30 

 to employ strategic reinforcement as issues arise. Where a promising inter- 

 national association is at stake, superior elements sometimes find the justi- 

 fication they need in condoning revised authority interfaces that give the 

 research activity the autonomy that it requires, a change that does not go 

 unnoticed by the younger elements to whom the entity looks for regeneration 

 and self renewal. A review of the M. I.T. experience suggests that this kind 

 of project- and performance-based association results in more institutional 

 restructuring than other programs where restructuring is the prior purpose. 



The research plan that emerges is task-based and developed by the 

 parties directly involved. It provides them the opportunity to exchange such 

 visits as the planning and execution of the work requires. They determine 

 the duration and frequency of visits to the other partner's base, which may 

 be for a day, a month, or a full academic year. The team becomes the nexus 

 of an effort which may be extended to include graduate assistants, related 

 specialists; it may even take on the character of an interdisciplinary effort. 

 The plan is open-ended with the expectation that the parties will continue 

 their association as long as their research interests converge. One require- 

 ment is research reporting, both externally to the appropriate elements within 

 the science community and domestically to contemporary practice by means 

 of a reporting seminar at the foreign site in which both parties participate. 

 This last device is intended to strengthen the domestic industry-education 

 interface and give the local partner and his institution important domestic 

 visibility. 



The strength of this arrangement is that it meets the needs of both 

 parties. The domestic partner gains authenticity for his role and legitimacy 

 for his theoretical interests. He also acquires strengthened feedback processes 



