Exploration of job relocation in a military context

"Australian Defence Force (ADF) staff members experience a job relocation every 3 to 5 years. This research explores the perceptions of a group of ADF staff regarding job relocation. Grounded Theory methodology was used to examine the respondents’ perceptions of moving and settling into a new job. A schema called MOVING WORK was developed as a way to illustrate the respondents’ experience and to provide an insight into the widespread workplace practice of job relocation in the ADF. The results revealed that a characteristic of the ADF military context is for ADF staff to support each other at the workplace. As such, it was established that ADF staff function as a ‘community of practice’. Also, definitions of legitimacy and peripherality were established with reference to how the respondents act. From the analysis of the data it was demonstrated that the respondents’ actions could be examined and explained using the theoretical framework of Situated Learning. The outcomes of this research can be used by researchers and ADF senior staff as a means to examine, or manage, the ADF workplace practice of job relocation"--Abstract.