed patterns of understandings and finally, I

linked these themes to the airline industry. The main themes

identified were general viewpoints and opinions about the

corporate university. I systemised all the data manually. More

specifically I worked through the field notes and the

transcriptions of the focus group and categorised the position of

the interviewees in the organisation, their general

understanding of training, their knowledge and views of the

corporate university and their willingness to participate in the

focus group. 

FINDINGS

Due to the complexit y of the organisational structure,

particularly at management level, I now present the findings by

splitting the research participants’ into 4 categories, namely,

executive management, senior management middle management

and non-managerial employees. 

Executive management

Executive Management included Executive Vice President-

Operations, Vice President-Customer Services and 

Executive Manager-Training. These managers were primarily

responsible for strategic decision-making within their

functions at board level. It was apparent from the discussion

that all three executives shared similar viewpoints of 

training in general. Training was described as being a 

critical and strategic function that aims to develop and up 

skill workers. Other views were: 

� Training serves to improve the effectiveness of individuals by

the work that they deliver…Training is important to the

organisation as it drives a learning culture. 

� Training is a critical and strategic function to the

organisation … it enables all employees to perform their jobs

more effectively. 

� Training is meant to up skill and develop all employees…it is

critical to an organisation’s sustainability.

Training is offered to both managerial and non-managerial staff.

The general consensus in this group was that employees should

be chosen for training on the basis of performance measures as

well as developmental needs. It was also suggested that

employees and their respective managers should be involved in

determining training needs. It is interesting to note that at this

level, all three managers felt that training was done on an ad hoc

basis with no specific company and policy guidelines in place. 

In addition, training was perceived to be highly fragmented and

reactive with no specific link been made to the overall strategic

goals of the organisation. Some of the responses included: 

� Employees are chosen for training in a reactive way…it is

based purely on numbers for training as opposed to purpose

for training. 

� Employees should be chosen for training based on

developmental needs or the performance management

system as this should provide information towards existing

shortcomings.

In terms of the corporate university concept, all managers at this

level had heard of it. Two felt it related to best practices in terms

of learning and development. 

An interesting finding at executive level was that the Executive

Vice President-Operations understood the corporate university

concept as applicable to management employees only; it was

perceived as a useful tool to sustain long-term learning and

development. The following were representative comments: 

� My understanding of this approach would seem pertinent or

relevant to management employees…My understanding of

this term would be to have an integrated strategic training

and development focus on specified areas of training such as

technical, leadership, pilot training and cabin-crew training. 

� The corporate university concept or approach is a good one

as it emphasises an alignment of training and development

functions within organisations.

There was general consensus that the concept needed to have

“buy-in” and that employees need to be made aware of the

purpose and intent of the corporate university. 

The following reflected typical views here: 

� Yes, all employees must understand the strategy, the process

and deliverables of such an approach in order for the concept

to work. 

� If marketed and communicated properly, it will be well

received. 

In essence, the executive level supported the idea of the

corporate university and as one executive aptly suggested: 

� Corporate universities should be able to develop core

organisational competencies to promote people performance,

service excellence, customer and employee satisfaction and

employer status … it should be run by a chief learning officer

where all training and development resides.

Senior Management

Senior management were tactical within their specific functions

and were not represented at board level. Within this category,

views about training in general were quite similar. All three

senior managers felt that training carried with it, a need to

develop employees and link them to the organisation’s overall

strategic plan. Training was provided in-house for both

managerial and non-managerial employees. The general view was

that performance measures were critical in ascertaining training

needs. Senior management also felt that due consideration must

be given to the employees’ development plan. 

� Development. Yes, it is important to the organisation …

however we are working with our corporate training

department that seem to be providing training with

fragmented skills. 

� Training is vital if you want to compete as a world class

organisation … as long as there is no links to business

objectives training will remain disjointed or irrelevant. 

Unlike the executive level, the senior managers in this focus

group felt that the immediate managers or supervisors in the

department should manage the selection of employees for

training. 

� It is important for employees to have some input into their

training needs however the final decision should rest with the

actual managers involved.

� Immediate supervisors should make recommendations to the

executive according to legislative guidelines and company

policy.

