新创企业合法性门槛的跨越机制——基于事件系统理论的案例研究

新创企业会面临能否跨越合法性门槛的严峻考验,但是新创企业面临何种合法性门槛以及如何跨越等问题的研究不为多见,因此很有必要推进新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制研究。文章运用事件系统理论,以滴滴出行和ofo小黄车为例,从事件时空和强度的角度构建分析框架,研究新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制。研究发现,新创企业在合法化过程中存在多重合法性门槛;外部评价者身份的多样性和判断模式的转变,通过影响关键事件的强度引起合法性门槛的周期变化。同时文章揭示了新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制,发现合法性门槛跨越机制具有迭起性,企业在一次次地合法性门槛跨越中,实现合法性水平的动态积累与显著提升;关键事件的时间、空间、强度属性,充分显示新创企业合法性门槛跨越机制的具体内容。本研究促进了新创企业合法性获取的动态研究,拓展了事件系统理论的应用领域,对致力于共享经济模式创新的新创企业提供了实践指导。

The Leapfrogging Mechanism of Legitimacy Threshold of the New Ventures: Cases Studies from Perspective of Event System Theory

With the development of the Internet, some new ventures will face the challenge of lack of legitimacy because of their short operating time. The acquisition of legitimacy is a dynamic process in which the level of legitimacy is constantly accumulated. In this process, there is a "legitimacy threshold". If the level of legitimacy obtained by new ventures can not cross the legitimacy threshold, they will fail to start a business.. However, from the existing research, what kind of legitimacy threshold and how to cross and other issues faced by new ventures are rare, so it is necessary to promote the research on the mechanism of crossing the legitimacy threshold of new ventures.In this paper, we take DiDi and ofo as examples, by applying event system theory, construct the analysis framework from the perspective of event time, space and intensity, and study the leapfrogging mechanism for new ventures. The study finds that there are multiple legitimacy thresholds in the process of pursuing legalization in new ventures.The diversity of the external evaluators identity and the change of judgment mode lead to periodic changes in the threshold of legitimacy by affecting the intensity of key events.The level of origin of the key events with different legitimacy threshold is different. The higher the level, the greater the intensity, and the longer the duration, the greater the impact on the legitimacy of new ventures. On this basis, the article tentatively reveals the legitimacy threshold crossing mechanism of new ventures, and finds that the legitimacy threshold crossing mechanism is repeated and rising. New ventures leap over the legitimacy threshold one after another to achieve the dynamic accumulation and significant improvement of the legitimacy level. Event time, space and strength clearly determine the specific content of the legitimacy threshold crossing mechanism of new ventures. The process of startups crossing the threshold of legitimacy is embodied in a series of events with the attribute of time and space. The time attribute of the event represents the duration of crossing the threshold of legitimacy; the spatial attribute of the event shows that the crossing of the threshold of legitimacy is the result of the interaction of multiple levels of subjects; the intensity attribute of the event will directly affect the behavior choice of new ventures when facing the legitimacy threshold.This study promotes the dynamic research on the legitimacy of new ventures, expands the application field of event system theory. On the basis of the research of Fisher et al, through the attributes of key events and subsequent effects, this paper deeply discusses the legitimacy threshold faced by new ventures in different stages and the judgment basis and process of evaluators, analyzes the influence of the change of subject behavior at different levels on the fluctuation of legitimacy level, and expounds the leapfrogging mechanism. It provides practical guidance for new ventures committed to the model innovation of sharing economy.