What Is Ideon, Anyway?
(2026) BUSN39 20261Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- This study aims to analyze how hybrid organizations earn legitimacy through competing stakeholder role evaluations in institutionally complex environments. In the case of Ideon Science Park, the study examines how corporate branding influences stakeholder legitimacy interpretations.
The paper follows a qualitative single-case study with an abductive research approach. The primary data includes semi-structured interviews with Ideon’s external stakeholders such as startups, university faculty, and regional actors part of the ecosystem. The study utilizes corporate branding material as secondary data, including Ideon website content, impact reports , social media and strategic marketing materials.
The analysis identified uneven legitimacy... (More) - This study aims to analyze how hybrid organizations earn legitimacy through competing stakeholder role evaluations in institutionally complex environments. In the case of Ideon Science Park, the study examines how corporate branding influences stakeholder legitimacy interpretations.
The paper follows a qualitative single-case study with an abductive research approach. The primary data includes semi-structured interviews with Ideon’s external stakeholders such as startups, university faculty, and regional actors part of the ecosystem. The study utilizes corporate branding material as secondary data, including Ideon website content, impact reports , social media and strategic marketing materials.
The analysis identified uneven legitimacy across the pragmatic, moral, and cognitive dimensions. Pragmatic legitimacy emerged strongly, moral legitimacy was found as conditional, and cognitive legitimacy had the weakest results. As institutional complexity fragmented stakeholder legitimacy interpretations, the study identifies how different stakeholders evaluate the role of corporate branding as a tool to help influence role understanding without entirely removing the inherent ambiguity of hybrids.
The research was constrained by the time frame of the master thesis period, which limited the stakeholder sample size. Additionally, the study is based on a single hybrid organization which limits the study’s generalizability.
The research suggests managers of hybrid organizations should prioritize role clarity through coherent communication to reduce fragmentation.
This study provides a unique understanding of how hybrid organizations earn legitimacy evaluations within institutionally complex environments, specifically hybrid organizations that operate as intermediaries across competing institutional logics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9232534
- author
- Bekes, Max Johan LU and Mercado Salazar, Juan Pablo LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- A Study Of Hybrid Organizations’ Legitimacy
- course
- BUSN39 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Hybrid Organizations, Legitimacy, Corporate Branding, Institutional Complexity, Stakeholder Evaluation, Innovation Ecosystems, Science Park
- language
- English
- id
- 9232534
- date added to LUP
- 2026-07-21 09:26:01
- date last changed
- 2026-07-21 09:26:01
@misc{9232534,
abstract = {{This study aims to analyze how hybrid organizations earn legitimacy through competing stakeholder role evaluations in institutionally complex environments. In the case of Ideon Science Park, the study examines how corporate branding influences stakeholder legitimacy interpretations.
The paper follows a qualitative single-case study with an abductive research approach. The primary data includes semi-structured interviews with Ideon’s external stakeholders such as startups, university faculty, and regional actors part of the ecosystem. The study utilizes corporate branding material as secondary data, including Ideon website content, impact reports , social media and strategic marketing materials.
The analysis identified uneven legitimacy across the pragmatic, moral, and cognitive dimensions. Pragmatic legitimacy emerged strongly, moral legitimacy was found as conditional, and cognitive legitimacy had the weakest results. As institutional complexity fragmented stakeholder legitimacy interpretations, the study identifies how different stakeholders evaluate the role of corporate branding as a tool to help influence role understanding without entirely removing the inherent ambiguity of hybrids.
The research was constrained by the time frame of the master thesis period, which limited the stakeholder sample size. Additionally, the study is based on a single hybrid organization which limits the study’s generalizability.
The research suggests managers of hybrid organizations should prioritize role clarity through coherent communication to reduce fragmentation.
This study provides a unique understanding of how hybrid organizations earn legitimacy evaluations within institutionally complex environments, specifically hybrid organizations that operate as intermediaries across competing institutional logics.}},
author = {{Bekes, Max Johan and Mercado Salazar, Juan Pablo}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{What Is Ideon, Anyway?}},
year = {{2026}},
}