We investigate why firms imitating the same competitor's strategy in the same environment often replicate different components of that strategy. We argue that such divergence can arise because firms vary in the internal interdependencies that underlie their strategies. When a firm significantly differs from a competitor in how one component of its strategy interacts with other components, the consequences of replicating the competitor's choices about that component are harder to anticipate, making imitation less likely. We discuss how imitators' internal coordination mechanisms may help mitigate barriers to imitation arising from interdependence asymmetries and test our resulting hypotheses in the context of esports, where small teams of professional video-game players compete in high-stakes tournaments.
