Abstract
Russian firms suffer from the negative country of origin effect and legitimacy shortage. This paper has the aim to reveal factors for Russian firms to focus on while build legitimacy both at home and abroad. To identify the existing research directions, the 48 articles applying legitimacy and Russian focus from journals in management and business for all years were analyzed, using both the bibliometric analysis and manual in-depth study of papers. Based on the specificity of the Russian context and literature analysis about the factors of the legitimacy concept, we develop a theoretical framework that is supported by a set of propositions about possible legitimization strategies of Russian firms. Three main pillars of the organizational legitimacy construct such as moral, pragmatic and cognitive, which are accepted as the most influential ones, were introduced and proposed for Russian firms how to gain them at home and abroad. This paper has the value for both theory and practice. It contributes to the legitimacy literature, responding to many calls to study the microfoundations of the organizational legitimacy and developing the holistic theoretical framework within the Russian context. The findings also are of practical importance for managers and entrepreneurs whose attention is paid to the effective strategic management and legitimacy building both at home and abroad.
Highlights
Organizational legitimacy is a key concept of the institutional theory, which introduces specific strategies helping to reduce the negative impact of firms’ liability of foreignness and outsidership [Johanson, Vahlne, 2009; Kostova, Zaheer, 1999]
Because the implementation of the CSR practices by companies in Russia are mainly motivated to build the political legitimacy that is not the full focus of the organizational legitimacy construct, and Russian entrepreneurs do not even see the CSR as a necessary factor for legitimacy gaining in Russia, we propose that it is more significant for firms expanding and building legitimacy abroad to reduce the liability of foreignness [Kuzina, Chernysheva, 2016; Kuznetsov, Kuznetsova, 2012; Zhao, 2012]
We contribute to the legitimacy literature, responding to many calls to study the microfoundations of firms organizational legitimacy gaining
Summary
Wilken, 2019; Kostova, Zaheer, 1999]. Organizational legitimacy is applied 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” [Suchman, 1995, p. 574]. Most papers have introduced sociopolitical activism, transference and isomorphism, which follow from the institutional theory, as three main strategies that help to acquire the organizational legitimacy in a new market [Deephouse, 1996; Caussat, Prime, Wilken, 2019] They relate to the macrolevel of firms and their institutional environment and ignore the specific practices that companies really use for realization of these strategies [Kostova, Roth, Dacin, 2008; Caussat, Prime, Wilken, 2019]. Based on the literature review, we identify that for Russian firms legitimacy building abroad most studies have emphasized the organizational isomorphism and just some research introduced specific practices that can mitigate the liability of foreignness [Panibratov, 2015; Panibratov et al, 2018].
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