Understanding the dynamic nature of competitive strategy is a key issue for researchers and practitioners alike. These dynamics imply that firms constantly need to implement changes to their value creation processes in order to succeed in the marketplace. Very often, these changes require long-term transformation processes, involve path dependent decisions and fundamentally transform the way business is done within the firm.

Sascha Israel analyzes whether these changes are best implemented through steady or volatile paths of strategic adaption and points out the impact of alternative patterns of change on subsequent development of the firm. The basic population for this analysis consists of German manufacturing companies that are observed during the period of 1994 to 2004. The results confirm that managers should carefully pace out organizational changes over time and provide valuable implications for strategic management in theory and practice.