Qualitative Evidence from Four-Year Sub-Sample

Interview quotes we obtained from the 36-firm subsample we collected in 2012 enabled us to examine the nature of TA. One such adaptation might be to open for a customer emergency in the middle of the night because a larger competitor has entered the business’s turf (Litz and Stewart, 2000). Another TA might be to speed up decision

887 making because the firm’s environment has become high velocity (Eisenhardt, 1989). Yet

Adaptation to Temporal Shocks

another form of TA, with some theoretical backing, but only rare empirical investigation (Khavul et al., 2010), is organizational entrainment (OE): the process by which firms ‘cope with a . . . change by synchronizing . . . their endogenous cyclic activities to those of the external environment’ (Pérez-Nordtvedt et al., 2008, p. 788). OE matters because firms that attain or regain temporal fit with a newly changed environment are predicted to outperform those that do not (Bluedorn, 1993; Pérez-Nordtvedt et al., 2008). Because our measure of TA intentions did not directly map the cycles of the Stadium schedule to the activity cycles of the originally studied firms, we were unable to establish this fine-grained and synchronous form of TA. However, interview findings were suggestive that the form of TA at hand was entrainment-like. That is, the firms that had intended TA to the Stadium not only ended up doing so, but did so in such a way that reflected not just temporal change in general, but OE in particular.

We normally open at 10:30 but open earlier if something is happening across the street (at the stadium). We used to be open for breakfast but stopped doing that before the stadium opened. Now we dust off the breakfast menu if games start early. The high school playoffs start well before noon and we pick up a pretty good breakfast crowd. We normally close up at 10:00 but will stay open if customers are still around. There are a lot of hungry people leaving the stadium because the food over there (the stadium) is so expensive. [562]

We try very hard to link up with events at the stadium . . . On Cowboys game days, we want to have people that come in before they go (to the game) and people that stay and watch the game. . . . Parking is so expensive over there (the stadium), we offer a shuttle to and from the stadium. We also offer dinner packages. A salad, steak, and shuttle for less than twenty bucks. You just can’t beat that . . . Of course, we change our staffing schedule when the Cowboys are in town because Sundays and Monday are normally our two slowest days. Now they can be two of the busiest days. More time is also needed to make the arrangements on game day too. If I could open longer, I would. [550]

. . . this part of Arlington has always been a summer area because of Six Flags and the Rangers but now we have the Cowboys. Before it picks up around Thanksgiving, and through the Christmas holidays, the Fall used to be a relatively slow time especially on Sundays. Things have definitely changed. We need to plan ahead to make sure we have enough staff when the Cowboys are in town. We also pick up quite a bit of business from fans coming to college games. The Super Bowl was particularly busy. We opened early and closed late and were booked almost solid the entire week. We expected big crowds and made adjustments to our schedule to make sure we had enough employees. We also adjusted our food order to make sure we had enough food. It was great. [66]

We will stay open later than usual on game nights to feed the people leaving the stadium. Sunday and Monday nights are usually pretty slow but the Cowboys pack them in. We catch more going (to the game) but we also catch a bunch leaving (the game). We stay open until we run out of customers. [662]

L. Pérez-Nordtvedt et al.

We have embraced the stadium from the beginning. Not only do we benefit from more customers, but the stadium looks beautiful from our dining room . . . We regularly open our banquet rooms early to accommodate large groups before events at the stadium. We have also opened the main restaurant early (before 5:00) on games days. In fact, we have opened the restaurant on Sundays during Super Bowl week. Of course, we remain open until everyone is ready to leave. [652]

We are right across the street from the stadium so we definitely benefit. Plus, we sell parking. Our revenues increase by over 50 percent on game days. For big events, we increase our staff and extend the hours. We actually bring employees from other restaurants to handle the increased business. But it’s not just the Cowboys game. They bring lots of customers. But since we cater to the Hispanic market, ‘futbol’ games are real big for us. [24]

Aside from providing tentative evidence of OE taking place, these quotes highlight several notable issues. First, they suggest that the items that we chose from pilot work to measure TA intentions were appropriate for the disruption in question and for the sampled businesses. While we believed, however, that the main change to the temporal environment had been in the form of phase, pace changes may have also occurred (e.g. increased speed of inventory replenishment and operations to handle greater influx of customers). Second, in support of construal level theory, some of the comments suggest the psychological impact that the appearance of an immense landmark in the competi- tive space has on nearby business owners. Spatial distance affected TA intentions not only because of the increased demand or enhanced information availability close to the disruption, but also because of the landmark’s imposing visual presence. Third, the interviewers’ reports seem to indicate that particular events have greater importance to their firms, and they were more likely to align their business activities to them (e.g. regional soccer events targeting the Hispanic community). Lastly, other forms of non-TA – that is, those regarding content – also occurred (e.g. offering food and transportation packages). In fact, some content changes required time changes, and some time changes required some content changes. Nonetheless, the upshot of these qualitative data is that TA in general and OE in particular were key features of how firms responded to the disruption in question.

DISCUSSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Temporal Adaptation as Potential Response to an

Qualitative Evidence from Four-Year Sub-Sample