• ISSN: 2301-3567 (Print), 2972-3981 (Online)
    • Abbreviated Title: J. Econ. Bus. Manag.
    • Frequency: Quarterly
    • DOI: 10.18178/JOEBM
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HOME > Archive > 2026 > Volume 14 Number 2 (2026) >
JOEBM 2026 Vol.14(2): 97-103
DOI: 10.18178/joebm.2026.14.2.916

Structuring for Acceptance: How Cultural Legitimacy Drives Organizational Innovation in Theme Parks

Ruijie Niu and Qihuai Zhang*
Ruijie Niu1 and Qihuai Zhang2,*
1 School of Economics, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
2 School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Email: 2120243742@mail.nankai.edu.cn (R.N.); zqhsai@mail.bnu.edu.cn (Q.Z.)
*Corresponding author

Manuscript received December 15, 2025; accepted January 31, 2026; published May 22, 2026.

Abstract—In the context of globalization, the cultural industries have continued to evolve, and research on transnational cultural corporations has accordingly attracted growing scholarly attention. However, current studies on the organizational frameworks of these corporations predominantly rely on theories developed for traditional industries, whose explanatory power is limited for the cultural industries. Taking theme parks, an emblematic and distinctive form of transnational cultural projects as its object of analysis, this paper examines organizational structure innovation under complex institutional and cultural environments. Anchored in the theory of organizational ambidexterity, we innovatively incorporate the factor of cultural legitimacy into the organizational ambidexterity framework to analyze organizational innovation in cultural projects. Using Shanghai Disney Resort as the focal case study, selecting Universal Beijing Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort as comparative cases, this research employs a comparative case study approach to identify three distinct organizational models. From the standpoint of organizational ambidexterity and the lens of cultural legitimacy, these three parks exhibit different configurations and strategic priorities. Our findings indicate that organizational innovation in transnational cultural projects is not merely a response to organizational ambidexterity but also a dynamic process of pursuing cultural legitimacy. Cultural legitimacy serves not only as a critical external condition for successful localization of multinational corporations but also as an internal driver for continuous organizational adaptation. This study provides a theoretical foundation for understanding the governance choices of transnational cultural corporations under varying degrees of institutional complexity.
 
Keywords—theme parks, organizational ambidexterity, cultural legitimacy, organizational structure innovation, transnational cultural projects

Cite: Ruijie Niu and Qihuai Zhang, "Structuring for Acceptance: How Cultural Legitimacy Drives Organizational Innovation in Theme Parks," Journal of Economics, Business and Management, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 97-103, 2026.

Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

 
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