15305: Framing the Pivot: Distinguishing Between Different Pivot Types and Their Legitimacy Aims (WITHDRAWN) (session 26136)

How ventures frame a pivot to external audiences can determine whether the venture is able to maintain its legitimacy while undergoing a significant change in its business model. Despite differences in the size and scope of new venture pivots, prior research assumes that they are all equally threatening to a venture’s legitimacy when communicated to external audiences. Our paper addresses these gaps by asking the following question: How do the legitimacy aims of ventures change as they undergo different types of pivots, and what implications does this have for how the pivot is framed to external audiences? We take a qualitative approach to examine the framing of 104 new venture pivots that were communicated to external audiences between 2008 and 2018. Our study yields three main findings. First, we develop a typology of different pivot types by drawing on prior research surrounding pivoting’s underlying triggers, and identifying an additional dimension: the scale of the pivot, which can be either incremental or drastic. Using this typology as a foundation, we connect each type of pivot to a venture’s desired legitimacy aims, finding that not all ventures look to maintain their legitimacy during a pivot, but that some seek to enhance it as well. In doing so we offer new insights into pivoting, and describe the different framing strategies that ventures use to communicate both the pivot and the venture to external audiences.

view paper (if available)