This study explored the phenomenon of emergence in uncertain contexts. Specifically, we focused on the co-emergence of new firms and sectors. This is an area of high importance to practitioners and policymakers; however, it is less researched and understood. We analyzed, synthesized, and theorized this intersection across 16 interdisciplinary research contexts. Constant theorizing and iteration identified strong and weak emergence as key properties that can explain most of the co-emergence between new ventures and sectors. We employed typology construction through reduction to develop a typology of co-emergence by cross-tabulating the weak and strong emergence of new sectors and ventures. This led to the identification of four types of co-emergence: benign, supervenient, radical, and nominal. These four types are the focus of this study. The paper concludes with implications for academia, practice, and polity. 

New venture emergence is a phenomenon that receives much attention in the business and managerial domain. This could be attributed to the challenges associated with the liabilities of newness, smallness, and foreignness. However, the emergence of new ventures receives less attention, especially when their emergence coincides with sector radical transformation, or rather the re-emergence of a sector. A radically transformed sector may also oversee the emergence of new institutions, policies, actors, and new ways of organizing. This phenomenon of new venture emergence coupled with sector radical transformation or sector re-emergence presents the realization of different forms of newness simultaneously, referred to as a co-emergence of newness in this study. 

By applying the legitimation theory, this study explores new venture and sector legitimation during the period of sector radical transformation, the edge of chaos which is the period of transition from one form of stability to another. In addition, the study seeks to identify the challenges the new ventures and institutions faced during the period of transformation and the different legitimation activities that were carried out to ensure their respective establishments. To achieve this, we selected the Swedish and Moldovan gambling sectors that are at the edge of chaos, with them being distinct as they both have varied political-economic trajectories. Sweden is a mature democracy and operates within the European Union's legal and economic frameworks, while Moldova is a relatively young post-communist nation whose operations are not dictated by any external legal and economic frameworks. Study findings show that external institutional structures impact the emergence and legitimation of a new venture and sector transformation. More so, a co-emergence of a new venture must be equally matched with a co-legitimation of the new venture and transforming sector.

This chapter explores authentic leadership at the 'edge of chaos' - a transitional period from one kind of stability to another triggered by the emergence and implementation of newness. The authors argue that continuous, abrupt or unpredictable change at the edge of chaos impacts authentic leadership, resulting in the development of new values, new perspectives on legitimacy and new identities. Kinyanjui and Turcan identify four leader legitimation strategies, when introducing newness at the edge of chaos: feedback loop; conformance; familiar cues; and consistency and repetition. Kinyanjui and Turcan call for future research into the co-emergence of newness at the edge of chaos to equip decision-makers and policy-makers with a better understanding of legitimation strategies in the implementation of newness. © 2023 by Emerald Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.

Purpose: This study examines the challenges that multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the life sciences industry face during international product launches. The focus is on understanding the barriers MNEs encounter in various national contexts and aims to explore how institutional environments shape the product launch process and the strategies MNEs use to gain acceptance across different markets.

Design/methodology/approach: A case study approach is used, with 20 interviews with key employees from multiple sites and countries within one MNE involved in launching new products. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and supplemented by internal documents.

Findings: The study develops a framework that summarizes key factors influencing the launch process, including pricing, dynamic capabilities, brand awareness, and regulatory compliance. A typology is created to categorize markets into four distinct quadrants based on brand awareness and price sensitivity levels

Originality: This research contributes to the literature by integrating theories of legitimation and institutional influence with the process of new product launches. It offers a framework for understanding the dynamic factors at play and proposes a typology that focus on the complexities of launching products across different market contexts, particularly in the heavily regulated life sciences sector.

The introduction of new products in emerging markets presents specific challenges for firms. While these countries offer novel and expanding markets, their inherent institutional instability and lower per capita income introduce commercial risks which make these markets uncertain. Existing literature concentrates on individual domestic markets, offering limited direct cross-national comparisons. Most studies tend to treat emerging markets as a homogeneous group, overlooking the crucial differences and specific nuances inherent into each market. Furthermore, scant studies investigate new product launches in emerging markets, particularly those that account for the distinct characteristics and uncertainties of these diverse environments. While previous research literature has explored legitimacy in the context of long-term growth prospects, its role in the introduction of new products in emerging markets is understudied. Using a case-study method and legitimacy theory lens, this study investigates the main challenges an organization faced during new product launches and how it responded to these challenges to legitimize its new products in uncertain emerging markets. The findings highlight the importance of internal and external legitimation and the utilization of different legitimation strategies as necessitated by the different forms of uncertainties in the emerging country where the product is launched.