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Session 2570

Creating An “Architecture” For Success In Managing And Balancing The Needs Of The Corporation And Its Employees.

Nicole F. Barde Intel Corporation

BACKGROUND

In 1968, when the Beatles were singing about revolution, Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce were starting one of their own – a technology revolution that would forever change the computer industry and the world. The new company – called Intel Corporation (which stood for “integrated electronics”) – focused on the design and production of large-scale integrated (LSI) memory. Gordon and Bob were soon joined by Andy Grove, who would go on to become Intel’s President and CEO. Intel began in a single room office in Mountain View, CA with a staff of 12 people. First year revenues were $2,672.

The company’s focus was on making semiconductor memory practical. At the time magnetic core memory was 100 times cheaper than semiconductor memory, but that didn’t last long. Talented people flocked to Intel – drawn by the founders’ reputations (Bob was the co- inventor of the integrated circuit and Gordon ran the R&D team that produced them commercially) and the shirtsleeves, achievement-oriented atmosphere that valued hard work and good ideas.

A key part of the vision that the founders had for Intel were some very specific values and operating philosophies which became Intel’s culture. The egalitarian, open culture that characterizes Intel was built into the company from the beginning. Noyce talked about wanting to get away from the “East Coast, old-fashioned, hierarchical business structure” that he had known at Fairchild. In a 1988 interview he said: “I never wanted to be part of a company like that. When we started Intel, I saw it as a community of common interests. It was much more a cooperative venture than an authoritarian structure – a community rather than an army. People came here because of their abilities and we knew we would prosper or fail together... People get respect or get ahead because of their abilities, not their positions. You can always tell the boss he (or she!) is wrong.”

From the beginning, Intel’s future depended on its ability to innovate – and we looked to our employees to bring their different approaches and ideas to the table to fuel the process of change and creativity that was necessary to drive the company forward. Race, gender, age, disability, country of origin didn’t matter; what mattered was the idea, the commitment to keeping Intel on the cutting edge of technology, the drive to do it better. This was an engineering culture, remember. So what mattered at Intel was discipline, speaking with data and solving problems. This could not be a “check your brain at the door” kind of authoritarian culture if

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Barde, N. F. (1997, June), Creating An "Architecture" For Success In Managing And Balancing The Needs Of The Corporation And Its Employees. Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6479