Imitation / Innovation Flashcards
Porter
1996: Operational effectiveness (=imitation, cost advantage, efficiency) only achieves competitive parity, it’s not strategy (= innovation, differentiating activities, choosing trade-offs, forging fit) Reasons to imitate: 1) observe initial market reactions, 2) build on existing R&D, 3) leapfrog technology, 4) less likely to become complacent
Hotelling
1929: Competing firms tend to become alike - rational to maximise market share by being as similar as possible
DiMaggio & Powell
1983: Institutional isomorphism: coercive (legitimacy), mimetic (response to uncertainty, herd behaviour), normative (professionalisation) E.g. the Big 4 supermarket have become increasingly similar
Brandenberger & Nalebuff
1995: Changing the set-up of the game such that it improves the outcome for both people - doesn’t have to be zero sum, idea of co-opetition The number and type of players is something you can affect E.g. The big 6 energy companies, would have been better for them all to introduce a new entrant to the market, rather than suffer scrutiny E.g. The Exxon oil spill was a cost to all firms
Barnett
2006: “Rivals are also roommates” - competitive vs. communal strategy E.g. Toyota & PSA Peugeot Citroen collaborated to make a small European city car
Nambisan & Sawhney
2007: Red Queen effect: you must exert ever more effort just to maintain your current position - short-term benefits and avoids a bit of risk, but ultimately cannot compete
Deephouse
1999: Different or the same? Strategic balance - Differentiation reduces competition - e.g. Gu puddings - Build barriers to imitation through brand loyalty, switching costs, causal ambiguity and scale economies - Conforming reduces costs and demonstrates legitimacy - Be as different as legitimately possible
Bower & Christensen
1995: Disruptive technologies: paradigmatic innovations that drive society forwards and make us think in new ways, e.g. hard disk drives
