Say hello to Strategic Imitation !

Imitators are so successful is because their costs are lower than that of innovators.

•  The first credit card was issued by Diner's Club and not Visa or Master Card which are the most popular now. 

• Scores of Indian pharma companies survived and thrived by copying drugs produced by multinational companies, when the process patent regime was in place.

• Facebook, has also been accused of copying the idea of a social networking site from the twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

• The business model, which led to the success of Google, was copied from a company called Overture, a paid search specialist company, based in South California.

• EMI created CAT scans but the market today is dominated by General Electric

• Apple and the South Korean company Samsung went to war for copying "the look and feel" of its iPad tablet and iPhone smartphone.

Imitation is actually a form of intelligence! 

There is no need to reinvent the wheel everytime. If someone has figured out a better way to do something or deliver something, its better to just go on and use the method!

Companies, rather than just imitate, should combine creativity and imitation, and come up with their own competitive advantage. Once stigmatized, imitation is now acceptable.

The economic returns for innovation is quite meager and that it has been progressively declining over time. Hence companies should learn to imitate and innovate at the same time.


- Companies that do imitate but do it the wrong way end up with negative results, leading to the erroneous conclusion that imitation is not a road to profits but, at best, a temporary fix and an eventual path to oblivion.

- Pioneering advantage of innovation lumps together “early movers”, where in reality only the first mover is a pioneer/innovator, while the other members of this group are actually fast imitators.

- The cost and risk associated with innovation is very high, leading to a gross overestimation of economic return.

- There is a divine value attached to innovation in our society versus the stigma associated with imitation. Apparently many of us cannot overcome the potential dissonance associated with admitting that imitation can, and often does produce a more positive outcome than innovation.

Imitation is a critical capability for any strategically agile firm. 

In a global age where innovations can and do sprout anywhere, it is unrealistic for any firm to innovate anywhere, anytime. To stay in the game and not fall behind, firms must imitate; however executives must do so with the understanding that imitation is as rare and valuable as innovation, and that imitation can and should be strategically conceived and systematically executed.

Say hello to Strategic Imitation !