The relatively recent recognition by social scientists that the workplace is a major site for learning is stimulating researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds to investigate the nature of this learning within the context of changing workplace conditions. As Stern and Sommerlad (1999:1) argue, workplace learning is not a new concept, but ‘it has acquired visibility and saliency’ because ‘it sits at the juncture of new thinking concerning the nature of learning about new forms of knowledge, about the transformation of the nature of work and about the modern enterprise in a globalized economy’. The concept of the ‘learning organization’ has been one attempt to capitalize on this new awareness of the latent potential of workplace learning, and empirical studies are providing evidence that training is now more likely to be carried out in the workplace itself rather than in an off-the-job setting (see Raper et al, 1997). © Individual contributors, 2002.
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