Copycats: How Smart Companies Use Imitation to Gain a Strategic Edge

By Oded Shenkar

Book Overview

In the business world, imitation gets a bad rap. We see imitating firms as ?me too? players, forced to copy because they have nothing original to offer. We pity their fate: a life of picking up crumbs discarded by innovators striding a path paved with fame and profit. In Copycats, Oded Shenkar challenges this viewpoint. He reveals how imitation'the exact or broad-brushed copying of an innovation'is as critical to prosperity as innovation. Shenkar shows how savvy imitators generate huge profits. They save not only on R&D costs but also on marketing and advertising investments made by first movers. And they avoid costly errors by observing and learning from others? trials. Copycats presents suggestions for making imitation a core element in your competitive strategy and pairing it powerfully with innovation, including: - How to select the right model to imitate - How to avoid oversimplification of a model - Which imitation strategy to use - How to prepare and execute an implementation plan Engaging, practical, and rich in company examples, Copycats unveils how to add imitation to your competitive arsenal.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1422126730
• ISBN13: 9781422126738
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

A useful resource for any business who sees innovation as creative theft

Imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery, but can also be very useful business wise. "Copycats: How Smart Companies use Imitation to Gain a Strategic Edge" is a guide to why the sometimes derided imitation can prove to be a good and useful thing in business, stating that a good proven idea can be useful if done right, although it's easy to fall into the mistaken pit of knock offs. With plenty of strategy and thought on the matter, "Copycats" is a useful resource for any business who sees innovation as creative theft.

Great book

This is my first review. I felt that I needed to give my opinion on this book because it's REALLY good. The author describes many examples of a companies that we think are innovators, when in fact they're imitators. Examples include: - Apple - Microsoft - Visa - Master - Walmart - McDonalds They weren't imitating 100% but took the main concepts and improved on them. The author calls them imovators, companies that imitate + innovate. I was frustrated with the business community overall because it focused so much on innovation and so little on imitation, when in fact, some research shows that as much as 97.8% of the value of innovation goes to imitators! (source: [...]). Ouch! Personally, I own a very small business and been lured into thinking I need to 'innovate' and that imitation is bad. Now, when I've learned that imitation is OKAY (within legal boundaries, the author says upfront he speaks about legal, not illegal imitation) I found many profitable opportunities around me. I started to look at various trends and realize how big of a potential there is out there. This book made me see a world I never dared to see before.

Required reading for dynamic leaders

Well written, researched and fundamentally sound, Copycats delivers. Taking on the age old paradigm: imitate vs innovate, Dr. Shenkar lifts the shameful stigma that often is associated with imitating. Citing our biological, societal and economical need to imitate, Shenkar creates a very compelling argument: imitating is smart, here's why. You'll very much enjoy this gem.