标准赶超是后发企业获取国际话语权的重要途径。然而，现有研究对后发企业标准赶超的过程机制关注不够。基于合法性视角，对华为5G项目开展纵向单案例分析，探索其标准赶超过程机制。结果发现，当有效性线索缺乏时，后发企业基于主动型合法性判断的认知指导，通过塑造机制创造差异化合法性，实现技术突破，从而为标准蓄能；当有效性来源充足时，后发企业基于被动型合法性判断的认知指导，通过同形机制获得一致性合法性，使其技术提案被纳入国际标准，实现标准并跑；当外部有效性波动时，在主动型、被动型相结合的合法性判断指导下，后发企业通过扩散机制获得“和而不同”的合法性，从而实现标准引领。

Standard competition is an important form of market competition in the era of the digital economy. Against the backdrop of countries vying for dominance in the digital economy,standardization has been elevated to a national strategic level and is highly emphasized by various nations. However,Chinese enterprises,as latecomers,have made limited contributions to the standardization process,resulting in a “standardization gap”. In order to bridge this gap with leading enterprises and even achieve standard surpassing,Chinese latecomers need to improve or restructure their standard systems. This inevitably challenges existing cognitive paradigms and behavioral conventions,disrupts established interest structures and industry orders,and typically faces multiple severe legitimacy tests. As a result,obtaining legitimacy is a critical proposition for latecomer enterprises. Technological innovation can only become a standard when it is fully understood,compatible with established practices,and recognized by both the market and the government. However,there is insufficient attention to this topic in the existing research in both the fields of latecomer enterprise standard competition and legitimacy.#br#This paper conducts a longitudinal single-case analysis of Huawei's 5G project from a legitimacy perspective. Firstly,this study employs structured interviews and document collection methods for data gathering. Based on this data,this paper systematically outlines the milestone events in the development of Huawei's 5G technology. Secondly,through consulting with internal personnel and external experts,this paper analyzes and summarizes the characteristics of events as well as the patterns of technological evolution occurring in a time series,thus dividing Huawei's 5G technology development into three stages. Finally,utilizing structured data analysis methods,the paper analyzes the dynamic processes and mechanisms of latecomer enterprises' standard competition and constructs a theoretical model for latecomer enterprises to achieve standard competition driven by legitimacy.#br#This paper reveals that latecomer enterprises follow a path of “clue search - legitimacy assessment - legitimacy acquisition” to pursue standard competition. Specifically,when there is a lack of effectiveness clues,latecomer enterprises,guided by proactive legitimacy judgments,create differential legitimacy by shaping mechanisms to achieve fundamental technological breakthroughs,thus building technological capabilities for standard development. When effectiveness sources are abundant,latecomer enterprises,guided by passive legitimacy judgments,acquire consistent legitimacy through congruent mechanisms,enabling their technological proposals to be adopted as industry-standard practices, so as to achieve standard co-leadership. When external effectiveness exhibits fluctuations,latecomer enterprises,guided by a combination of proactive and passive legitimacy judgments,acquire “harmoniously different” legitimacy through diffusion mechanisms,facilitating the release of technological standards,thereby achieving standard leadership.#br#This paper extends the context of standard research and deepens the study of standard competition and legitimacy in latecomer enterprises. Firstly,it focuses on the standard competition of latecomer enterprises,addressing the inadequacy of existing literature in this research context. Secondly,the legitimacy process of achieving standard competition proposed in this study,which simultaneously considers external influencing factors and the evaluations of internal strategic actors,to some extent fills the theoretical gap in the fusion of internal and external factors in the process of standard competition for latecomer enterprises. Furthermore,using perception-driven legitimacy from the perspective of evaluators,this study elucidates the deep microfoundations of organizational cognition and practice interaction that drive standard competition in latecomer enterprises. This compensates for the limitations of previous research on technological legitimacy which neglected internal organizational perceptions. Lastly,by focusing on contextual changes,it explains the mechanisms through which legitimacy influences the standard competition of latecomer enterprises over time,facilitating an interaction between the fields of legitimacy and latecomer enterprise standard competition research.#br#In practice,this paper provides significant insights for latecomer enterprises in China seeking to achieve standard competition. To strengthen the strategic significance of standard construction,latecomer enterprises can view the lack of external effectiveness clues caused by technological replacement as a strategic opportunity and proactively plan the technical layout of standards in advance to gain a competitive advantage. Furthermore,latecomer enterprises should actively integrate into standardization organizations,gain recognition from members of these organizations through collaboration and continuous interaction with industry partners,and enhance their influence within these standardization organizations.#br#