This emphasises little interaction between the employees

themselves and management as to what training is required.

Senior management felt that the current training system was not

clearly linked to departmental and organisational goals. 

� No, as a financial person my needs are not really taken care

off … furthermore finance skills levels are very low amongst

employees and more focussed training should be given to

targeted individuals.

� The Human Resources department needs more training than

others … there are always complaints on human resource

processes and staff are not aware of legislative changes and

updates that affects human resource policies and procedures.

The word “fragmented” was used to describe the current

approach to training. Senior managers also highlighted an

important issue of training being irrelevant for a staff member

or department. 

PILLAY, WIJNBEEK34



Some comments in this regard were:

� Training does not follow a structured approach with no real

thought being given to the process

� Training is not planned and occurs on a ad hoc basis and is

not linked to the department’s objectives or company goals …

it is highly fragmented.

In terms of the corporate university concept, only one senior

manager had heard of the term. The other two had to be given

further information in order to ascertain their opinions about

applying the corporate university concept to their organisation.

Senior managers felt that it would work well if its purposes were

communicated clearly. 

As one senior manager remarked:

� The return on investment on such an initiative must be

shared by all. 

The senior management group showed a positive response to the

concept provided that there is structured coaching and

mentoring systems in place to support learning and

development.

Middle Management

Middle management had an operation focus and refers to those

managers that reported to senior management. Managers at this

level were in constant and direct contact with other employees.

As these managers had good knowledge at a functional level as

well as knowledge that were employee relevant they provided

an important link between employees and senior management.

It was apparent from the discussion that not many

discrepancies existed bet ween the middle management

research participants. 

The interviewees all agreed on the general purpose for training

and development, namely to provide knowledge and improve

business performance. 

� Training should be targeted at employees on a continuous

basis to ensure that learning becomes a vital aspect of their

presence in a department.

� Effective training, leads to more effective performance from

the employee, however, the benefits extend to the

organisation as a whole because this translates into better

business performance.

Middle management felt that training should be job specific,

based on the requirements of individuals to perform more

efficiently at their job. Two participants commented:

� Training does not seem appropriate, as there is no structure

or process in place … people go for training because they are

told to. 

� Training should be job specific but also tie in with the needs

of the individual. 

It was expressed that the final decision as to the kind of 

training that should be provided and who should be trained

should lie in the hands of the manager. Middle management

participants felt that their needs to be more structure in

educating staff as to the guidelines of the training available, the

selection process and criteria.  

� Managers should be responsible for selecting trainees,

however the ad hoc basis by which it is done is ineffective …

also there is limited forums and discussion about training

policy. 

� I have not heard or seen anything about the policy … infact,

all I know about is a bursary process.

Middle management participants appeared to be unaware of the

training processes and could not decide where training should

be directed and what type of training was needed. With regard

to corporate university, they never heard of the term. They

seemed to caution against long term structured training, simply

due to the ever-increasing changes within the industry. The

group also felt that it would be a good idea although it would

have to be explained properly and reviewed continuously to

keep up with trends. Finally they felt that this type of training

should improve performance drastically and should lead to a

noticeable change in trained employees. Two participants put it

as follows:

� I have not heard of a corporate university, only what you have

told me … if it is explained clearly it could be a vehicle to

promote focussed training and development. 

� The concept is a useful one, especially for front-line staff that

requires specific training.

Employee-Non-Managerial

Non-managerial staff including employees such as cabin

crewmembers and administrators was selected because 

they represented employees. They expressed similar

sentiments towards training and its purpose within the

organisation and felt that it would provide knowledge 

and learning, which would aid in developing staff. Comments

included:

� Training helps to develop people within their current jobs.

� Training makes employees more knowledgeable as they are

involved in a process of learning. 

The participants felt that the selection of training should lie with

the managers; although one expressed the view that non-

managerial staff should not be ignored and only managerial staff

be sent for training. The following excerpts were particularly

striking:

� I am not sure about problems in training, but I do think that

supervisors need to have more training.

� The technical department requires more training, especially

those in non-managerial positions.

They also showed no knowledge of the training process and

structure that exist within the organisation. They felt that

training should be directed to hands on staff members,

especially those who interact with customers. 

