By Anna Emmoth & Jörgen Elbe, Dalarna University, Sweden, presented at the 16th TCI Global Conference, Kolding 2013.

1. Mobilizing Stakeholders through Legitimation
Strategies
Anna Emmoth & Jörgen Elbe
Academic Summit: Clusters as entrepreneurial ecosystems
5 September 2013

2. Mobilizing Stakeholders through
Legitimation Strategies
–
The Formation of a Tourist Destination Cluster Initiative
Jörgen Elbe
jel@du.se
Anna Emmoth
aem@du.se

4. The Research
• How mobilizing cluster stakeholders?
• Longitudinal case study
• Multiple data sources: Interviews,
observations, documents
• Qualitative interpretation – abductive
approach

5. Case Study Background
• Regional tourism development initiative:
• Destination Dalarna: One region – five destinations
• Hundreds of businesses– a few ”locomotives” but
mainly SMEs
• Huged planned investment – stagnating domestic
market = need to attract foreign markets
(overcapacity?)
• Solution: cluster initiative with one brand, joint
marketing and a joint sales platform
• Regional tourism developer as cluster facilitator

7. General Prerequisites
• Cluster facilitator:
• Limited budget
• No formal authority
• Many different and important stakeholders:
• Local businesses, residents, funding agencies, governments,
academic institutions…
• In different organizational fields with different institutional logics
• Legitimacy
• A crucial resource in order to mobilize resources and support

8. A Conceptual Framework
• Three types of legitimacy (Suchman,1995):
• Moral: Being perceived as a legitimate representative
• Pragmatic: Being perceived as a commercially interesting and legitimate
partner
• Cognitive: Taken for granted structures in the society, i.e. is the
cluster/industry perceived as legitimate
• Rhetoric as a mean (Suddaby & Geenwood, 2005; Aristotle)
• Logos: Arguments referring to what appears to be logical
• Pathos: Arguments referring to emotions and moral
• Ethos: Arguments referring to the perceived authority of the presenter
• Strategic legitimation approaches (based on Suchman, 1995)
• Conforming: Adapting arguments to stakeholders’ existing institutional logics
• Manipulating: Try to influence the stakeholders’ perception
• …or seek stakeholders in another field

9. Analysis scheme - example
Stakeholder
Type of
approach
Rhetorical
style
Resource
Type of
legitimacy
Associated
themes
Quotes by regional DMO directed to stakeholder
Funding
agencies
Local DMOs
Local
businesses
Conforming
Manipulating
Manipulating
Logos
Pathos
Ethos
National
development
funds
Support
Support
Cognitive
Moral
Pragmatic
Cluster –
innovation –
growth
External threats –
increased global
competition –
joint challenges
Business benefits
through
collaboration
“Today there is a common understanding in the region
to enhance the co-operation between industry actors.
The aim is that the industry will take a step forward
toward more refined products, better distribution
channels, more intense national and international
sales and more efficient processes. The goal is to
develop a regional cluster which can be part of a
national innovation system.” (application for funding)
”Our region is the fourth largest tourist region in
Sweden. We have a strong destination but we have
not developed in the pace as other destinations in
Sweden and therefore we risk losing visitors to
destinations that develop better and faster.” (project
description)
“We have come together since we believe in Dalarna
as a region. We have an interesting brand, and we
have numerous of companies with exciting ideas and
they will be in the forefront when the destinations and
products of the future are developed”. (Project
information web page)

10. The conceptual framework –
an analytic and strategic tool
Required
resources
Stakeholders Type of
approach
Rhetorical
style
Legitimacy
obtained
Funding,
competency,
skills,
support
Businesses,
tourists,
residents,
governments,
NGOs,
funding
agencies,
academic
institutions
Conforming
or
manipulating
Logos,
pathos, ethos
Moral,
pragmatic,
cognitive,

11. Thank you!
Contact:
Jörgen Elbe
Dalarna University
jel@du.se