IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i2p525-d307292.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Legitimacy for Sustainability: A Case of A Strategy Change for An Oil and Gas Company

Author

Listed:
  • Tahrir Jaber

    (School of Business and Economics, UiT–The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway)

  • Elin M. Oftedal

    (School of Business and Economics, UiT–The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway)

Abstract

This study introduces and validates a measure of a company’s institutional profile for sustainability. It uses institutional theory as a lens to understand the factors that legitimize the adoption of renewable energy activities in an oil and gas company. The three institutional dimensions used in this study are regulative, normative and cognitive, which aimed to measure legitimacy in an oil and gas company under a sustainable change. Survey-based research was carried out among employees to test this theory. Moreover, structural equation modeling was used to test the model fit, validate the measures, and test the four hypotheses. The results showed that regulative and normative pillars play the main role in legitimating renewable energy practices in our case company. The findings provide researchers and companies with a valuable resource for exploring legitimacy in order to understand what makes companies legitimize new sustainable activities that are outside the companies’ core business.

Suggested Citation

  • Tahrir Jaber & Elin M. Oftedal, 2020. "Legitimacy for Sustainability: A Case of A Strategy Change for An Oil and Gas Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:2:p:525-:d:307292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/525/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/525/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laïfi, Amira & Josserand, Emmanuel, 2016. "Legitimation in practice: A new digital publishing business model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2343-2352.
    2. Weijters, Bert & Cabooter, Elke & Schillewaert, Niels, 2010. "The effect of rating scale format on response styles: The number of response categories and response category labels," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 236-247.
    3. Schein, Edgar H., 1983. "The role of the founder in the creation of organizational culture," Working papers 1407-83., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    4. Margarida Rodrigues & Mário Franco, 2019. "The Corporate Sustainability Strategy in Organisations: A Systematic Review and Future Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Delmar, Frederic & Shane, Scott, 2004. "Legitimating first: organizing activities and the survival of new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 385-410, May.
    6. Birinder Singh Sandhawalia & Darren Dalcher, 2015. "Dynamic Knowledge Support Model for Decision-Making and Sustainable Growth: An Empirical Study," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 803-823, September.
    7. Rocha, Robson Sø & Granerud, Lise, 2011. "The search for legitimacy and organizational change: The agency of subordinated actors," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 261-272, September.
    8. Schrettle, Stefan & Hinz, Andreas & Scherrer -Rathje, Maike & Friedli, Thomas, 2014. "Turning sustainability into action: Explaining firms' sustainability efforts and their impact on firm performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(PA), pages 73-84.
    9. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    10. James M. Bloodgood & Jeffrey S. Hornsby & Matthew Rutherford & Richard G. McFarland, 0. "The role of network density and betweenness centrality in diffusing new venture legitimacy: an epidemiological approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-28.
    11. Geels, Frank W., 2004. "From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: Insights about dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6-7), pages 897-920, September.
    12. Chaiyapa, Warathida & Esteban, Miguel & Kameyama, Yasuko, 2018. "Why go green? Discourse analysis of motivations for Thailand's oil and gas companies to invest in renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 448-459.
    13. Amira Laifi & Emmanuel Josserand, 2016. "Legitimation in practice: A new digital publishing business model," Post-Print hal-02075068, HAL.
    14. Anastasiia Moldavska, 2017. "Defining Organizational Context for Corporate Sustainability Assessment: Cross-Disciplinary Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-25, December.
    15. James M. Bloodgood & Jeffrey S. Hornsby & Matthew Rutherford & Richard G. McFarland, 2017. "The role of network density and betweenness centrality in diffusing new venture legitimacy: an epidemiological approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 525-552, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kirsten Andersen & Rebecca Tekula, 2022. "Value, Values, and Valuation: The Marketization of Charitable Foundation Impact Investing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(4), pages 1033-1052, September.
    2. Tahrir Jaber, 2021. "A Surge toward a Sustainable Future: Organizational Change and Transformational Vision by an Oil and Gas Company," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 25(3), pages 200031-2000.