� I have no idea about training policy … I don’t think I have

seen anything … but it is important that the people to whom

we report directly have relationships with us and also train us. 

� Training is not done properly…you are told on the day to 

go for training … there is a feeling of confusion as we are 

not really in touch with the people that train us … we are 

not quite sure who they are and they don’t seem to

understand what we need.

With regard to the corporate university, none of the participants

in Non-managerial staff category were aware of the term. They

believed it to be a good idea, but stressed the need that

explanation and some education about the structure and process

needed to be directed at all staff to ensure its success. Comments

included:

� It will be good … it can help employees but senior managers

must tell us what it is about and the benefits of it.

� I think it can help in learning better things about the airline

industry but everyone needs to understand it first.

Non-managerial staff easily rationalised the improvement of

training and development the corporate university should bring

about, but stressed the need for education and explanation of the

process and that selection criteria need to be developed for all

levels of staff. 

It was believed:

� It will help to improve skills and develop workers, but people

have to know what it is about.

� If people can get to go for training and understand the

training, they can perform better.

TRAINING AND LEARNING SOLUTION 35



DISCUSSION

The corporate university model provided the impetus to

launch the ‘Training and Learning Academy’. Within this

Academy, all training activities would fall under a single

structure. This would allow for the centralisation of training

activities, which could assist alleviating disjointed training

taking place at various functional areas in the organisation.

This supported the views of the participants with regard to

their believing that training was fragmented. Created with

specific governing procedures and structures the Academy

would infuse a philosophy of learning and development

understood by all employees. 

The major benefit of centralised learning is the cost savings that

result from standardisation, central reporting, record keeping

and quality control (Ellis & Mauldin, 2002). It is also suggested

by these scholars that the main benefits of decentralised learning

relates to the large amount of people that can be trained within

a variety of areas. 

What is apparent here is that both approaches have significant

benefits. Hence, I believe that the merits of both approaches

can be used within the corporate university setting. Support

for the “Hybrid Model” is evidenced in the work of Ellis and

Mauldin (2002) who contend that the best model is one that

captures the strengths of both models while effectively

managing the relationship bet ween corporates and local

training functions. 

This model can be implemented successfully if there are

sufficient resources and a commonalit y in the training

objectives of employees in the organisation. This illustrates a

link with the second problem identified namely, waste created in

the decentralised training structures resulting in increased costs,

duplication, ineffectiveness, different quality standards and a

lack of standard evaluation practices.

“Centralised versus decentralised learning? The most effective

enterprise learning management and human capital

development system is the right combination of both” (Ellis &

Mauldin, 2002). Hence, the combination of a centralised and

decentralised system needs to be incorporated within the

corporate university. I already alluded to the fragmented and

highly decentralised approach to training and development of

the airline industry. At this stage it is vital to centralise certain

key strategic elements (overall learning philosophy, governance,

core curriculum design and development, policies and

procedure regarding registration, administration, measurement,

marketing and distance learning) and decentralise other

activities such as site of delivery (Training and Development,

1998, p.40). 

Since the focus of a corporate university is not only short-term,

the Academy can focus on continuous education and training.

This would benefit both the employee and the organisation

because training is more focussed, relevant and all employees

are eligible for training. This is especially important as the

research findings suggested that an ad hoc approach was

largely used for training with no specific link to the

organisation’s overall goals. 

The Academy could also provide opportunities for learning at

higher levels of management. Since such individuals would

typically seek out training from a formalised education

institution the Academy could assist in providing such

opportunities within the organisational structure. Non-

managerial employees did suggest that problems in training were

found at the managerial level. This is an interesting viewpoint

and reiterates the importance of training at all levels within the

organisation.

The Academy could provide the basis for identif ying training

gaps and could therefore review current trends to best inform

as to what type of training and learning would be beneficial

to employees. Incorporating the Academy would illustrate a

commitment to the company’s greatest assets, its people. It

could fulfil a more proactive role and could become a major

differentiating factor. The strategic focus of training

initiatives accompanying the implementation of the model

could bring about cost savings of up to R7 million. This could

establish a link between strategic training policy and the need

to become competitive that was not perceived by the research

participants.

