Strategier för att erhålla legitimitet i en civilsamhällesorganisation:

Sammanfattning: Non-profit organizations gain increasing attention in society but their legitimacy often decrease by scandals in separate organizations. Doctors without borders (MSF) constitutes an exception and has managed to retain their legitimacy. The aim of this study was to examine how MSF built and retained its legitimacy towards institutional actors in their environment, when the branch in general is suffering from a crisis of confidence. In a case study, this was done by identifying the institutional pressures on MSF and examining which strategies MSF uses to handle the pressures. The study was conducted through qualitative interviews with employees at MSF and actors in their environment. A nuanced institutional framework was constructed that explained which strategy MSF has used when responding to different institutional pressures. The result showed that MSF acquiesced to cognitive and regulative pressures but avoided, defied or manipulated normative pressures when these conflicted with the organization's fundamental principles and values. Also, the study showed that MSF never used a compromising strategy.