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3rd International Workshop on Organizational Legitimacy 

The State of the Art in Legitimacy Research: Theory and Application

Idea Development Workshop & Expert Panel

 To be held in person

 

 

emlyon business school

 

15-16 May, 2025

What are the Key Dates?

1

14 February 2025

Submission of an extended abstract of a research project (1,000 words)

2

14 March 2025

Notification of acceptance

3

14 April 2025

Submission of a final paper with research in progress (2,000-8,000 words)

4

15-16 May 2025

Organizational Legitimacy Workshop

Fast Facts about the Workshop

Who is This Workshop For?

The 3rd Annual Organizational Legitimacy Workshop (OLW) 2025 aims to support the development of research ideas to advance the study of legitimacy in management and organizational theory (https://legitimacy-research.org/). The workshop will feature expert panels, offer networking opportunities, and foster a cross-disciplinary research community dedicated to the study of legitimacy. We welcome submissions of original research and advanced study designs from scholars at various career stages, particularly early-career researchers.

How is the Workshop Structured?

This workshop is structured to help authors develop their research ideas through various formats:

  1. Expert presentations on organizational legitimacy
  2. Developmental roundtable discussions in small groups with experts
  3. Networking and social activities
How Can I Submit a Paper?

We invite submissions that present research in progress, experimental study design papers, and research proposals related to legitimacy (no published papers). Abstracts (1,000 words) should be submitted to legitimacylyon@gmail.com by 14 February, 2025. Participants will be selected on a competitive basis, based on the quality of their abstracts. No feedback will be provided.

What Happens if My Paper is Accepted?

Authors will be notified of acceptance by 14 March 2025 and invited to submit an extended abstract or final paper (2,000-8,000 words) by 14 April 2025. Papers significantly exceeding 8,000 words will be returned to the authors. Submissions at this stage can also include discussion questions to frame and advance the research idea.

Idea Development Workshop

The 3rd Annual Organizational Legitimacy Workshop at emlyon business school, Lyon, France builds on the legacy of the first two workshops: the inaugural event at the University of Lausanne in 2023 and the second workshop at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2024.

The theme of the workshop is “The State of the Art in Legitimacy Research: Theory and Application” within the field of management.

Organizers

 Sponsors

Participating Experts

  • Pia Arenius (emlyon business school, France)
  • Alex Bitektine (Concordia University, Canada)
  • Julio de Castro (IE Business School, Spain)
  • Björn Claes (The Open University, United Kingdom)
  • Jean Clarke (emlyon business school, Lyon, France)
  • Patrick Haack (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
  • Laura Illia (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
  • Anna Jasinenko (University of St Gallen, Switzerland)
  • Sonia S. Siraz (emlyon business school, Lyon, France)
  • Eero Vaara (University of Oxford, UK)
  • Tijs van den Broek (VU Amsterdam, Netherlands)

    Key Components of the Workshop

    • Keynote presentations by experts on theoretical developments, methodological advances, and publishing considerations in organizational legitimacy research.

    • Developmental roundtable discussions: Participants will be grouped into small roundtables to discuss their research with peers and experts. These discussions will offer feedback and help participants refine their research projects.
    • Networking and social activities: Opportunities to connect in a more informal setting, fostering community building within and between subfields of management and organizational studies.

    The workshop will feature presentations and roundtable facilitation by international experts. Early-career scholars such as Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, and tenure-track assistant professors are particularly encouraged to apply though scholars further along in their careers are also welcome to submit their work. The goal is to foster idea exchange, feedback, and networking opportunities.

    Participation, Program, and Fees

    The workshop will take place from 15-16 May 2025. There is no registration or participation fee for the workshop, and catering including the gala dinner will be offered. However, space is limited to 50 participants.

    Application Process

    Step 1: Submission of Extended Abstract

    Submissions are competitive. Authors should submit an extended abstract of up to 1,000 words, excluding references, tables, and figures. The abstract should be submitted to legitimacylyon@gmail.com by 14 February 2025 at 23:59 CET.

    Step 2: Submission of Final Paper

    Acceptance notifications will be sent by 14 March 2025. Accepted authors must submit their final papers, including research in progress and discussion questions, by 14 April 2025. The final papers (2,000-8,000 words) should build upon the accepted abstract and may take the form of short working papers or more advanced research projects.

    The event will be held at emlyon business school, France. The campus is conveniently located and easily accessible by public transportation.

