Learning Embedded in Structures: Facilitating Systems for Learning within Offshore Drilling Operations

Abstract

Purpose: The current study examines the contribution of formalised planning to ensure success in drilling operations seen in the light of organizational learning theory.

Methodology: The applied methodology is observational fieldwork including interviews, document studies and informal talks on a drilling rig on the Norwegian continental shelf conducted by the authors lasting for 6 days including 120 hours of observational fieldwork.

Findings: It is described how procedures are adapted to the specific context in which a job is performed and how the adaption of procedures is integrated into the formalised organisational learning processes.

Originality: Organizational learning is seen through praxis and the dialectical relationship between formalised work and work as done, that is, the formal structures involved when planning work and how procedures materialise during actual work, and the relationship to learning per se.