Islands of Practice: Conflict and a Lack of ‘Community’ in Situated Learning

We examine how, in a utility company, existing practices and performance systems limited the scope of situated learning. We contribute to the understanding of situated learning by exploring how conflict, systems and artefacts also shape the trajectory of situated learning rather than just a sense of identity or meaningful participation. Systems and artefacts mediate interactions in organizations and potentially contribute to boundaries between teams, resulting in ‘islands of practice’ and stark variations in performance. This case study broadens our understanding of situated learning in organizations by challenging the relevance of ‘community’ in contemporary organizations where conflict and transience may be prevalent. We argue that practices and objects/artefacts are a fruitful way of researching organizational learning; situated learning in organizations is likely to be continually emerging against a constant battle to stabilize an appropriate set of practices that support the aims of management.