Facilitating Enterprise Transformation Through Legitimacy – An Institutional Perspective

Much research has been conducted in order to design sophisticated enterprise transformation (ET) methods, for instance in terms of enterprise architecture management. However, only little attention has been paid to the factors that, to some extent independent of a method’s sophistication, exert pressure on a transformation approach’s desirability, appropriateness, and acceptance. Grounded in institutional theory, this paper structures and exemplifies design factors that should be obeyed in order to build and anchor an effective ET approach in an intra-organizational context. Specifically we found the factor of legitimacy to be crucial for successful ET. Strategies for gaining legitimacy are discussed accordingly. Overall, this paper’s institutional perspective contributes to better understand and design ET approaches.