Institutional entrepreneur strategies in emerging economies: Creating market exclusivity for the rising affluent

Abstract

We study how institutional entrepreneurs strategize to legitimate market exclusivity for the rising affluent in emerging economies. We propose that pluralistic logics and logic contradictions can trigger novel institutional spaces that are leveraged by institutional entrepreneurs to promote new organizational forms. We shed light on the struggles of opportunistic institutional entrepreneurs who juggle capitalizing on the emerging novel institutional spaces within emerging economies juxtaposed against country specific cultural nuances of high power distance and low generalized trust. Using a case based analysis of the luxury hospital organizational field in India, we present a comprehensive framework of legitimation strategies for new organizational forms in emerging economies. Our study provides important insights into institutional entrepreneurs' legitimation strategies in emerging economies and underscores the importance of studying contextual bases of institutional entrepreneurship.