Understanding Legitimacy Formation in Multi-Goal Firms: An Examination of Business Planning Practices among Social Enterprises
通过混合方法研究澳大利亚社会企业，发现商业规划实践主要受外部利益相关者合法性驱动，而非仅绩效需求，并揭示了规划在沟通和关系中的独特作用。
The value of business planning to new business ventures and small firms has been the subject of debate among entrepreneurship researchers. In this paper, we examine business planning practices as a function of legitimacy formation among Australian social enterprises, drawing on a mixed-methods study. We find that business planning practices are driven to establish legitimacy with external stakeholders as well as organizational performance imperatives, although legitimacy is the stronger driver. Findings also suggest business planning processes serve unique communicative and relational functions among social enterprises. This has implications for understanding legitimacy formation within multi-goal and multi-stakeholder businesses.