Isolation; hiding a superior result.
In enterprises, as in life, the best way to avoid being imitated is by hiding the way we work. As a result, the competition can't find the way to gain the same degree of success as the leading enterprise, in spite of possessing the same resources, if the advantage comes from the "know-how".
We can talk about two methods to avoid imitation in this sense. On one side, the leading enterprise can set a high bar on its sector by placing its production at considerable prices to scare competitors, even if this could result in a partial renunciation of those benefits that could be collected in a short term. This gives way to a price war the competition can't resist due to its high costs of production.
Another way of hiding the total amount of benefits of an enterprise, and due to the fact that it must make its accounts public (in the case of enterprises that work in the stock market) is through diversification. This is what is known as group enterprises. Through diversification and a later consolidation of the accounts of the group, all the "partner" enterprises are protected against imitation from competing parties. A clear example can be seen in the group INDITEX, which is one of the main fashion distributors in the world. Its annual accounts combine each one of its commercial formats; which are Zara , Pull and Bear ,Massimo Dutti , Bershka , Stradivarius , Oysho , Zara Home and Kiddy's Class .
ZARA KIDDY'S CLASS
OYSHO STRADIVARIUS
MASSIMO DUTTI ZARA HOME
PULL AND BEAR BERSHKA
