Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 493-532 |
| Number of pages | 40 |
| Journal | Business and society |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Nov 2016 |
Abstract
Social enterprises, like almost all organizations, continuously strive for external legitimacy. To be perceived as externally legitimated by society, social enterprises often engage in strategic partnerships. However, scholars have only recently turned their attention to the legitimating function of such partnerships. The purpose of this article is to address the hitherto neglected construct of inter-partner legitimacy. Drawing on institutional theory, we hypothesize that such inter-partner legitimacy affects the resource transfer among partners, which will, in turn, be recognized by society and will subsequently affect each partner’s external legitimacy. Dyadic data of 121 strategic partnerships between social enterprises and their key partners confirm our hypotheses. We add to institutional theory by integrating the often ignored dimension of inter-partner legitimacy into our analysis and demonstrate its relevance to each partner’s external legitimacy and to resource transfer. Further contributions to the literature on institutional theory, legitimacy, social entrepreneurship, and inter-organizational relationships are identified.
Keywords
- external legitimacy, institutional theory, inter-partner legitimacy, legitimation work, strategic partnership
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business, Management and Accounting(all)
- Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous)
- Social Sciences(all)
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Sustainable Development Goals
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Business and society, Vol. 58, No. 3, 03.11.2016, p. 493-532.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - You Scratch My Back and I Scratch Yours
T2 - Investigating Inter-Partner Legitimacy in Relationships Between Social Enterprises and Their Key Partners
AU - Weidner, Kathrin
AU - Weber, Christiana
AU - Göbel, Markus
PY - 2016/11/3
Y1 - 2016/11/3
N2 - Social enterprises, like almost all organizations, continuously strive for external legitimacy. To be perceived as externally legitimated by society, social enterprises often engage in strategic partnerships. However, scholars have only recently turned their attention to the legitimating function of such partnerships. The purpose of this article is to address the hitherto neglected construct of inter-partner legitimacy. Drawing on institutional theory, we hypothesize that such inter-partner legitimacy affects the resource transfer among partners, which will, in turn, be recognized by society and will subsequently affect each partner’s external legitimacy. Dyadic data of 121 strategic partnerships between social enterprises and their key partners confirm our hypotheses. We add to institutional theory by integrating the often ignored dimension of inter-partner legitimacy into our analysis and demonstrate its relevance to each partner’s external legitimacy and to resource transfer. Further contributions to the literature on institutional theory, legitimacy, social entrepreneurship, and inter-organizational relationships are identified.
AB - Social enterprises, like almost all organizations, continuously strive for external legitimacy. To be perceived as externally legitimated by society, social enterprises often engage in strategic partnerships. However, scholars have only recently turned their attention to the legitimating function of such partnerships. The purpose of this article is to address the hitherto neglected construct of inter-partner legitimacy. Drawing on institutional theory, we hypothesize that such inter-partner legitimacy affects the resource transfer among partners, which will, in turn, be recognized by society and will subsequently affect each partner’s external legitimacy. Dyadic data of 121 strategic partnerships between social enterprises and their key partners confirm our hypotheses. We add to institutional theory by integrating the often ignored dimension of inter-partner legitimacy into our analysis and demonstrate its relevance to each partner’s external legitimacy and to resource transfer. Further contributions to the literature on institutional theory, legitimacy, social entrepreneurship, and inter-organizational relationships are identified.
KW - external legitimacy
KW - institutional theory
KW - inter-partner legitimacy
KW - legitimation work
KW - strategic partnership
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061592869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0007650316675617
DO - 10.1177/0007650316675617
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85061592869
VL - 58
SP - 493
EP - 532
JO - Business and society
JF - Business and society
SN - 0007-6503
IS - 3
ER -