Opinion
GE's Crotonville sale signals sunset of traditional corporate campuses
Summary
- The relevance of corporate academies is waning, both globally and in India amid the growing use of technology, emergence of 5G, and sophisticated e-learning platforms
GE (formerly General Electric) recently sold its iconic 60-acre Crotonville campus, established in 1956, for $22 million. This facility, once the heart of GE’s corporate culture, thrived during Jack Welch's tenure when managers yearned to network with top executives and immerse themselves in the company's culture. But following GE's recent segmentation, Crotonville's significance dwindled.
This trend is not isolated to GE. IBM sold its Armonk campus to Chinese company, HNA, some time ago. Similar dispositions are occurring across the industry. American multinational conglomerate 3M is divesting its 600-acre retreat centre in Minnesota, and Boeing seeking a buyer for its 285-acre leadership academy near St. Louis.
These moves signify a marked shift from the once-popular model of in-house corporate universities, which emerged in the early 2000s as strategies for talent development and to stem attrition of managers.
Indian companies too adopted the concept of dedicated training campuses. In 1959, the visionary J.R.D. Tata founded the Tata Management Training Centre in Pune to advance career development and instill company values. Similarly, the Infosys Leadership Institute was established in Mysuru in 2001 under N.R. Narayana Murthy's guidance to train world-class managers and leaders who would then go on to lead the company. It trains about 4,000 Infosys managers every year.
In fact, in the past, being selected for such training was an honour for employees. But times have changed.
Changing times
The relevance of these corporate academies is waning, both globally and in India. The growing use of technology, emergence of 5G, and sophisticated e-learning platforms that can facilitate such employee development at a fraction of the cost otherwise required, have reduced the necessity of maintaining such physical campuses.
Consider the case of TMTC. Moving with time, the Tata group has launched digital platform Tata Tomorrow University that offers online learning resources.
Besides, the best business schools in India and worldwide now provide short-term executive education programmes as open and customised options.
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While traditional management development programmes are typically designed for a week or two, executive education courses are longer, stretching up to a few months. Today, executive education is also a major source of revenue for business schools, apart from core MBA programmes.
In almost all the major business schools in the country, from the Indian School of Business to the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode, thousands of managers are trained every year.
These programmes, often tailor-made for specific companies, are increasingly preferred over internal training. They are delivered in various formats, including hybrid models, and contribute significantly to the revenue of these institutions. These programmes often rank highly in global indices such as the Financial Times rankings, underscoring their quality and appeal.
Additionally, several large Indian business groups have established their own universities, such as Mahindra University in Hyderabad, OP Jindal University in Sonipat, and Shiv Nadar University in Noida. Partly philanthropic, these also act as a feeder institution of talent for their business groups.
The closures of iconic corporate campuses, while signalling the end of an era for several companies, are emblematic of a willingness to shed legacy baggage and embrace far advanced ways of leadership development and managerial training. The transformation to digital and academic alternatives paves the way for a dynamic and accessible approach to developing future leaders.
