Firms of different business strategy types reveal different behavioural patterns in their innovation and business performance while facing various difficulties as they seek to adapt to a turbulent competitive environment. Accordingly, we want to make progress by using the dynamic view, which follows the Schumpeterian perspective of firm behaviour through innovation (business) strategy. We advocate a dynamic approach to the strategic and behavioural patterns influencing business performance that is appropriate for small and mediumsized firms as well as giant corporations in highly competitive industries and catching-up economies. Thus, by combining different theoretical approaches we develop an alternative conceptual ‘cost-advantage leader-follower’ (CALF) model of innovation for when firms are developing cost-cutting process inventions.