IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v137y2016i1d10.1007_s10551-014-2532-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing Institutional Complexity: A Longitudinal Study of Legitimacy Strategies at a Sportswear Brand Company

Author

Listed:
  • Dorothee Baumann-Pauly

    (NYU Stern School of Business)

  • Andreas Georg Scherer

    (University of Zurich)

  • Guido Palazzo

    (University of Lausanne)

Abstract

Multinational corporations are operating in complex business environments. They are confronted with contradictory institutional demands that often represent mutually incompatible expectations of various audiences. Managing these demands poses new organizational challenges for the corporation. Conducting an empirical case study at the sportswear manufacturer Puma, we explore how multinational corporations respond to institutional complexity and what legitimacy strategies they employ to maintain their license to operate. We draw on the literature on institutional theory, contingency theory, and organizational paradoxes. The results of our qualitative longitudinal study show that managing corporate legitimacy is a dynamic process in which corporations adapt organizational capacities, structures, and procedures.

Suggested Citation

  • Dorothee Baumann-Pauly & Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo, 2016. "Managing Institutional Complexity: A Longitudinal Study of Legitimacy Strategies at a Sportswear Brand Company," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 31-51, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:137:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2532-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2532-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-014-2532-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-014-2532-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaul, Inge & Conceicao, Pedro & Le Goulven, Katell & Mendoza, Ronald U. (ed.), 2003. "Providing Global Public Goods: Managing Globalization," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195157413.
    2. Richard M. Locke & Fei Qin & Alberto Brause, 2007. "Does Monitoring Improve Labor Standards? Lessons from Nike," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(1), pages 3-31, October.
    3. Wendy K. Smith & Michael L. Tushman, 2005. "Managing Strategic Contradictions: A Top Management Model for Managing Innovation Streams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 522-536, October.
    4. Suk-Jun Lim & Joe Phillips, 2008. "Embedding CSR Values: The Global Footwear Industry’s Evolving Governance Structure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 143-156, August.
    5. Magali A. Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Organizational responses to environmental demands: opening the black box," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(10), pages 1027-1055, October.
    6. Royston Greenwood & Amalia Magán Díaz & Stan Xiao Li & José Céspedes Lorente, 2010. "The Multiplicity of Institutional Logics and the Heterogeneity of Organizational Responses," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 521-539, April.
    7. Kornberger, Martin & Clegg, Stewart R. & Carter, Chris, 2006. "Rethinking the polyphonic organization: Managing as discursive practice," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-30, March.
    8. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo, 2011. "The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 899-931, June.
    9. Sebastian Raisch & Julian Birkinshaw & Gilbert Probst & Michael L. Tushman, 2009. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Balancing Exploitation and Exploration for Sustained Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 685-695, August.
    10. Guido Palazzo & Andreas Scherer, 2006. "Corporate Legitimacy as Deliberation: A Communicative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 71-88, June.
    11. Anna Lamin & Srilata Zaheer, 2012. "Wall Street vs. Main Street: Firm Strategies for Defending Legitimacy and Their Impact on Different Stakeholders," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 47-66, February.
    12. Dror Etzion & Fabrizio Ferraro, 2010. "The Role of Analogy in the Institutionalization of Sustainability Reporting," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(5), pages 1092-1107, October.
    13. Blake E. Ashforth & Barrie W. Gibbs, 1990. "The Double-Edge of Organizational Legitimation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(2), pages 177-194, May.
    14. Rob van Tulder & Ans Kolk, 2001. "Multinationality and Corporate Ethics: Codes of Conduct in the Sporting Goods Industry," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(2), pages 267-283, June.
    15. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo & David Seidl, 2013. "Managing Legitimacy in Complex and Heterogeneous Environments: Sustainable Development in a Globalized World," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 259-284, March.
    16. Ken Starkey & Christopher Barnatt & Sue Tempest, 2000. "Beyond Networks and Hierarchies: Latent Organizations in the U.K. Television Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 299-305, June.
    17. Nicolaj Siggelkow & Jan W. Rivkin, 2005. "Speed and Search: Designing Organizations for Turbulence and Complexity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 101-122, April.
    18. N/A, 2008. "Introductory Remarks," China Report, , vol. 44(1), pages 31-32, February.
    19. Locke, Richard M. & Qin, Fei & Brause, Alberto, 2007. "Does monitoring improve labor standards? Lessons from Nike," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59405, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Paul S. Adler & Barbara Goldoftas & David I. Levine, 1999. "Flexibility Versus Efficiency? A Case Study of Model Changeovers in the Toyota Production System," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 43-68, February.
    21. Richard Locke & Matthew Amengual & Akshay Mangla, 2009. "Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment, and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains," Politics & Society, , vol. 37(3), pages 319-351, September.
    22. Gerardine DeSanctis & Peter Monge, 1999. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Communication Processes for Virtual Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(6), pages 693-703, December.
    23. David L. Levy, 2005. "Offshoring in the New Global Political Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 685-693, May.
    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. Xueru Yang & Haoming Li & Wenhong (Miranda) Chen & Hui Fu, 2019. "Corporate Community Involvement and Chinese Rural Tourist Destination Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Ying Jiang & Xiaolong Xue & Weirui Xue, 2018. "Proactive Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Energy Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Stefan Gröschl & Patricia Gabaldón & Tobias Hahn, 2019. "The Co-evolution of Leaders’ Cognitive Complexity and Corporate Sustainability: The Case of the CEO of Puma," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 741-762, March.
    4. Stephanie Schrage & Dirk Ulrich Gilbert, 2021. "Addressing Governance Gaps in Global Value Chains: Introducing a Systematic Typology," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 657-672, May.
    5. Sonia S. Siraz & Björn Claes & Julio O. De Castro & Eero Vaara, 2023. "Theorizing the Grey Area between Legitimacy and Illegitimacy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 924-962, June.
    6. Liang Wang & Justin Tan, 2023. "Coevolution of Strategy, Innovation and Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(4), pages 711-721, September.
    7. Mortimer, Genevieve & Tura, Nina & Mortimer, Bruce & Busch, Timo, 2019. "Positioning sustainability to deal with complex systemsː From sustainability identity to sustainability outlook," WiSo-HH Working Paper Series 49, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory.
    8. Tierney, Kieran D. & Oswald Karpen, Ingo & Westberg, Kate, 2022. "Brand meaning and institutional work: The light and dark sides of service employee practices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 244-256.
    9. A. Rebecca Reuber & Anna Morgan-Thomas, 2019. "Communicating Moral Legitimacy in Controversial Industries: The Trade in Human Tissue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 49-63, January.
    10. Gizem ARAS BEGER, 2024. "How Competing Institutional Logics Affect Corporate Social Responsibility Benefits: the Mediating Role of Paradox Mindset and Multi-Stakeholders," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 1913-1951, March.
    11. Giorgia Miotto & Marc Polo López & Josep Rom Rodríguez, 2019. "Gender Equality and UN Sustainable Development Goals: Priorities and Correlations in the Top Business Schools’ Communication and Legitimation Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, January.
    12. Shuxin Zhong & Xiaoyang Zhao & Juan Song, 2023. "MNEs’ Ambidexterity Strategies and Moral Conflicts: The Case of Google in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(4), pages 781-796, September.
    13. Regany, Fatima & Benmecheddal, Ahmed & Belkhir, Meriam & Djelassi, Souad, 2021. "Conflicting coexistence of legitimation and delegitimation logics in a revived market: The case of a traditional clothing market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 438-449.

