Introduction:

In this paper we present the results of two PhD-studies that concentrate on the relation between innovation strategies of organisations and learning activities on the shop floor within communities of practice. These studies combine economic theories on innovation and educational theories on learning. Such a multi-disciplinary approach seems fruitful to bridge individual and organisational learning.

We modelled innovation as a learning process at different levels of aggregation. An important finding is that the concept of routines is crucial for understanding the interconnection of learning at different levels in a work organisation. This concept offers a unit of analysis that captures change on a micro level, and allows researchers to "zoom in" and make change and its driving forces more visible.

In the first part of this article, we present a case study on the utility of the routine concept for understanding team learning in working situations. Within S-Consult, a small consultancy unit, we studied the way that quality of services is guaranteed by developing common protocols and learning activities within the team. The routine concept turns out to be helpful for understanding these processes. In the second part of this article, we present some results of a quantitative study focused on the operationalisation of the concept of team routines. More than 1600 teachers in 289 teams in Dutch vocational colleges were questioned on the way they work and learn. This resulted in a set of valid and reliable scales for behavioural and psychological components of team routines, thus offering a solid basis for researching team routines as carriers for innovation.