Who enables whom? Technology versus legitimacy

Abstract

Technology emergence is a complex process confronting multiple institutional challenges and uncertainties which can hinder the efforts to introduce and establish it. In an effort to shed light on the factors that enable successful technological emergence, scholars have directed their attention towards institutional theory and the central role played by technology legitimacy. A significant amount of research has investigated the relationship between technology and organizational legitimacy, revealing that technology can provide legitimacy to organizations, and conversely, that legitimizing technology is essential for its emergence. This study aims to identify and visualize the intellectual structure of research on technology and legitimacy in the business economics literature by conducting a bibliometric quantitative literature analysis. Our results found six main lines of research in this field which provide a comprehensive and interconnected view of the research on this topic. These findings can serve as a starting point for future research in the field, as we track its evolutionary trajectory to identify declining and growing research areas. Further, we provide a research agenda on new topics that have yet to be explored.