Reference no: EM133305179

Assignment: The Corporate University - "University" As the integration is reaching its final stages, and the communication gap remains, the Corporate University of everis is facing its own set of concerns. The first one being: What will the new identity of the University be? What form will the new structure take? How will the processes change? As the learning strategies and approaches of the training should reflect the learning culture of the company, how changes are executed across the company has a major impact on everis University. This was a major question mark hanging over the department. everis University went through preliminary brand changes, prior to the official rebranding that were completed in October 2021, after everis officially completed its rebranding under Hinode IT. everis' Corporate University initially adopted only the name "University". As in the past, the everis brand colour palette had a shade of purple that matched with a shade of purple found in the Hinode IT brand colour palette, this was the colour initially chosen by the "University". Then, however, a decision was taken that the "University" would no longer be referred to as a Corporate University, but instead as a Learning Community. Valeria was aware that this would again require both a change of department colours and the logo. The change should also be reflected in the structure of the department. Becoming a Learning Community, as the term signifies, suggests that the training provided by the department would no longer be characterised by one-way learning. The new concept would not involve employees learning from a trainer or the department developing online courses that train an employee. Instead, the idea of a community is emphasized, in which all parties involved support and contribute to the learning process. Whether or not the initial shade of purple selected to be used in the Corporate University will continue to be used after the rebranding is still an open question. It is being considered among rebranding options for the Learning Community. However, rebranding designs are being created by an outsourced marketing and branding company that helps companies rebrand during such transitions. One of Valeria's colleagues is responsible for working together with this outsourcing company, which was assigned to create three rebranding proposals for the new Learning Community. Valeria received the proposals from her colleague and along with other members of the department This Learning Material is authorized for use only by GCSC 2022 participants, until December 10, 2022. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. © 2022 Global Case Study Challenge. All Rights Reserved. page 11 was asked to vote anonymously on the preferred options. There was also an option to leave comments. The final decision has not yet been taken as the colleague responsible for making the decision is on holiday. Valeria considers the organisation's inability to make timely to be an area where there is room for improvement. Additionally, Valeria is concerned with the lack of transparency when it comes to decisions taken within the company. Even after a decision has been taken on the rebranding, it is unlikely that changes will be implemented before the official October integration and until all the departments are aligned in this integration process and transition to Hinode IT branding. Valeria is a little worried that when the official rebranding date arrives, certain changes will have been decided by top management alone. She suggests that if a decision is passed stipulating that the whole company is required to use the same Hinode IT logo, including the soon-to-be Learning Community, then even the new logo voted on within the department will not be used. The process of change that the once Corporate University is currently undergoing is also the reason behind a move to "unbrand" teaching materials. Valeria explains that logos have been erased from all the teaching materials and online presentations, while the everis colours are still used. This "unbranding" of the teaching materials is adding additional workload within the department. Busy teaching courses and trying to "unbrand" training materials, before the possible rebranding in October, Valeria is concerned about her workload. The academic year at the University/Learning Community starts in September and continues until June. While on occasion there may still be some activities in July, the department usually uses the summer months to produce new materials, create new courses, and for other activities. Before the official October 2021 rebranding, there is still a significant amount of additional work to do. Valeria is aware that all of her colleagues have the same amount of workload and believes that her boss may pass a decision to employ some of her colleagues to work solely on rebranding activities for a specific amount of time. As of yet this has not been formally communicated. The training and teaching sessions of everis University have always strongly embedded the core values of everis, which permeate through all teaching materials and all the training approaches. Becoming Hinode IT, Valeria expects much of this to change. Training approaches are very likely to then take on different formats. There is a strong likelihood that in addition to organizational values changing, relevant employment categories and careers may also change. This would then require another set of actions needed from the everis University staff. Valeria highlights that the theoretical components of the training may remain the same, but the approaches and examples used will have to be adapted to the post-integration situation. Valeria also explains that there is already an Hinode IT Learning Community. However, the former everis University will not be merging with them as a result of the newly revealed context of the integration. everis will become a part of Hinode IT EMEAL. This region includes all the markets of everis and Hinode IT combined located in Europe and South America. The new Learning Community will thus be serving the EMEAL region. In practical terms, this means that they will not be providing services to the other regions of Hinode IT. Valeria thinks that this explains why the Learning This Learning Material is authorized for use only by GCSC 2022 participants, until December 10, 2022. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. © 2022 Global Case Study Challenge. All Rights Reserved. page 12 Communities are not merging at the moment. Personally, Valeria thinks it would be more beneficial to have a global Learning Community that facilitates the exchange of knowledge, intercultural interaction, and sharing of ideas. "If you really want to create synergies, you need to involve everyone around your company", highlights Valeria.

Question: How might a change in name from "Corporate University" to a "Learning Community" impact the learning culture? What different values might be associated with these two concepts?