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Gaining legitimacy in converging industries: Evidence from the emerging market of functional food

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  • Lamberti, Lucio
  • Lettieri, Emanuele

Abstract

This study offers new insights on legitimacy and legitimation strategies in the peculiar setting of converging industries. Companies that decide to enter converging markets have to face stakeholders who are uncertain about their needs and claims. Grounding on a strategic perspective to legitimacy, we analyzed the legitimation strategies implemented by two companies that entered the market of functional food in Italy when it was emerging from the convergence of the food and the pharmaceutical industries. Results show that legitimation strategies combined pragmatic, moral and cognitive traits, but that moral and cognitive traits were pre-eminent. Legitimacy was pursued through peculiar cross-legitimation strategies, i.e. leveraging on the legitimacy gained by one group of stakeholders in order to win legitimacy by another one. The study shows that legitimation is path-dependent also in converging industries and companies should take into account their legitimacy legacy when entering a converging market. Moreover, companies concentrate their efforts to legitimation towards the subset of stakeholders that managers perceived as the most critical. In our cases they were consumers, the scientific community and employees. Finally, the implications of these outcomes have been discussed to provide a panel of managerial implications and areas for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Lamberti, Lucio & Lettieri, Emanuele, 2011. "Gaining legitimacy in converging industries: Evidence from the emerging market of functional food," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 462-475.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:29:y:2011:i:6:p:462-475
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2011.08.002
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    1. Cruz-Suarez, Ana & Prado-Román, Alberto & Prado-Román, Miguel, 2014. "Legitimidade cognitiva, acesso aos recursos e resultados organizacionais," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 54(5), September.
    2. Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez & Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez & José Luis Lizcano-Álvarez, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Intellectual Capital: Sources of Competitiveness and Legitimacy in Organizations’ Management Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-29, October.
    3. Alicia Blanco‐Gonzalez & Francisco Diéz‐Martín & Gabriel Cachón‐Rodríguez & Camilo Prado‐Román, 2020. "Contribution of social responsibility to the work involvement of employees," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2588-2598, November.
    4. Dobrenova, Fanny V. & Grabner-Kräuter, Sonja & Terlutter, Ralf, 2015. "Country-of-origin (COO) effects in the promotion of functional ingredients and functional foods," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 314-321.
    5. Keigo Fujikura & Akitsu Oe, 2023. "The Influence of Firms’ Pragmatic Legitimacy on Investors’ Perceptions of Their Environmental Protection Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.
    6. Sick, Nathalie & Bröring, Stefanie, 2022. "Exploring the research landscape of convergence from a TIM perspective: A review and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    7. Geyao Yang & Changchun Zhou & Jiekuan Zhang, 2023. "Does industry convergence between agriculture and related sectors alleviate rural poverty: evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 12887-12914, November.
    8. del-Castillo-Feito, Cristina & Blanco-González, Alicia & Hernández-Perlines, Felipe, 2022. "The impacts of socially responsible human resources management on organizational legitimacy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    9. Miotto, Giorgia & Del-Castillo-Feito, Cristina & Blanco-González, Alicia, 2020. "Reputation and legitimacy: Key factors for Higher Education Institutions’ sustained competitive advantage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 342-353.
    10. Quan Lin & Yutao Zhu & Yue Zhang, 2020. "How Does Mission Statement Relate to the Pursuit of Food Safety Certification by Food Companies?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-15, July.
    11. Muazza Muazza & Akhmad Habibi & Amirul Mukminin, 2023. "The Socially Responsible Human Resources Management and Its Impacts on the Organizational Legitimacy: The Case of Indonesian Employees," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 3, pages 162-177.

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