Reputable and qualified individuals usually enter an organizational competition because they believe they have a genuine opportunity to be selected. But what if the preferred outcome has already begun to take shape before the formal process starts?
Their expertise, reputation, experience, and professional standing can make the competition appear more serious. Their participation may strengthen confidence in the process—and that credibility may ultimately contribute to the legitimacy of its outcome.
Importantly, this mechanism does not necessarily require an explicit promise. Sometimes it may be enough for participants to believe: “I genuinely have a chance of being selected.”
At that point, hope is no longer merely an individual motivation. It may become a resource that attracts participation—and, through participation, credibility.
If reputable individuals knew from the beginning that the preferred outcome had already been shaped, would they still participate? If the answer is often no, information asymmetry may also be part of the mechanism.
Perhaps legitimizing a pre-shaped outcome requires not only credible participants, but also their belief that the process remains genuinely open. This is where the hope of being selected becomes a potentially important variable in organizational decision-making and the production of legitimacy.