Of late, the term “boundary crossing,” i.e., conducting learning activities beyond the boundaries of organizations and workplaces, such as workshops and volunteer activities, has been drawing the attention of practitioners and researchers. Boundary crossing provides opportunities to acquire knowledge and skill unavailable at routine workplaces. It also facilitates obtaining new perspectives and thoughts. However, the concept of boundary crossing is not matured and lacks a firm consensus among researchers as they perceive the term “boundary” differently. While such differences are allowed, we should nonetheless clarify and recognize the difference between the perspectives on boundary crossing for developing the boundary crossing theory. Our review of the literature on boundary crossing identified two perspectives. Some works focus on the physical or institutional boundary between organizations, workplaces, and so on, while others focus on the heterogeneity of situation/context between workplaces. Furthermore, in addition to heterogeneity, the homogeneity of context shared by people engaged in boundary crossing facilitates their learning. Both heterogeneity and homogeneity of context contribute toward learning in different manners.
