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The Institutionalisation of Foodbanks: Discordant Perceptions of Legitimacy

The Institutionalisation of Foodbanks: Discordant Perceptions of Legitimacy. Katy Gordon Doctoral Researcher 5/6 th November 2018. Introduction. “Legitimacy is a necessary but not sufficient condition for reaching the outcome of institutionalization” 1. Today Legitimacy basics

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The Institutionalisation of Foodbanks: Discordant Perceptions of Legitimacy

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  1. The Institutionalisation of Foodbanks: Discordant Perceptions of Legitimacy Katy Gordon Doctoral Researcher 5/6th November 2018

  2. Introduction “Legitimacy is a necessary but not sufficient condition for reaching the outcome of institutionalization”1 Today Legitimacy basics Empirical Study

  3. Legitimacy Basics “Organizational legitimacy is the perceived appropriateness of an organisation to a social system in terms of rules, values, norms and definitions.”2 Collective Legitimacy Media State Public Opinion Professionals

  4. Legitimacy Basics: Outcomes2 Proper Accepted Debated Illegitimate Foodbanks?

  5. Legitimacy Basics: Types Pragmatic Regulative Whether the activity of the organisation is the proper one in reference to broader social norms.3 Moral Cognitive

  6. Legitimacy Basics: Making Judgements Tost (2011)1 proposed the Legitimacy Judgement Cycle:

  7. Method “Reduce and, over time, remove the need for food banks in Scotland”4 Introduction • 16 Semi-structured, explorative interviews (employees and volunteers)

  8. Findings: Navigating the Debated Terrain Meeting a short term need confers legitimacy for staff and volunteers • “There are times when, I suppose, I’ll go home at night and think well I did something today. If nothing else I’ll know there is some families not going home hungry.” [foodbank manager] • “I love my job…It’s stressful, but it is worth being stressed over I think” [foodbank manager]

  9. Findings: Navigating the Debated Terrain Meeting a short term need confers legitimacy for staff and volunteers • One exception: • “If I look at why I retired four weeks ago or eight weeks ago whatever it was one of the main things was I don’t know if our organisation has done the right thing” [Other project – manager]

  10. Findings: Navigating the Debated Terrain The impact of other’s legitimacy judgements • “…I looked at the application form for that and it said ‘emergency food provision excluded’. That was one of the lowest of low points.” [foodbank volunteer] • “Actually people come to volunteer at the foodbank because that’s what they want to do. They are not wanting to run ‘other’ stuff….But we are good at being a foodbank. So that’s what we are doing.” [foodbank manager]

  11. Findings: Are stakeholders making active legitimacy judgments? Passivity in the ‘judgement use’ phase “Foodbanks have increasingly become their first port of call because it is relatively simple, as a referrer, to sort of use that as an option….The interrogation about whether that is the most appropriate or certainly the most dignified place to send somebody in every instance has waned.” [National Org - officer]

  12. Findings: Are stakeholders making active legitimacy judgments? Passivity in the ‘judgement use’ phase “So then they might start to think, ok, there are foodbanks and I need to help so people’s immediate response to donate and to give help but they don’t see beyond that. And I think that is quite normal… then it is human nature to want to help and not really think much more about it.” [Support Org] “I’m devastated here, I thought I was doing a good job donating to foodbanks” [Volunteer – other food project]

  13. Early Conclusions • The need for emergency food aid in the here and now overrides any ‘debated’ legitimacy judgements. • Organisations operating due to structural conditions continue to operate despite moral legitimacy challenges • Long term concerns do not infiltrate on the day-to-day or provide a complete refuge from critique • Challenging passivity from stakeholders may provide momentum for wider change Theory Practical

  14. References • Tost, L. (2011). An Integrative Model of Legitimacy Judgements. The Academy of Management Review,36(4), 686-710. • Deephouse, D. L., Bundy, J., Tost, L. P., & Suchman, M. C. 2017. Organizational Legitimacy: Six Key Questions. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. Lawrence, & R. Meyer (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism (2nd ed.): Thousand Oaks CA: Sage. • Scott, R. (1995) Institutions and Organizations, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. • Scottish Government (2018) Food Poverty: Fair Food Transformation Fund. Available at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/People/fairerscotland/tacklingpovertyinscotland/food-poverty [Accessed Nov 2 2018].

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