    About emlyon business school

    Founded in 1872 by the Lyon Chamber of Commerce, emlyon business school has an enrollment of over 9,260 students of 130 nationalities across four campuses worldwide (Lyon, Shanghai, Paris, and Mumbai). The School relies on a Faculty of 170 internationally recognized professors and researchers, and a network of 222 global academic partners, to provide learning tracks of academic excellence open to the world. The school runs a community of 45,000 alumni spread over 130 countries. As a benefit corporation (société à mission) emlyon aims to “train and support informed leaders, throughout their lives, who are able to transform organizations efficiently for a fairer society and with greater solidarity and respect for the planet”. The School’s pedagogy closely links action and reflection. Skill hybridization and social responsibility are also at the heart of its training programs, where the best of both socioeconomic and academic worlds meet. The strategic plan, “Resonances 2028”, reaffirms the importance of the “maker spirit” that has been the DNA of emlyon since its creation. The plan is built around the five qualities expected of “makers”, emlyon students and alumni, to become entrepreneurs of change, namely: academic excellence; entrepreneurial spirit; engagement; hybrid knowledge; resonance with society.

    Visit the website of emlyon business school

    Organizers

    Sonia S. Siraz is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at emlyon business school in France. Her research focuses on legitimacy and legitimation in contested and complex environments, such as cannabis, fracking, or foie gras. She also investigates inclusive entrepreneurship, with particular attention to ethno-racial minorities, women, immigrants, and Indigenous entrepreneurs. Leveraging experimental methods and quantitative text analysis, her work examines how legitimacy perceptions shape, enable, or constrain the success of controversial ventures and underrepresented entrepreneurs. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management Studies, European Management Review, and Journal of Management Inquiry, among others.

    Before joining emlyon, Sonia was an Assistant Professor and MBA Deputy Director at the University of Essex (UK). She earned her PhD in Management from IE Business School (Spain) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh (USA). Earlier in her career, she specialized in international and EU law, founding and leading a consultancy advising governments and SMEs on legal and strategic matters. Drawing on her multidisciplinary background and international experience, Sonia brings a unique lens to her research on legitimacy and entrepreneurship.

    Björn Claes is an associate professor (senior lecturer) in Operations Management and Teaching Director of the Masters Programmes at the Open University Business School (Faculty of Business and Law) in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. His research interests are related to social evaluations and legitimacy, as well as the behavioral aspects of supply chain management and business processes. His work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management Studies, European Management Review, Human Resource Management, Journal of Management Inquiries, International Journal of Production Economics, and Industrial Marketing Management, among others.

    Experts

    Pia Arenius is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Head of Department at emlyon business school (Lyon, France). She is known for her research work on nascent entrepreneurs and the process of creating and managing new ventures. She is recognized for her contributions to the development of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project. Her recent work focuses on institutions and workaround practices of entrepreneurs. Her research has been published in journals such as Journal of Management, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, Research Policy, Journal of Small Business Management, International Small Business Journal, and Small Business Economics. She serves as an Editor of Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice. Her background is in industrial engineering, and she earned her doctorate at Helsinki University of Technology, Finland.

     

    Alex Bitektine is Professor of Management in the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) and Canada Research Chair in Institutions and Strategic Entrepreneurship, Tier II. He holds PhD and MBA from McGill University. His research interests include institutional theory, entrepreneurship, social judgments (legitimacy, status, reputation, trust, and others), non-market strategies, sustainable development, as well as application of experimental methods in organizational research. In his research, he seeks to integrate multi-level approach and findings from microsociology and social psychology into Organizational Theory and Management studies. His work has been published in the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Discoveries, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, and others. He now acts as Senior Editor at Organization Studies.

    Julio O. De Castro is the Jose Mario Alvarez deNovales Chair Professor of Entrepreneurship and head of the PhD program at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. Prior to that, he was the Lewis family distinguished professor of Global Management and professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College, Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Management at Instituto deEmpresa and associate professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Professor de Castroteaches in the area of entrepreneurship. His work has appeared in publications such as the the Academy of Management Journal and Review, the Journal of International Business Studies, Organization Sciences, the Journal of Business Venturing, the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and the Journal of Management Studies, among others.

    Björn Claes is an associate professor (senior lecturer) in Operations Management and Teaching Director of the Masters Programmes at the Open University Business School (Faculty of Business and Law) in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. His research interests are related to social evaluations and legitimacy, as well as the behavioral aspects of supply chain management and business processes. His work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management Studies, European Management Review, Human Resource Management, Journal of Management Inquiries, International Journal of Production Economics, and Industrial Marketing Management, among others.

