Intermediate
Learning and the (Re)creation of Knowledge:
How Firms Use Imitation to Introduce New Organizational Routines
Gordon Institute of Business Science
University of Pretoria
26 Melville Road, Illovo, Sandton, 2191
South Africa
Daniel Z. Levin
Management and Global Business Dept.
Rutgers Business School – Newark and New Brunswick
Rutgers University
1 Washington Park, Newark, NJ 07102
Tel: (973) 353-5983
Fax: (973) 353-1664
levin@business.rutgers.edu
Working paper
May 2013
Abstract
We examine the learning processes of firms that use imitation to introduce a new routine. Prior research has emphasized the importance of imitation as a learning strategy, yet the actual elements of how firms imitate has rarely, if ever, been studied. In an inductive study of four firms introducing the same routine, we find that, although imitation is distinct from replication (copying exactly) and innovation (creating anew), imitation is in fact a hybrid, with elements of both replication (e.g., use of templates) and innovation (e.g., incremental learning, experimentation). Imitation is thus an example of an “intermediate” learning strategy, where content is neither altogether new nor already well-known to a firm. Moreover, we present evidence suggesting that imitated routines do not get fully routinized or learned unless elements of both the replication and innovation processes are present.
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