The downside of legitimacy building for a new firm in a nascent industry

Revised edition
The downside of legitimacy building for a new ...
Tiona Zuzul, Tiona Zuzul
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Last edited by MARC Bot
September 21, 2024 | History

The downside of legitimacy building for a new firm in a nascent industry

Revised edition

This paper explores how entrepreneurs' efforts to legitimate a firm and a nascent industry at the same time affect the internal development of the firm. We analyze qualitative data from a three-year study of a new firm in the nascent smart cities industry, and find that firm leaders engaged in a set of legitimation activities intended to help external stakeholders understand and appreciate the firm and its industry. Our analysis uncovers three unintended cognitive consequences of legitimation activities for firm employees--constrained attention, overconfidence, and identity commitments--that affected the firm's ability to learn: that is, to attend to, reflect on, and dynamically respond to information and changes in its environment. Our longitudinal research thus reveals a downside of legitimacy building, contributes to the literature on behavioral strategy, and highlights unique challenges of starting a new firm in a nascent industry. Further, by identifying the mechanisms through which legitimation activities affect learning, we develop actionable propositions to help leaders and entrepreneurs manage the tension between the two sets of activities.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
46

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Book Details


Edition Notes

"March 2011. (Revised October 2013.)"--Publisher's Web site.

Revised edition of Ambiguity squared: growing a new business in a nascent industry.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 40-44).

Published in
Boston]
Series
Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 11-099, Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 11-099

The Physical Object

Pagination
46 pages, 2 unnumbered pages
Number of pages
46

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL55314393M
OCLC/WorldCat
861969734

Work Description

This paper explores how entrepreneurs' efforts to legitimate a firm and a nascent industry affect the internal development of the firm. Through a three-year case study of a firm in the nascent smart cities industry, we uncover unexpected effects of leaders' legitimation efforts. Leaders engaged in a set of legitimation activities aimed at helping external stakeholders understand and appreciate the firm and its industry. These activities had three unintended cognitive consequences for firm employees -- constrained attention, overconfidence, and identity commitments -- that affected the firm's ability to learn: attend to, reflect on, and dynamically respond to information and changes in its environment. Our longitudinal research reveals a downside of legitimacy-building and highlights unique challenges of competing in a nascent industry.

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