    Jean Clarke is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Organization at Emlyon Business School in France. She received her PhD from The University of Leeds in the UK. Her research explores how language and other cultural resources are used by entrepreneurs to create meaning and develop legitimacy. She has a particular interest in how non-verbal resources are used to manage impressions in interactions and has been working most recently on how entrepreneurs communicate persuasively using both language and gesture when pitching for investment. Her work has been published in leadings international journals including AMJ, AMR, JBV, ORM, Org Studies, JMS. She was Senior Editor at Organization Studies from 2017-2022. She is on the editorial board of AMJ, JMS, OS, OT and JMI.

    Patrick Haack is a Professor of Strategy and Responsible Management in the Department of Strategy, Globalization and Society at HEC Lausanne, University of Lausanne. He serves as the Director of the HEC Research Center for Grand Challenges and is an International Research Fellow at the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation. Patrick’s research interests center on the organizational adoption and implementation of CSR as well as the application of experiments and formal models to the study of strategy and organizational processes. A major focus of his current research relates to the conceptual and empirical exploration of legitimacy as a multi-level construct. Together with Anna Jasinenko, he hosted the first Legitimacy Workshop at HEC Lausanne in May 2023. 

     

    Laura Illia is Professor (Chair of Communication, Business and Social Responsibility) at the University of Fribourg (CH). Her current research focuses on how discourses become crucial to comprehend organizational challenges in the contemporary networked and digitalized media landscape where Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents are taking the advent. By applying new digital methods such as machine learning to big dataset she analyzes the legitimation of organizations on social media and the use of new media by companies in the dialogue with their stakeholders. She has been doing research at IE University (ES), University of Cambridge (UK), London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) and Università della Svizzera Italiana (CH). 

    Anna Jasinenko is Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). She holds a PhD in management from the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management and a Master’s degree in psychology from the University of Vienna.
    ‍In her research, she applies a social evaluation lens to conceptualize, measure, and manage organizational approaches to contribute to the common good. Anna is particularly interested in the micro-foundations of responsible and sustainable business practices, such as organizational purpose, public value and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In her work, she uses experimental and multi-method approaches. Her work was published in peer-reviewed academic journals, such as the Journal of Management Studies, the Journal of Management, the Journal of Business Research, the International Public Management Journal, or the Journal for Business, Economics, and Ethics (zfwu).

    Sonia S. Siraz is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at emlyon business school in France. Her research focuses on legitimacy and legitimation in contested and complex environments, such as cannabis, fracking, or foie gras. She also investigates inclusive entrepreneurship, with particular attention to ethno-racial minorities, women, immigrants, and Indigenous entrepreneurs. Leveraging experimental methods and quantitative text analysis, her work examines how legitimacy perceptions shape, enable, or constrain the success of controversial ventures and underrepresented entrepreneurs. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management Studies, European Management Review, and Journal of Management Inquiry, among others.

    Before joining emlyon, Sonia was an Assistant Professor and MBA Deputy Director at the University of Essex (UK). She earned her PhD in Management from IE Business School (Spain) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh (USA). Earlier in her career, she specialized in international and EU law, founding and leading a consultancy advising governments and SMEs on legal and strategic matters. Drawing on her multidisciplinary background and international experience, Sonia brings a unique lens to her research on legitimacy and entrepreneurship.

    Eero Vaara is Professor in Organisations and Impact at Saïd Business School at University of Oxford and has a Visiting Distinguished Professor position at Aalto University. University. His research focuses on organizational, strategic and institutional change that he examines primarily from discursive and narrative perspectives. This includes strategy process and practice studies, research on radical change such as M&A, work on identity and legitimation, and historical analysis. He has served in leadership positions in academic journals (e.g. Associate Editor in Academy of Management Journal) and associations (e.g. Chair of EGOS, Member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Management). He is an Academy of Management Fellow and a member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. 

    Tijs van den Broek is assistant professor at VU Amsterdam’s Organization Sciences department in the fields of legitimacy, social media, corporate social responsibility, and social movements. Tijs obtained a master’s degree in both Industrial Engineering & Management and Psychology (cum laude) from the University of Twente, and defended (cum laude) his dissertation ‘When Slacktivism Matters’ at the same university.  His research interests include social evaluation of organizations (e.g. legitimacy and authenticity), online forms of organizing (e.g. slacktivism and corporate stance-taking) and online polarization. Tijs co-authored publications in journals such as Organization Science, Social Networks, Journal of Business Ethics, New Media & Society and Sociology of Health & Illness. Tijs is research director of the Organization Sciences department, and a member of VU’s Resilience, Security & Civil Unrest (ReSCU) lab and Network Institute.