Biographical Essay: Managing Growth

Managing the growth of the Fairchild Semiconductor was a complex process and not an easy task to do. In September 1959, the company had introduced a new range of transistors and had made a profit out of selling their high-speed silicon devices, which brought it the income of more than six and a half million dollars. The company decided to buy out Camera shares in the same year, which was very essential for generating favorable revenue the company was aimed towards. By 1961, the company had doubled its proceeds and had extended the size of its product line. This influenced further sterling development of the organization and in 1965 pure earnings for Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation had increased to eight million dollars. However, Semiconductor faced some problems in early 1960’s. There was a gap betwixt manufacturing and development, which implied that although the product was available in production, it was not possible to produce it in huge quantities. Over time the company expanded into space research, graphic cards, movie camera and office equipment production.

Considering the period over which the company significantly multiplied its revenue, it is possible to say that the company developed a rational strategy and took appropriate measures not only to emerge into the world market, but to become a trusted government supplier, which is undoubtedly happens to be a positive factor. The company also demonstrated the ability to make appropriate investments into promising and profitable directions and brought innovations to the world of technology.

Founding, September 1957

In September 1957, five scientists and three engineers, who had resigned from Shockley Transistor Laboratories established by William Shockley created the Fairchild Semiconductor that is considered to be the birthplace of the contemporary semiconductor industry.

The specified outcome can be distinguished as a pleasant one because it is possible to say that it is all thanks to the contribution made by William Shockley. This man had a hard temper and a poor world outlook. He had a tactic, which involved hiring people of age not older than 30 years. He also had certain requirements to his labor force, which included having necessary capabilities to apply for the job. This certainly meant the appearance of different outstanding skills in such spheres as physics, chemistry, metallurgy, chemical and electric engineering available in the possession. Years of observation forced Shockley to come to the conclusion that every person has a so called mental temperature, which implies that the smarter the person is – the higher the temperature he has. He believed that despite the fact that some workers do not have experience in the specified line of work, they happen to be gifted and smart, in other words – have the potential to demonstrate high-efficiency and productivity. In any case, his inability to properly establish the priority of tasks and to see the perspectives in other fields that could bring positive outcomes led to failure. His mistake was that he concentrated his mind on his invention of a “four layer diode”, though his workers mentioned that it could be very inefficient, taking into consideration the fact that this product would be much harder to produce in quantity.

The implementation of such a strategy was not of a very good use and did not bring William Shockley prosperity. By implementing such kind of measures he made his workers turn away from him and, moreover, gave them the reason and wish to establish a company of their own.

Work Cited
Leslie R. Robery Noyce and Fairchild Semiconductor 1957 – 1968. Business History Review. Boston, 2001.