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Strategic Imitation

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management

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Abstract

Strategic imitation occurs when one firm purposefully copies the products, processes, managerial methods, organizational form, market entry and/or investment timing of another firm with the intention of fulfilling a strategic goal. This imitation can be purposeful and take various forms, such as counterfeiting, reverse engineering or the adoption of best practices, or it can be accidental, such as when rival firms respond to the same external shock. External drivers such as globalization, the codification and commodization of knowledge, advances in technology and communication, and recent phenomena such as imitation clusters and private labelling serve to propel imitative behaviour. While motives for imitation vary for specific firms, scholars have suggested theoretically based motivations, such as the need for information, risk minimization and culturally based collectivistic behaviour.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA

    Susan L. Young

  2. Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business, 2100 Neil Avenue, 43210, Columbus, OH, USA

    Jay B. Barney

Authors
  1. Susan L. Young
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  2. Jay B. Barney
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan L. Young .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. GSBPP, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA

    Mie Augier

  2. Berkeley Research Group, LLC, Emeryville, CA, USA

    David J. Teece

  3. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    David J. Teece

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd., part of Springer Nature

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Young, S.L., Barney, J.B. (2018). Strategic Imitation. In: Augier, M., Teece, D.J. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-00772-8_275

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