Task Allocation and Corporate Performance: Is There a First‐Mover Advantage?

Although the performance effects of multitasking were analyzed intensively in the past, little is known about the impact of the adoption time of multitasking on corporate performance. Possibly, the quantity of the reorganization is crucial and early movers experience a comparative competitive advantage; but also quality effects could dominate and late adoption is beneficial. The present paper examines the performance effects of the implementation time of teamwork and job rotation using two nationally representative Swiss firm-level datasets. According to the results, there are first-mover advantages when implementing teamwork. In contrast, average adoption of job rotation is associated with higher and late adoption with lower performance. This indicates that there are both quantity and quality effects, dependent on how established and complex the multitasking instrument is.