Inter-organizational imitation: Definition and typology

Abstract

The sustained idea of this article is that the concept of imitation has not been sufficiently developed in the field of strategic management and has often been confused with the notion of mimicry. Therefore, the objective of this research is to emphasize the distinction between different types of imitation unlike a lot of research on companies imitative behavior focused on one type as the perfect imitation. This will clarify ambiguities in the literature on imitation, and show that the mobilization of neo institutional theory is not sufficient to explain all the imitative behavior of organizations in a market.

Entrepreneurial Orientation as a Determinant of Sustainable Performance in Polish Family and Non-Family Organizations

“…The lack of significant differences between the model created for family and non-family businesses might be explained by considering their similarities in size and, to a large extent, profile. With the increased access to information and large transparency of organizational actions, it is relatively easy for companies to compete with market rivals successfully and imitate effective actions of larger or more professionally managed companies [130]. This leads to a larger homogeneity of organizations in terms of modes of operations.…”