Why do some companies within an industry grow continually while others grow haltingly — or even lag? What are the latter missing? Companies, big or small, must innovate constantly and be customer-centric to differentiate themselves, realizing that product life cycles do not go on forever, says Leonard Sherman, an adjunct professor of marketing and management at Columbia University.

That means companies that try to compete with me-too products are like dogs “that scratch and claw for territorial dominance,” and it ultimately does not work out, says Sherman, the author of If You’re In A Dogfight, Become A Cat!: Strategies for Long-Term Growth.…