Strategy and tactics for integrated electronics

The rate of technological innovation has been increasing dramatically in recent years, and so has the risk that a given technology may become obsolete before innovation is complete. Thus, tactical choices must be made on the basis of long-term goals. Probably nowhere is this problem more complex than in the move toward integrated electronics. By way of example, this article describes how the ``adaptive strategy'' approach has been employed on a company-wide scale as a means for guiding the Bell System's choice of materials and processes for integration.