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How to Establish Legitimacy for New Technologies

“New technologies are being developed all the time, but not every invention is successful in the marketplace. Technological viability alone is not enough to guarantee success. A new invention must have a strategy for capturing profits, along with an ability to overcome key barriers to entry in its target market. The process of overcoming these barriers is called ‘legitimization,'” according to a new article in the California Management Review by Jeremy Hall, Vernon Bachor, and Stelvia Matos.

“Legitimization has two dimensions: cognitive and sociopolitical. Cognitive legitimacy is developed through technical knowledge and industry analysis. Sociopolitical legitimacy is developed by understanding the value that society places on a technology based on cultural or political influences. An electric car, for example, acquires cognitive legitimacy by proving that it is a viable alternative to gasoline-powered cars – it can perform the same functions and can operate reliably. But the sociopolitical legitimacy of an electric car is derived from the value that society places on it. An electric car may have higher sociopolitical legitimacy in an eco-friendly population than in a typical population.”

“An organization can establish legitimacy for its new invention by developing a technology strategy that addresses uncertainties in four critical areas: Technological, Commercial, Organizational, and Societal. Each area of uncertainty represents a barrier that must be overcome in order for a technology to achieve success in the marketplace.”

The video below explains the findings of the article: