Festival Legitimacy and Resource Acquisition: Strategies for Growth and Survival By David Remillard A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Business Administration I.H. Asper School of Business University of Manitoba Copyright © 2014 by David Remillard Abstract This thesis explores legitimacy and legitimation strategies for resource acquisition using a life cycle approach in the festival and events context. A review of the extant festival and event’s research, suggests this topic is significantly under-covered. For further theoretical development the thesis reviewed the literatures of resource acquisition, with particular attention to resource dependency theory, and institutional theory, with its sub-topic legitimacy. Using an exploratory qualitative case study method, the researcher investigated eight festivals and analyzed them in terms of their efforts to build legitimacy at different stages of their life cycle. The author confirmed earlier research on sources of legitimacy that include, regulatory, pragmatic, normative, and cognitive types, and that four general strategies, conformance, selection, manipulation, and creation are used to achieve legitimacy from these sources. The data in this thesis also suggests that the stage of the festival’s life cycle serves as an important extension to the literature's previously established process model of resource acquisition and legitimacy, including a legitimacy threshold. The thesis concludes with a summary of the findings, limitations of the study, and by suggesting possibilities for future research. i Acknowledgements Many people contributed to this thesis and I’d like to start with my advisor, Nathan Greidanus, whose patience and guidance were indispensable and greatly appreciated. I’d also like to thank my committee members: Namita Bhatnagar, Zhenyu Wu, Bruno Silvestre. Also big thanks to the Clarence G. Elliott Fellowship Foundation and Great West Life for research funding. In addition, the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business and Faculty of Graduate Studies staff, especially Ewa Morphy and Sara Sealey, who have helped me navigate the graduate school processes. I’d also like to thank my family, my parents and extended family for their encouragement. Finally, I thank my wife Natasha Ryz, for all the backrubs, late night coffee, and help with coding checks. ii Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Table of Contents iii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Overview 1 Research Phenomenon and Rationale for the Research 2 The Scope and Approach of the Research 4 Overview of Findings 5 Contribution 7 Organization of the Thesis 7 Chapter 2: Festivals and Events Review 9 Overview 9 Event Studies 9 Types of Events 14 iii Festival Studies 17 Discourse on the Roles, Meanings and Impacts of Festivals in Society and Culture 20 Discourse on Festival Tourism 21 Discourse on Festival Management 21 Main Topics in Festival Management 22 Gaps in Research 27 Chapter 3: Theory and Constructs 29 Overview 29 Resource Acquisition 29 Resource Acquisition in the Festival Context 30 Resource Dependency Theory 31 Resource-Based View of Competitive Advantage 33 Social and Economic Transactions 34 Life Cycle View of Resource Acquisition 36 Start-up Stage 38 Growth Stage 39 iv Mature Stage 40 Decline/Transition Stage 41 Institutional Theory & Legitimacy 42 Legitimacy Threshold 46 Sources of Legitimacy 48 Regulatory Legitimacy 48 Normative Legitimacy 49 Cognitive Legitimacy 51 Pragmatic Legitimacy 53 Sources of Legitimacy Summary 53 Strategic Legitimacy 54 Conformance 55 Selection 56 Manipulation 57 Creation 58 Active Support vs. Passive Acquiescence 59 Research Direction 60 v Summary of Chapter 61 Chapter 4: Methodology 62 Overview 62 Selection of Research Design 63 Multiple Case Design 65 Issues with Validity and Reliability in Case Studies 66 Background Prior to Study 69 Question Development 69 Method of Sampling 70 Source of Sample 72 Procedure Prior to the Interview 74 Procedure for the Interview 74 Data Handling Procedures 75 Method of Data Analysis 75 Summary 77 Chapter 5: Case Summaries 78 Overview 78 vi Start-Up Stage 79 Pemberton Music Festival 79 Nascent Blues 80 Growth/Development Stage 82 Growing EDM 82 Boonstock 83 Growing Farming 84 Mature Stage 85 Mature EDM 85 Mature Country 86 Decline Stage 87 Declining Cultural 87 Summary Table 89 Chapter 6: Findings 90 Overview 90 Legitimacy Theory Elaboration 90 Revised Legitimacy Process Model 93 vii Life Cycle Stage Findings 94 Start-Up Stage 95 Focus and Challenges of Legitimacy 95 Founding Organizational Type 96 Starting with Social Resources 98 Vision and Identity 100 Community Involvement and Conformance 101 Site Selection 104 Regulations 