ABSTRACT
Whilst this has proven useful in making comparative analyses of manufacturing-based
economies, this has a more limited utility in conveying the tacit knowledge, symbolic
knowledge bases and value embedded in intellectual property that have come to occupy
contemporary economies. The increasing importance of qualitative content and flows
in the economy highlights the futility of these monetary-based values and quantitative
analytical approaches. The reliance on innovation metrics such as R&D expenditure
and patents (such as those in the European Innovation Scoreboard) need to be complemen-
ted by a broader range of research approaches, which seek to capture real innovation per-
formance in all its varied including qualitative forms. In this sense, intangible and tacit
factors can be every bit as important in driving innovation as fixed and tangible aspects
of R&D, scientific skills and research capabilities, lending support for more socially
and qualitatively nuanced research in this area. This is a recurring theme of this paper,
which is structured as three key sections. The first outlines the key areas of the innovation
literature and the increasing importance of social and relational accounts of innovation
processes. The second section outlines the added value of relational approaches to inno-
vation research, and describes briefly the methodological approach of spatial-relational
mapping before examining visual maps. The final section provides an analysis and high-
lights how relational mapping and associated social network models can provide a more
nuanced view of innovation at work in industries and locales.
