Original title: How ventures maintain stakeholder support amidst operational legitimacy threats
The researchers studied four ventures that had raised money through crowdfunding and then had to deliver their promised products. They found three ways to communicate that can help maintain support: make the venture feel human, describe setbacks and how they are resolved as normal, and revise practical claims about what the venture can deliver. The first two practices build a buffer of goodwill. That buffer can make stakeholders more receptive when the venture has to change what it promised.
Imagine a small shop that has promised customers a new kind of bread. If an ingredient delivery is late, customers may wonder whether the shop can keep its promise. The shop can build trust by showing the people behind the work and explaining delays as they happen; if the bread must change, that trust can help customers accept the revised promise. In this paper, those ways of communicating help ventures keep stakeholder support when delivery problems come to light.
People who back a venture may lose confidence if it struggles to deliver what it promised. The study suggests entrepreneurs can build goodwill before problems arise, then use honest adjustments to their claims to help preserve stakeholder support.
The abstract describes four ventures that had raised money through crowdfunding and focuses on how they communicated while delivering promised products. It does not establish whether the same practices work in other kinds of ventures, or how much they affect stakeholder support.
Ask anything about this paper. Answers come from its abstract, and say so when the abstract doesn't cover your question.
How ventures maintain stakeholder support amidst operational legitimacy threats — Alex Michael Murray, Susan L. Cohen, Farhan Iqbal — Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal — doi:10.1002/sej.70049
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.