leapfrogging

The act of one who leapfrogs.

The idea that small and incremental innovations lead the dominant firm to stay ahead, whereas radical innovations will permit new firms to "leapfrog" the dominant one.

The final stage the is leapfrogging, in which latecomers do not aim to imitate the existing products or plants, but explore ways to develop emerging products in short cycle technologies. A Korean example is digital TV development, which can be regarded as the decisive and final watershed that enabled Korea to begin taking over Japan in the TV business. An example from China would be its recent move toward electric-engined cars […]

Part of the allure of leapfrogging was the difficulty of simply catching up. The complexity of today's auto industry should not be underestimated.