Securing network legitimacy in China's telecommunication market

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish the importance and approaches in securing an organization's legitimacy from the network community of customers, suppliers and manufacturers, including private investors and state‐owned institutions when marketing their products.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents an inductive interpretative approach complimented by action‐based research founded on inquiry and testing.FindingsThe paper finds that the key to legitimacy success involves using legitimacy orientations to demonstrate commitment to the interests of constituents, acquiring legitimacy from them, but concurrently considering the central government's influence on a firm's legitimacy performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe multiple interactions proposed in this paper remain untested and might have to be modified pending further empirical testing and analysis.Practical implicationsIn China's telecommunication market, a company's legitimacy emanates first and foremost from the development and commercialization of innovative and creative technological solutions. This requires good, creative management of technological resource and activity links, connecting the company's technology to network constituents which include local manufacturers, carriers, software developers, investors.Originality/valueThis is the first published paper that examines the proposed interactions among legitimacy orientations, alignments, and performances from a “market‐as‐network” perspective in a dynamic, transitional Chinese telecommunication market.