106 Building Initial Legitimacy with Outside Stakeholders 109 Endorsements 112 Growth/Development Stage 114 Focus and Challenges of legitimacy 114 Growth Pattern 115 Threats to Survival After Initial Threshold is Reached 117 Revenue Generation and Legitimacy 120 Earning Legitimacy 121 viii Endorsements and Associations 124 Initial Site Selection in the Growth Stage 125 Selection Strategy for New Sites 128 Maturity/ Decline Stage 130 Focus and Challenges of Legitimacy 130 Institutionalizing 132 Sustained Relationships and Normative Association 133 Changes in Legitimacy with Attendees and Stakeholders 135 Routines and Professional Structures 137 Changing with the Times and Maintaining Legitimacy 138 Innovation and Creation 140 Decline 142 Legitimacy Threshold Findings 145 Summary Propositions 147 Chapter 7: Conclusions and Future Research 152 Overview 152 Conclusions and Implications 152 Life Cycle Stages 154 ix Legitimacy Threshold 156 Summary 157 Limitations 158 Future Research 161 References 164 Appendices 184 Appendix I: Table X Coding Example 184 Appendix II: Table XI Coding Example 188 Appendix III: Framework for Communication 192 Appendix IV: Ethics Protocol and Approach Letter 193 Appendix V: Interview Protocol 195 Appendix VI: Informed Consent 196 List of Tables Table I: Formica (1998) Themes in Events Literature and Article Counts 1970-1998 12 Table II: Getz (2000a) Themes from Event Literature and x Article Counts 13 Table III: Summary of Cases 89 Table IV: Strategy x Legitimacy Source x Examples of Legitimation Strategies 90 Table V: Legitimacy Source x Life Cycle 91 Table VI: Legitimacy Strategy x Life Cycle 92 Table VII: Start-up Stage Propositions 148 Table VIII: Growth/Development Propositions 149 Table IX: Mature/Decline Propositions 150 Table X: (Appendix I): Strategy x Definition x Examples x Example Quotes 184 Table XI: (Appendix II): Source of Legitimacy x Definition x Example Quotes 188 Figure Figure 1: Revised Legitimacy Model 94 xi Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview The following thesis investigates legitimacy and legitimation strategies as they relate to resource acquisition over the life cycle of festival organizations. This work adapts and extends Zimmerman and Zeitz’ (2002) model for legitimation and resource acquisition of new ventures to the festivals and events context. This thesis broadly reviews the festivals and events literature, with particular attention to Festival Management. The thesis investigates the broader management literature on resource acquisition, especially resource dependency theory and life cycle stages, and the relevance of these works to the research topic. The thesis reviews previous work on legitimacy and the role it has in resource acquisition, and the likely relevance it has in the festivals context. This previous scholarship draws from a variety of business and organizational environments, but special attention to resource acquisition and legitimacy has not been forthcoming in the chosen context. Overview The current chapter provides an introduction and overview to the research. First the research phenomenon and rationale for research are discussed. Second, the scope and approach to the research are described, followed by a chapter on methodology Next, the findings and their contributions to the literature are outlined. In conclusion, an outline of the subsequent chapters in this thesis is presented. 1 The Research Phenomenon and Rationale for the Research Defining Legitimacy and Resource Acquisition Legitimacy can be defined as a social judgement or generalized perception of approval, acceptance, or desirability of another entity and its actions (Suchman, 1995). While, resource acquisition for present purposes is the process through which an organization comes to use physical or nonphysical resources for its own purposes. Legitimacy has been argued to be necessary to acquire resources for a venture by numerous scholars (Rutherford and Buller, 2007; Zimmerman and Zeitz, 2002; Suchman, 1995). Neither legitimacy nor resource acquisition has been extensively investigated in the festival literature and relatively recent work has called for more research in this topic (Getz 2008, 2010). Festivals provide many benefits to a region, or community such as economic development and the reproduction of culture (Dwyer et al., 2000; Getz, 2008). Festivals have been noted, “As a source of innovation, education, creativity and enjoyment, festivals…nurture an environment that is attractive to investors and contributes to the economic wealth and health of a community. They forge a crossroads that intersects with industry, trade and commerce as well as welfare and education... communities engage in meaningful and memorable