Normative Barriers To Imitation: Social Complexity Of Core Competences In A Mutual Fund Industry

摘要

Imperfectly imitable resources are central in contemporary analysis of sustainable competitive advantage. While prior work has focused on limitations on the ability to imitate, we argue that it is only a third step in an imitation procedure that also involves the identification of what to imitate and the willingness to imitate. In this study we focus on this last step of unwillingness to imitate due to institutionalized professional norms on product appropriateness. Drawing on institutional theory, we test hypotheses and discuss the complex relationship between institutionalized norms, core competences, and systematic differences in the willingness to imitate.