¹Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Correspondence: D Strang, Department of Sociology, Cornell University, 350 uris hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA. Tel: +1 607 255 9533; Fax: +1 607 255 8473 E-mails: ds20@cornell.edu and mcs19@cornell.edu

Abstract

Attractive theoretical arguments can be made that causal ambiguity promotes imitation and that it hinders imitation, but the relationship is seldom investigated empirically. We study 21 benchmarking teams whose projects led them to confront different levels of ambiguity. While all teams sought to learn from external firms, those facing the greatest ambiguity reported lower levels of inter-organizational influence and were less likely to reference visited companies when making recommendations to senior management. Rather than mimicking other firms, teams working in opaque domains turned to academics and consultants. These results resonate with resource and evolutionary theories of the firm, which explain why inter-organizational imitation is difficult, and with varieties of institutional analysis that emphasize interpretive processes grounded in theoretical models.