Abstract
This article focuses on the practices of competitive imitation and their contribution to strategizing. While seminal works on imitation in strategic management focused on consequences of imitation on firm-performance, this research seeks to explore the diversity of competitive imitation micro-practices and highlight the heterogeneous nature of the rationales at work. Based on a data set of 40 interviews and various second-hand sources, it analyses how and why French radio programmers imitate each other’s choice of records they play on the air. The findings consist of a typology of 9 competitive imitation practices. It appears that these practices contribute to strategizing by reassuring radio programmers. Therefore, competitive imitation can be understood as a preliminary element to differentiation. Far from conflicting with each other, imitation and differentiation thus appear as complementary strategies.
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