The Academy normally sets in place a continuous training and

learning imperative that could benefit the organisation

immensely. The research findings indicated a rather non-targeted

approach to training, where managers simply select people 

for training. 

The corporate university model being implemented through the

development of the Academy may be met with some objections.

This is not unusual where change is being implied. Employees

and management may not readily “buy-in” to the concept, and

may view the Academy as ‘judging their performance on the

ability to participate in learning, as opposed to (in part) their

present skills. The merits of such an entity might be questioned

and management might be concerned particularly about the

kinds of decision-making power that the Academy would enjoy 

Also, a concern could be raised about how resources may be

allocated to the Academy. These are pertinent issues, but

provided the Academy is created with proper governance,

policies and structures, negative connotations associated with

it such as a lack of buy-in and distrust of the Academy’s

purpose, should be largely removed. The Academy should work

if all its functions are integrated. This does not imply that

training is the same for everybody but that its diverse divisions

need to fall under a centralised structure that is well structured

and co-ordinated.

The Academy can facilitate linkages with other stakeholders such

as universities which, could in turn, assist in the development of

training and learning programmes. For example, the Academy

can provide on-site training and link its programmes to specific

standards set out by the South African Qualifications Association

and the National Qualifications Framework. The Academy’s

“graduates” could be considered for career advancement, which

would show a link between training and development for

employees. The Academy would not be a training division; but

instead a formal structure playing a strategic role in the learning

and development of employees. Derived from the internal

PILLAY, WIJNBEEK36

Figure 3: The ‘Training and Learning Academy’ schools



investigation by the Resolve Group (2004) the Airline could then

have the Academy structured around 4 key areas including: a

School of Leadership, A Commercial School, a School of Flight

Operations and a School of Aircraft Maintenance. These schools

are indicated in Figure 3.

CONCLUSION

This qualitative-explorative study utilised focus groups,

participant observation and documents to obtain information

about training and the corporate university concept first hand

from employees in a local Airline. 

I did my best from the outset to cover quality considerations in

the design and execution of the study. More particularly, I

ensured as far as possible "soundness" by achieving

authenticity, credibility, triangulation and member validation

(Schurink 2005; Creswell 2003; Daymon & Holloway 2002).

Authenticity was considered as an important factor and in order

to achieve this, field notes were taken during the interview

sessions as well as the focus group session. In addition, 

the focus group session was recorded and transcribed.

Credibility was achieved through establishing vital contacts 

with various department heads and liaison with the human

resources division. 

Various methods of data collection (triangulation) was used 

to lend greater credibilit y and authenticit y to the data 

being collected. Finally, member validation was achieved by

providing the research participants with focus group session

findings to check for correctness and whether it was a true

reflection of the discussion. 

Although I believe that the research findings are of pretty 

good quality, no social science research is infallible (see Mouton

& Marais 1990). This most certainly applied to the present 

study. One of the major shortcomings of this research is 

that it included a single focus group discussion amongst a 

few employees.  

Regardless of these shortcomings the findings and insights I

obtained not only have implications for academia but also for

practice and policy. Adopting a social constructionist

viewpoint revealing and describing employees’ everyday

subjective experiences provided scientific building blocks of

their constructions shaped by their interactions with

colleagues and others enabling them to attach meaning to their

situation and the applicability of the academic university in

the Airways where they worked. This is particularly important

since it adds to the current literature within the Human

Resources, the Industrial Psychology and the Leadership fields

and presents the opportunity for further empirically driven

work in this area. 

Methodologically, by encasing the study in a qualitative

research style which is still not regarded the mainstream

research style locally its contributions in this particular study

area is illustrated. 

Regarding practice and policy, the employees’ views of a ‘new’

training paradigm provided greater insight into management

and employee perceptions of training. Corporates can

strategically change training by the creation of a physical

structure and entity that would result in continuous training

and learning. The corporate university model carries with it a

significant amount of advantage in terms of training and

development. The academy build on the corporate university

model not only proposes a proactive approach for this airline

but could contribute tying in both strategic imperatives and

individual needs.  

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