Network mapping and discourse analysis are combined in the study of organizational communication in `green' innovation in UK and German firms. The `focal action-set' approach is introduced as a method for mapping actors, links and flows mobilized in the development of discrete innovations; this enables a `situated' focus on discourse between actors in different parts of the network. Capabilities for handling multiple discourses across a range of different interfaces were a key element of organizational communication in all cases. Two different network types are identified: those with strong knowledge/customer linkages which are prominent in the UK sample and those characterized by regulator! supplier linkages which feature in the majority of German cases. Texts exchanged across a variety of network boundaries are analysed with regard to content and argumentation. Contrasting patterns of discourse are found to be associated with the different network types.
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