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Corporate Reputation and Performance: A Legitimacy Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Honggui Li

    (School of Business Administration, Anhui University of Finance & Economics, China)

  • Zhongwei Chen

    (School of Business Administration, Anhui University of Finance & Economics, China)

  • Guoxin Ma

    (Hull University Business School, UK)

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of innovation legitimacy between corporate reputation and enterprise growth. Research Design & Methods: Four hypotheses were formulated and tested in to achieve the research objective. We collected data from 191 enterprises in 16 provinces in China. In total, 300 enterprises were selected to participate in this study. Descriptive analyses showed that the valid data covered a wide range of samples in terms of enterprise types and sizes, industries, market positions and years of establishment. The data was analysed by regression analysis. Findings: The results of this research suggest that corporate reputation has significant positive relationship with enterprise growth. This positive relationship was found through all pathways tested. This means that brand image, social responsibility, innovation capability and staff quality are all important to enterprise growth. Similar effects were found for innovation legitimacy on enterprise growth, indicating that legitimacy is an important theoretical perspective in understanding how businesses could develop in various important aspects. Implications & Recommendations: Legitimacy is an important theoretical framework in understanding the complex relationships between corporate reputation and enterprise growth, especially from the innovation perspective. Future research may look into these results in other contexts and further pursue the legitimacy perspective in understanding corporate reputation and enterprise growth. Contribution & Value Added: This research contributes towards understanding the mediating effects of innovation legitimacy between corporate reputation and performance, especially in Chinese context.

Suggested Citation

  • Honggui Li & Zhongwei Chen & Guoxin Ma, 2016. "Corporate Reputation and Performance: A Legitimacy Perspective," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 4(3), pages 181-193.
    • Handle: RePEc:krk:eberjl:v:4:y:2016:i:3:p:181-193
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    Cited by:

    1. Nguyen Van Nguyen & Quang Linh Huynh, 2019. "The Importance of Earning Quality and Organizational Reputation to Financial Effectiveness," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(7), pages 406-416, July.
    2. Tom Christensen & Liang Ma, 2021. "Comparing SARS and COVID-19: Challenges of Governance Capacity and Legitimacy," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 629-645, December.
    3. Saeed Siyal & Riaz Ahmad & Samina Riaz & Chunlin Xin & Tang Fangcheng, 2022. "The Impact of Corporate Culture on Corporate Social Responsibility: Role of Reputation and Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-21, August.
    4. 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.
    5. Díez-Martín, Francisco & Miotto, Giorgia & Cachón-Rodríguez, Gabriel, 2022. "Organizational legitimacy perception: Gender and uncertainty as bias for evaluation criteria," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 426-436.
    6. Quang Linh Huynh, 2019. "Link from Organizational Financial Performance to Reputation: The Role of Board Composition," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(1), pages 109-117, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate reputation; enterprise growth; legitimacy; innovation; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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