    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. Scherer, Andreas, 2013. "Legitimacy Strategies in a Globalized World: Organizing for Complex and Heterogeneous Environments," Papers 566, World Trade Institute.
    2. Andreas Georg Scherer & Andreas Rasche & Guido Palazzo & André Spicer, 2016. "Managing for Political Corporate Social Responsibility: New Challenges and Directions for PCSR 2.0," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 273-298, May.
    3. Georg Schreyögg & Jörg Sydow, 2010. "CROSSROADS---Organizing for Fluidity? Dilemmas of New Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 1251-1262, December.
    4. Giorgia Miotto & Marc Polo López & Josep Rom Rodríguez, 2019. "Gender Equality and UN Sustainable Development Goals: Priorities and Correlations in the Top Business Schools’ Communication and Legitimation Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Vivek Soundararajan & Jill A. Brown, 2016. "Voluntary Governance Mechanisms in Global Supply Chains: Beyond CSR to a Stakeholder Utility Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 83-102, March.
    6. O'Reilly, Charles A., III & Tushman, Michael L., 2013. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Past, Present and Future," Research Papers 2130, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    7. Barkemeyer, Ralf & Preuss, Lutz & Lee, Lindsay, 2015. "On the effectiveness of private transnational governance regimes—Evaluating corporate sustainability reporting according to the Global Reporting Initiative," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 312-325.
    8. Jonathan Taglialatela & Ivan Miroshnychenko & Roberto Barontini & Francesco Testa, 2024. "Talk or walk? The board of directors and firm environmental strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 2890-2910, May.
    9. Xiaojun Du & Fei Feng & Wei Lv, 2022. "Bibliometric Overview of Organizational Legitimacy Research," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    10. Itziar Castelló & Michael Etter & Finn Årup Nielsen, 2016. "Strategies of Legitimacy Through Social Media: The Networked Strategy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 402-432, May.
    11. Sébastien Mena & Daniel Waeger, 2014. "Activism for Corporate Responsibility: Conceptualizing Private Regulation Opportunity Structures," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(7), pages 1091-1117, November.
    12. Melanie Richards & Thomas Zellweger & Jean-Pascal Gond, 2017. "Maintaining Moral Legitimacy through Worlds and Words: An Explanation of Firms' Investment in Sustainability Certification," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 676-710, July.
    13. Judith Schrempf-Stirling, 2018. "State Power: Rethinking the Role of the State in Political Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 1-14, June.
    14. Stephanie Schrage & Dirk Ulrich Gilbert, 2021. "Addressing Governance Gaps in Global Value Chains: Introducing a Systematic Typology," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 657-672, May.
    15. Florian Überbacher, 2014. "Legitimation of New Ventures: A Review and Research Programme," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 667-698, June.
    16. Patrick Haack & Michael D. Pfarrer & Andreas Georg Scherer, 2014. "Legitimacy-as-Feeling: How Affect Leads to Vertical Legitimacy Spillovers in Transnational Governance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 634-666, June.
    17. Laurence Vigneau & Michael Humphreys & Jeremy Moon, 2015. "How Do Firms Comply with International Sustainability Standards? Processes and Consequences of Adopting the Global Reporting Initiative," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 469-486, October.
    18. Valentina Mele & Donald Schepers, 2013. "E Pluribus Unum? Legitimacy Issues and Multi-stakeholder Codes of Conduct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 561-576, December.
    19. N. Craig Smith & Guido Palazzo & C.B. Bhattacharya, 2015. "Upstream, downstream: toward a new morality of marketing in global supply chains," Chapters, in: Handbook on Ethics and Marketing, chapter 11, pages 220-237, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. A. Rebecca Reuber & Anna Morgan-Thomas, 2019. "Communicating Moral Legitimacy in Controversial Industries: The Trade in Human Tissue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 49-63, January.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:137:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2532-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.