Revisiting speed of imitation from a competitive dynamics perspective

Imitation—the process of reproducing other firms’ products, processes, technologies, or strategic decisions in general—is a salient theoretical construct in the strategic management literature. Moving beyond the “one imitation strategy” assumption, some studies have focused on “how quickly” firms imitate, describing the speed of imitation (SoI) as a key source of “fast-mover advantages.” However, research on SoI has primarily developed in an isolated fashion across multiple subfields of strategic management, leading to a variety of theories, methodologies, and mixed findings that hinder the comprehensive understanding of SoI research. Against such a backdrop, this review leverages competitive dynamics research to (a) conceptualize SoI both as the velocity dimension of the imitation process and as a specific type of competitive response by identifying its necessary conditions, (b) integrate current knowledge on SoI by shedding light on its antecedents and outcomes, resulting in a process model that organizes these factors systematically, and (c) use this presented process model to identify research gaps and mixed findings in the existing literature, thus opening avenues for future research.