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The main purpose of the corporate university is to act as a platform for business development (Leading article, THES , August 23). As the main learning objectives are a response to the competitive nature of international business, this is an area of learning that few companies would wish to delegate.

Any company trying to emulate a traditional university has lost the plot. The main challenge facing corporations is about managing the external intellectual supply chain to meet their changing learning needs. Some European higher education institutions are involved in working with corporations. Both sides must realise that corporate degrees are one part of a wider set of motivational issues, and that significant new cultures, career and organisational adjustments have to be made. For those institutions with "new school" thinking, this landscape is filled with opportunities, not threats.

Richard Dealtry
Intellectual Partnerships Consulting