Description
Quite an amount of research has investigated how ridesharing companies such as Uber use tactics of institutional work to obtain legitimacy in particular city environments. The disruptive innovation introduced by these sharing economy companies has challenged incumbent taxi industries who, faced with growing competition, tend to respond by seeking to maintain the institutional environment to their benefit. So far, the incumbents’ tactics associated with maintaining the institutional status-quo have remained underexplored. However, the ongoing expansion of the sharing economy and the need to better understand sharing economy companies in relation to other actors, makes research on incumbent firms’ institutional work even more critical. This study investigates the tactics used by the Brussels taxi industry to maintain the institutional context, in response to Uber’s institutional work. Drawing from the theoretical framework of institutional work by Lawrence and Suddaby (2006), we apply content analysis of Belgian business press articles that report on institutional tactics and government regulations in Brussels Capital Region from January 2014 to September 2021. According to the findings, the Brussels taxi industry mostly used tactics of ‘enabling work’, by urging politicians to take actions against Uber, and ‘policing’, by enforcing compliance with laws and regulations. The tactics of ‘valourizing’ and ‘demonizing’ provide evidence of a conflictive and toxic relationship between taxi companies and Uber, which also appeared from protests, threats and legal complaints, all tactics that emerged inductively from our data. The findings have also revealed actions of ‘advocacy’, ‘mimicry’ and ‘theorizing’, which are tactics that are commonly used by creators, rather than maintainers, of institutions. The taxi industry’s mimicry, taking the form of imitation of app-based technology, may indicate a convergence of incumbent and disruptive players’ operations. This should signal city governments to further level the smart city playing field of personal ridehailing, covering both new and traditional businesses.| Periode | 15 jun 2022 → 17 jun 2022 |
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| Evenementstitel | EURAM 2022 |
| Evenementstype | Conference |
| Locatie | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Mate van erkenning | International |