This paper examines the implication of dual legitimacy quests of new MSIs; their need to build legitimacy for the standard and for the MSI organization itself. Through a longitudinal case study of an MSI in the Finnish mining industry, we focus on this duality challenge examining in/visibility dynamics in MSIs legitimacy seeking behaviors. Our study setting offers a longitudinal view on the development of a Finnish mining standard, and how the standard eventually failed to achieve legitimacy. We find that the dual legitimacy need of the MSI leads to different visibility targets for the external and internal legitimation strategy, and the subsequent (in)visibilization of certain practices and events undermined the organizational legitimacy over time. Our paper contributes to the legitimacy theory by conceptualizing the significance of (in)visibilization strategies for legitimacy. We also further the literature on public-private governance interactions by unearthing the problematics of divergent organizational objectives in different regulatory arenas.
