The major thoughts of this paper are that the impact of technological advancement on economic development is ever increasing, that the closer technology is to science, the more advanced are the technological problems companies have to solve. that fusions of different kinds of technology are necessary for applied research. And that the speed at which R&D is conducted is higher than ever before. Businesses should become more involved with basic research; that is, their R&D should include both the basic and applied levels. This paper outlines the R&D organization at Sumitomo Electric Co. and describes its past and present research efforts on normal temperature superconductivity as an instance of an R&D planning that combines basic and applied research. The paper concluded that the future of research on superconductivity is uncertain; Sumitomo Electric Industries wishes nevertheless to pursue this line of research hoping it will eventually bear fruit. The scope of a single company in this realm of R&D is, however, very limited and it is necessary therefore to enhance the co-operative ventures as well as international interaction among researchers.