Contested Industry Dynamics

Abstract

Research on legitimacy in studies of organizations, institutions, and industries is marked by a proliferation of terms and categories and often confounds issues of evaluation, contestation, and legality, particularly in addressing industries and legitimacy. We connect an institutional conception of societal logics with standard conceptions of industry belief systems to present a framework and research strategy for examining the multilevel enactment of belief systems and discursive struggles central to the legitimacy dynamics of industries. We illustrate this framework with evidence from the U.S. tobacco and gambling industries to identify and interpret recurring legitimacy struggles. As such, we offer an example of how to better understand legitimacy issues by expanding the levels through which we examine processes of debate and evaluation.