Move to the Beat:
Rhythms of Change and Firm
Performance
Patricia Klarner, LMU University of Munich
Sebastian Raisch, HEC University of Geneva
AoM Annual Meeting 2012
The Elevator Pitch
Move to the Beat: Rhythms of Change
and Firm Performance
 Organizations face a paradox between change and
stability that is difficult to reconcile.
 We argue that the rhythm of change is a means to
manage the change-stability paradox.
 We conducted an exploratory analysis of different
change rhythms and then tested how they relate to
firm performance (sample: 67 European insurance
firms, 1995 - 2004).
 Our findings show that regularly changing companies
can better cope with the change-stability paradox.
Methods
Summary of Data Analyses
Qualitative analysis:
(1) ClustalW multiple sequence alignment method to categorize (binary)
change data into similar event sequences;
(2) Phase analysis to classify change and stability sequences into
consistent change rhythms
Categories of firms with similar change rhythms
Quantitative analysis:
OLS regression analysis for hypotheses testing
Process Method
ClustalW Multiple Sequence Alignment
(1/2)
a)
b)
Process Method
ClustalW Multiple Sequence Alignment
(2/2)
AMJ Review Process
Some Issues in the Review Process (1/3)
R: The detection of a particular pattern of rhythm seems to be
sensitive to how many years of data you are using.
 A(1): Justification of period under investigation.
 A (2): Additional data collection for an extended period of 15 years.
 A (3): Discussion of potential censoring effects in limitations section.
AMJ Review Process
Some Issues in the Review Process (2/3)
R: Clarify the key dimensions of change (frequency, rhythm, timing,
stability, magnitude).
I’m worried that you’ve created a false dichotomy between change and
stability.
 A (1): Better clarification of the process of interest.
 A (2): Definition of specific events at the beginning of the paper.
 A (3): Controlling for other dimensions of change in quantitative analysis.
 A(4): Acknowledging in discussion section that findings relate to a specific
type of change.
AMJ Review Process
Some Issues in the Review Process (3/3)
R: I would suggest that you rewrite thoroughly the description of
the new method (text, appendix, and figures), and present it to
us in a way that is intuitively understandable.
 A (1): Shorter explanation of the ClustalW method in the paper and
a more detailed description in the Appendix.
 A (2): Clarification of the underlying logic of each analysis step.
 A (3): Illustration of the method with the same firm examples and a
data extract from the program for each step.
AMJ Review Process
Lessons Learned: Publishing Process
Research
 Importance of defining very precisely which events are
studied in process research.
 It is essential to provide a clear and intuitive explanation of a
new process method.
 For hand-collected data, it is vital to anticipate the need to
flexibly extend the data collection to longer periods and
additional variables.
 Importance of submitting process studies to the right outlets.
Thank you for your
attention –
and best of luck
for your own
process research!