Legitimacy in Practice

Abstract This chapter provides a practitioner’s view on the role of legitimacy in organisational success, with reference to both the organisation and its leadership. It also outlines the role of legitimacy in obtaining and retaining resources such as talent and investment. The chapter describes legitimacy as a gateway to other social evaluations such as trust and reputation and as a social licence to operate. This chapter provides practical examples of the various types of legitimacy achieved by organisations and illustrates them with seven real-world examples. These are drawn from the author’s first-hand experience from companies including: Clear Channel, MSQ Partners, Shakespeare’s Globe, Uber, and YouGov. It suggests that the notion of legitimacy is rarely discussed in boardrooms, unlike the more familiar social evaluations. But legitimacy is often sought as part of a path to other organisational goals. The chapter illustrates the various routes to achieving organisational legitimacy. These include having it conferred by, for example: a stock market listing; awarded by a regulatory body; by qualifying to be accepted into a bidding process; by association with highly regarded professional advisers; by demonstration of results; by acclaim from the public or peers; and by assertion when legitimacy is claimed and not disputed. The chapter calls for academic research into robust methods to assess legitimacy and describes an organisation status in this context.