This is why basic research is so hard to manage. If a company is no longer interested in researching area X and instead wants to shift focus to area Y, there is

This is why basic research is so hard to manage. If a company is no longer interested in researching area X and instead wants to shift focus to area Y, there is no real alternative to outplacing the area X researchers and hiring new for area Y. Trying to shift the interest of area X researchers only results in their coming up with rationalizations about how what they have been doing all along is somehow related to Y.