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Bell Labs, the greatest research lab of the twentieth century, has been called America's national treasure and the crown jewel of AT&T and Lucent. To scientists all around the globe, pursuing research at Bell Labs has long been a dream due to its brilliant scientists, numerous inventions, academic freedom, and plentiful resources. However now, forced by industry, competition, and monetary conditions, the world's most prestigious research lab is in the midst of radical cultural change.
Bell Labs: Life in the Crown Jewel tells the fascinating story of the transition Bell Labs is undergoing as it adapts to new business conditions. After AT&T's split up in 1984 as part of the settlement of any government anti-trust lawsuit, the boom years of basic research began to end. A much smaller AT&T, still a huge company, was thrust in to the competitive world. The change, slow initially, found pace in the 1990s following next breakup of AT&T, which created Lucent, Bell Labs' new parent. After having a few good years, Lucent found itself in financial difficulty in an exceedingly tough telecommunications market. Lucent responded by breaking up into smaller companies, which resulted in an inferior Bell Labs. Lucent's worsening financial condition forced it to downsize with Bell Labs sharing the pain. Bell Labs is now being forced to go faster and additional towards helping Lucent's business needs.
Moving from university-style (basic) research to commercial (applied) research is much more difficult than going from commercial research to preliminary research because commercial research puts constraints on scientists while preliminary research frees these to explore new frontiers. Bell Labs researchers, who once were free to give attention to innovation, research excellence, and prizes, now have to worry about business relevance. The culture of lifetime employment is gone and the pendulum has swung from basic to applied research.
