Communication as Innovation Articulators: An Ethnographic Studies of Communication in Researchers’ and Innovators’ Interpersonal Relationships

Interpersonal communication can play a role in building intensive social relations and paying attention to the parties communicating. The purpose of interpersonal communication is to build interdependence between interacting individuals, similar to an ecosystem in a living environment. This research applies the ethnography of communication approach by tracking communication patterns developed from the interactions of actors in a particular community group. Subjects in this study are researchers who have taken their research results to the innovation stage. These researchers communicate with various parties, including the industry, to generate innovation. Such communication patterns will be tracked and established in this research. The contribution of interpersonal communication to innovation is mainly an articulator of innovation. Researchers and innovators' practical experience of communication can be structured through the framework of Interpersonal communication. Tracing the social relations of researchers in producing innovations shows that interpersonal communication plays a role in building social relations with both the internal research team and other parties. Communication as an articulator of innovation allows the knowledge produced by research to have an impact on the wider community. As an articulator of innovation, communication unravels complexity by connecting various values, points of view, ways of working, and interests through a series of dialogues, discussions, negotiations, and agreements, so that innovation can produce something that has a significant impact. Interpersonal communication concerns human relations. By revealing the social dynamics of innovation actors, interpersonal communication contributes to observing the human aspects of innovation. Keywords: Interpersonal communication, innovator, human relations, ethnography of communication, researchers.