Beyond Best Practices: Innovation Culture as a Relational and Discursive Phenomenon in Finnish Firms

This study explores how managers discursively construct innovation cultures as relational phenomena in Finnish innovation-oriented companies. Drawing on critical discursive psychology (CDP) and a collective case study design, this research analyses in-depth interviews with five senior managers to uncover the interpretive repertoires and subject positions they employ when discussing innovation. The findings reveal three key repertoires: (a) culture-through-communication , where managers function as communicative facilitators fostering shared understanding; (b) collaborative development , positioning managers as partnership builders engaging internal and external stakeholders; and (c) purposeful integration , where managers serve as community developers aligning individual purpose with collective innovation goals. These repertoires highlight how innovation cultures are co-constructed through everyday dialogue, relational practices, and meaning-making processes. Rather than viewing innovation culture as a static or top-down construct, this study emphasizes its dynamic, discursive, and relational nature. Theoretically, the research contributes to organizational discourse studies by providing a nuanced framework for understanding managerial agency in shaping innovation cultures. Practically, it emphasizes the importance of communicative leadership and relational competence in fostering innovation. The study invites further exploration into how discursive practices shape innovation across diverse organizational and cultural contexts.