Rhythm and Entrainment of Acquisition and Alliance Initiatives and Firm Performance: A Temporal Perspective

A temporal perspective, focusing on when and under what conditions firms should accelerate or slow down their acquisition and alliance initiatives, is gaining momentum in strategy research. We explore the temporal relationships between rhythm, entrainment and firm performance. Firms that temporally structure the rhythm of repetitive acquisitions in an even-event pace achieve superior performance as compared to an even or event pace. We also find that intraentrainment—the internal synchronization between acquisition and alliance initiatives—enhances performance and the extraentrainment of alliances—the synchronization with competitors’ alliance rhythm—enhances performance. Our findings have important implications for the organizational improvisation, dynamic fit and alliance/acquisition experience literatures which further opens the window to understanding the creation of competitive advantage by managing rhythm-type strategic actions over time.