The Dynamics of Legitimacy in Integrative Bargaining Over Restructuring

ABSTRACT This paper demonstrates the dynamics of legitimacy in integrative bargaining over restructuring. Through a case study of SteelCo, we show that cognitive legitimacy is essential to the identification of integrative potential, which interacts with pragmatic and moral legitimacy as bargaining evolves. Our findings also reveal the two‐way interrelationship between legitimacy and bargaining: just as legitimacy impacts the bargaining process, the conduct and outcomes of bargaining impact legitimacy. Our analysis highlights the risk integrative bargaining presents for unions, as it can involve not a single act of compromise but a gradual weakening of resources predicated on their moral legitimacy among workers.