Lifelong learning in the workplace: the knowledge management role of corporate universities in China

In a VUCA context, ensuring quality education and lifelong learning is critical for individuals and organizations. Corporate universities have emerged as organizational learning hubs that align employee development with strategic enterprise goals, addressing gaps left by traditional universities. This is especially pertinent in emerging markets like China, where rapid digitalization and industrial transformation require continuous upskilling and reskilling. The study investigates how Chinese corporate universities empower organizational lifelong learning, seeking to uncover internal mechanisms and best practices that strengthen competitive advantage. Guided by the knowledge-based view, the research aims to clarify how corporate universities connect multiple stakeholders, integrate multidimensional elements of knowledge, and translate these into enhanced organizational capabilities, vitality, and performance.

The literature positions corporate universities as unique organizational structures for building intellectual capital and driving lifelong learning, with definitions emphasizing strategic alignment, knowledge creation, and educational roles. Corporate universities differ from traditional universities and training centers through their strategic integration and knowledge management functions, extending services to internal and external stakeholders and sometimes operating with commercial objectives. Prior work highlights their roles in adult education efficiency, social innovation, and CSR, and adoption of modern pedagogies (e.g., modularization, personalization, flipped classrooms). From a knowledge management perspective, corporate universities are key to knowledge creation, transfer, and application, acting as vehicles for organizational learning and innovation. The knowledge-based view (KBV) underscores knowledge as a critical resource, with knowledge management capability mediating between internal/external knowledge flows and innovation outcomes. However, gaps persist: limited integrated frameworks describing how corporate universities empower organizational development, overemphasis on individual/executive empowerment rather than organizational mechanisms, and insufficient attention to emerging market contexts. The review motivates constructing a systematic path model detailing commonalities and differences in knowledge management behaviors of corporate universities in China.

Design: Qualitative, grounded theory approach using open, selective, and theoretical coding to develop a path model of how corporate universities empower organizational lifelong learning. Context and sampling: Focus on Chinese corporate universities (2019–2022) due to rapid digitalization and evolving corporate learning ecosystems. Case selection criteria: (1) Affiliated with an independent legal entity with names like 'university/college/school/institute'; (2) Chinese company serving internal or external stakeholders; (3) Operating >2 years; (4) Recognized for advanced practices/honors; (5) Diversity across industries and distinctive operations. Sample: Seven corporate universities—China Mobile University, China General Nuclear University, ZTE College, Dongfeng Nissan University, Sany Corporate University, China Resources Gas College, China Railway Fourth Bureau Group Corporate University—spanning information transmission, software/IT services, manufacturing, and infrastructure-related sectors, including five state-owned/central, one foreign-funded, and one private enterprise. Data collection: Semi-structured interviews with practitioners, scholars, and experts, plus internal documents, pictures, audio/video. Interview totals (examples): China General Nuclear University (5 interviews; 380 min), China Railway Fourth Bureau Group Corporate University (10 interviews; 417 min), China Resources Gas College (4 interviews; 479 min); others ranged 3–5 interviews. Analysis: NVivo 12 used for coding. Step 1 (Label extraction): line-by-line coding, excluding irrelevant content, producing 324 free nodes. Step 2 (Item extraction): refined to 76 conceptual nodes. Step 3 (Dimension extraction): merged into 22 subcategories and 13 categories, achieving theoretical saturation through cross-case constant comparison. The process yielded the data structure linking 1st-order concepts, 2nd-order themes, and four aggregate dimensions.

Corporate universities empower organizational lifelong learning through four aggregate dimensions: (1) Generating strategic knowledge via strategy formulation (participating in high-level seminars; assisting decision-making), strategy publicity (executing executive strategies), and strategy decoding (translating strategies into actionable projects). (2) Sharing business knowledge by fostering user-oriented knowledge (user value thinking; customer management capability), market insights (helping identify markets), and business innovation knowledge (enabling business iteration; stimulating team creativity). (3) Optimizing governance knowledge through efficient collaboration (develop organizational capabilities; collaboration mechanisms; organizational structure optimization), agile adaptation (agile customer adaptation and response), high-skilled training (cultivating high-quality, competitively advantaged employees), and governance of knowledge management (organizational authorization, reducing redundancy, incentive mechanisms). (4) Transforming cultural knowledge by converting mission, vision, and values into shared employee knowledge (common mission, vision, and value transformation), strengthening identification and engagement. Empirical examples include digital learning platforms supporting rapid knowledge sharing and capability development (e.g., China General Nuclear University’s E-learning platform), and strategic forums informing top management decisions (e.g., China Mobile Academy and Dongfeng Nissan University). Coding outcomes: 324 free nodes distilled into 76 conceptual nodes, 22 subcategories, 13 categories, and 4 aggregate dimensions, forming a path model that links knowledge types (strategic, business, governance, cultural) to organizational learning and performance.

Findings address the research question by detailing mechanisms through which corporate universities, as knowledge management hubs, enable organizational lifelong learning. Anchored in the KBV, the model shows how corporate universities integrate internal and external knowledge, align learning with strategy, and connect multiple stakeholders (employees, managers, suppliers, customers, partners). Strategic participation and decoding ensure knowledge is actionable; business knowledge sharing supports market responsiveness and innovation; governance knowledge optimizes structures, processes, and incentives; cultural knowledge fosters identity, engagement, and alignment with mission/vision/values. The results advance theory by specifying the types of knowledge and the paths through which they contribute to absorptive capacity, innovation, and performance, particularly in an emerging market context. Practically, the study underscores the importance of digital platforms, agile learning solutions, and cross-boundary knowledge flows for sustaining competitiveness.

The study develops a KBV-informed path model explaining how corporate universities empower organizational lifelong learning through four knowledge paths: strategic, business, governance, and cultural. It contributes by integrating dispersed insights into a coherent framework, revealing how corporate universities orchestrate knowledge processes that enhance capabilities, vitality, and performance. The work expands understanding of corporate universities’ enabling behaviors beyond descriptive accounts, highlighting their role in connecting stakeholders and aligning learning with strategy in China’s evolving context. Future research should test and refine the model across different industries and countries, include less successful or failed initiatives to balance insights, and further investigate capacity-building systems and digital transformation within corporate universities.

The sample comprises seven Chinese corporate universities recognized for advanced practices, which may bias insights toward successful cases and limit generalizability. Data privacy constrained access to sensitive materials (e.g., structures, real-time hierarchies, strategic documents). The focus on China and best practices may overlook failures and contextual nuances elsewhere. Future work should examine diverse contexts (emerging and developed economies), include cases with challenges or failures during transformation, and broaden data access to validate and extend the theoretical path model.