THE DOUBLE-EDGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEGITIMATION

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ashforth, Blake E.; Gibbs, Barrie W.
• 署名单位: Concordia University - Canada; Simon Fraser University
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1.2.177
• 发表日期: 1990
• 页码: 177-194
• 关键词: LEGITIMACY; SYMBOLIC MANAGEMENT; VICIOUS CIRCLES

摘要

Organizations require legitimacy to attract constituents' support Legitimacy, however, is always problematic Thus, organizations frequently pursue legitimacy through a variety of substantive and symbolic practices But legitimacy is a social Judgment that is ultimately accorded the organization by its constituents Organizations that pursue this judgment run the risk of protesting too much of being perceived as precistly the opposite, manipulative and illegitimate Such organizations include (1) the clumsy actor, perceived as unethical, heavy-handed, or insensitive, (2) the nervous actor, perceived as dogmatic, intolerant, or evasive, and (3) the overacting actor, perceived to overstate claims to legitimacy or overreact to faults The analysis suggests that attempts to increase legitimacy may trigger a series of vicious circles which ultimately decrease legitimacy.