In the field of management, social legitimacy refers to the degree to which the general public and other stakeholders support a specific behavior or program implemented by a private or public organization. It refers to the social acceptance of organizations (also named organizational legitimacy). One of the first comprehensive definitions is provided by Suchman (1995, p. 574) who describes legitimacy as “a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs and definitions.” In other terms, the concept is socially constructed in that it reflects a congruence between the behaviors of the legitimated entity and the shared (or assumedly shared) beliefs of some social group. Legitimacy depends on a collective audience (evaluators) that approves or supports the company behavior despite a single or particular observer may have reservations or disapprove it. The underlying idea is that companies conclude a kind of “social contract” to run their business that implies congruity between the social values associated to their activities and the commonly accepted rules of conduct in the broader social system they belong to (Cho and Patten 2007). When there is a lack of congruity because society’s expectations are not satisfied, there is a problem of legitimacy that could compromise the above-mentioned contract and consequently hinder company’s credibility and continuity, i.e., making it impossible for the company to obtain the human, financial, and other resources it needs to operate.
Social Legitimacy
Aureli, Selena
2020
Abstract
In the field of management, social legitimacy refers to the degree to which the general public and other stakeholders support a specific behavior or program implemented by a private or public organization. It refers to the social acceptance of organizations (also named organizational legitimacy). One of the first comprehensive definitions is provided by Suchman (1995, p. 574) who describes legitimacy as “a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs and definitions.” In other terms, the concept is socially constructed in that it reflects a congruence between the behaviors of the legitimated entity and the shared (or assumedly shared) beliefs of some social group. Legitimacy depends on a collective audience (evaluators) that approves or supports the company behavior despite a single or particular observer may have reservations or disapprove it. The underlying idea is that companies conclude a kind of “social contract” to run their business that implies congruity between the social values associated to their activities and the commonly accepted rules of conduct in the broader social system they belong to (Cho and Patten 2007). When there is a lack of congruity because society’s expectations are not satisfied, there is a problem of legitimacy that could compromise the above-mentioned contract and consequently hinder company’s credibility and continuity, i.e., making it impossible for the company to obtain the human, financial, and other resources it needs to operate.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
