Why Imitation Bests Innovation

Forbes (Flannery) - Books these days regularly cheer innovation. You rarely go to a conference without hearing how important it is. Copying others has a bit of a stigma. Yet despite all of that talk, successful imitation rather than innovation may be a better way to make money. Even better, borrowing from others and combining that with your own creativity, can build strong competitive advantages.

So says Oded Shenkar, a business professor at Ohio State University, in a new provocative book called Copycats: How Smart Companies Use Imitation To Gain a Strategic Edge, published by Harvard Business Press. Shenkar previously wrote The Chinese Century, which looked at China's changing role in the world. 

Via: Innovation Daily