Past, present and future innovation narratives mobilized by UK business leaders.

This paper explores innovation narratives as mobilized by business innovation leaders. Twenty seven semi-structured interviews have been conducted with senior managers from UK construction and infrastructure firms. Retrospective narratives of innovation focus on past experiences and activities, activating an organizational memory and informing future generations of employees. The real-time narratives of innovation are focused on the ways interviewees tend to shape industrial development and changes, enabling organizational members to generate action nets around people and data. Prospective narratives of innovation generate creative imaginings, linking an understanding of industrial trends with a knowledge of relevant organizational resources and business strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]