    3. de Boon, Auvikki & Sandström, Camilla & Rose, David Christian, 2022. "Perceived legitimacy of agricultural transitions and implications for governance. Lessons learned from England’s post-Brexit agricultural transition," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amira Laifi & Yabo Octave Niamié & Olivier Germain, 2023. "The Ignored Legitimation Paradox of Northern Technology-based New Ventures Encountering Southern Contexts: Case Study of a French e-Books Company," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 32(2_suppl), pages 159-183, November.
    2. Tahrir Jaber, 2021. "A Surge toward a Sustainable Future: Organizational Change and Transformational Vision by an Oil and Gas Company," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 25(3), pages 200031-2000.
    3. Valérie François & Pascal Philippart, 2019. "A university spin-off launch failure: explanation by the legitimation process," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1188-1215, August.
    4. Jenni Kaipainen & Leena Aarikka‐Stenroos, 2022. "How to renew business strategy to achieve sustainability and circularity? A process model of strategic development in incumbent technology companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1947-1963, July.
    5. Tachia Chin & Francesco Caputo & Yi Shi & Mario Calabrese & Chiraz Aouina‐Mejri & Armando Papa, 2022. "Depicting the role of cross‐cultural legitimacy for responsible innovation in Asian‐Pacific business models: A dialectical systems view of Yin‐Yang harmony," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(6), pages 2083-2093, November.
    6. Dwivedi, Abhishek & Pawsey, Nicholas, 2023. "Examining the drivers of marketing innovation in SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    7. Ancillai, Chiara & Sabatini, Andrea & Gatti, Marco & Perna, Andrea, 2023. "Digital technology and business model innovation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    8. Ghobadian, Abby & Talavera, Irene & Bhattacharya, Arijit & Kumar, Vikas & Garza-Reyes, Jose Arturo & O'Regan, Nicholas, 2020. "Examining legitimatisation of additive manufacturing in the interplay between innovation, lean manufacturing and sustainability," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 457-468.
    9. João Valsecchi Ribeiro de Souza & Adriana Marotti de Mello & Roberto Marx, 2019. "When Is an Innovative Urban Mobility Business Model Sustainable? A Literature Review and Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Lin Wu & Nachiappan Subramanian & Angappa Gunasekaran & Muhammad Dan‐Asabe Abdulrahman & Kulwant Singh Pawar & Des Doran, 2018. "A two‐dimensional, two‐level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development: Assessing the return on sustainability initiatives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1117-1130, December.
    11. Laura Laguna-Salvadó & Matthieu Lauras & Uche Okongwu & Tina Comes, 2019. "A multicriteria Master Planning DSS for a sustainable humanitarian supply chain," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 283(1), pages 1303-1343, December.
    12. Adiloğlu-Yalçınkaya, Leyla & Besler, Senem, 2021. "Institutional factors influencing business models: The case of Turkish Airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    13. Shepherd, Dean A. & Breugst, Nicola & Patzelt, Holger, 2023. "A founding-team model of creating a venture's culture," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2).
    14. Johanna Leväsluoto & Johanna Kohl & Anton Sigfrids & Jussi Pihlajamäki & Janne Martikainen, 2021. "Digitalization as an Engine for Change? Building a Vision Pathway towards a Sustainable Health Care System by Using the MLP and Health Economic Decision Modelling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-24, November.
    15. Baumber, Alex & Scerri, Moira & Schweinsberg, Stephen, 2019. "A social licence for the sharing economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 12-23.
    16. Suparak Suriyankietkaew & Phallapa Petison, 2019. "A Retrospective and Foresight: Bibliometric Review of International Research on Strategic Management for Sustainability, 1991–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, December.
    17. Chantal P. Naidoo, 2019. "Relating Financial Systems to Sustainability Transitions: Challenges, Demands and Dimensions," SPRU Working Paper Series 2019-18, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    18. Kuckertz, Andreas & Wagner, Marcus, 2010. "The influence of sustainability orientation on entrepreneurial intentions -- Investigating the role of business experience," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 524-539, September.
    19. Da Teng & Chengchun Li & Sailesh Tanna, 2022. "Foreign ownership and productivity in Chinese newly listed firms: the moderating roles of founder’s human capital and social ties," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 1125-1159, September.
    20. Bryant, Scott T. & Straker, Karla & Wrigley, Cara, 2020. "Designing our sustainable energy future: A shock doctrine for energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:2:p:525-:d:307292. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.