Essay Preview: Amd
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Introduction
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (AMD) was created in 1969 by former employees of Fairchild Semiconductor. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California where it was founded. AMD has a worldwide presence with facilities located in United States, Canada, Europe, Asia — Pacific, South and Central America, Caribbean, Middle East, and Africa. Currently, AMD employees 16,500 people worldwide. Initially, AMD produced logic chips and has evolved since then. In the 1970’s AMD went public and in 1979 started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (www.Wikipedia.com).
AMD is a leader in supply x86 processors, graphic cards, and GPUs. To attain this status, AMD acquired ATI in 2006. AMD also is a supplier of non-volatile flash memory as it owns 21% of Spansion. Overall in 2006, AMD ranked eighth in the manufacturing of semiconductors. Even though 2006 seemed like a good year for AMD, there were also some not-so-bright spots. In December, AMD and nVidia, AMD’s main competitor, both received subpoenas alleging antitrust violations regarding possible price fixing pertaining to their graphic card production (www.Wikipedia.com).
AMD s involved with a number of charitable efforts. AMD is working at connecting the world to the internet. They have started a program called 50×15 and the goal is to have at least 50% of the worlds population access to internet connections via affordable computers by 2015 (Wikipedia). AMD is a founding member of One Laptop Per Child with the goal of providing laptop computers to children in high growth countries access to computers. As per AMD’s annual report, they will donate $2 million dollars to assist with this endeavor. AMD is working with the Lance Armstrong Foundation to provide cancer patients around the world have access to technology. This will assist patients with access to technology whether it is for research or as a way of communicating with family members (www.amd.com).
Financially, AMD has had a tough year. In December 2006, AMD’s stock was trading at $23.00/share, as of November 23, 2007 the current price was $10.78/share. The graphs below show the decline in the stock price and the volume of shares traded (www.nyse.com).
AMD’s quarterly earnings on the website show net loss of $396 million and a $0.71 loss per share for the third quarter. AMD provide an explanation for the loss is due to the acquisition of ATI and the investment in Spansion.
Organizational Processes and Structures
AMD has both a mission statement and a vision statement. The mission statement describes the purpose and the direction the company is going now; the vision statement is where the company envisions itself in the future.
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Mission Statement: “Lead through innovation, customer-centric solutions that empower businesses, enhance the digital lifestyle, and accelerate global digital inclusion.” (www.amd.com).
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Vision Statement: “A world where the amazing power of AMD technology improves the quality of people’s lives.” (www.amd.com).
Both of the statements are a reflection of AMD’s dedication to connect the world to and improved the availability of technology to all.
AMD has a strong set of values and beliefs based on the thought that people are the basis of their competitive advantage. The core values include respect for people, integrity, customer success, customer-centric innovation, initiative and accountability, and fair and open competition. Employees are expected to adhere to the values stated above in order to provide the best customer service to consumers, ensure the highest shareholder value, and guarantee AMD’s success (www.amd.com). The values will be explored further in the next section.
After reviewing current job openings on the AMD website, most jobs seem to have a fairly rigid job description. There was very specific primary purpose and key job functions for each listing viewed. When job descriptions are too rigid, it impedes creativity.
Employee Programs and Practices
AMD firmly believes in their employees. Hector Ruiz, CEO of AMD, recently said, “We meet the challenges of a competitive, evolving marketplace by remaining true to the values that underlie our corporate culture, including an unwavering respect for individuals and a focus on attracting and retaining superior employees. We believe in working hard, having fun, and celebrating our successes.” (www.amd.com). With AMD having many facilities all over the globe, they also value diversity and consider their employees a global force. Diversity brings different qualities to AMD and enhances creativity to an industry were all companies need to be on the cutting edge to stay ahead of the competition.
All employees must believe in the core values mentioned above. Below is how they pertain to employment at AMD (www.amd.com):
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Respect for People: AMD stresses employees respect and honor diversity and — for lack of better words, be nice to each other. This helps to ensure teamwork.
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Integrity: AMD expects all employees to maintain high standards, both with honesty and responsibility. Integrity will help AMD achieve its goal of being a role model both in business and community involvement.
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Our Customers’ Success: Meeting customers’ needs and expectations by producing new technology that meets the highest standards.
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Customer-Centric Innovation: AMD challenges employees to lead through innovation. Discovering new ideas and solutions to help customers better their solutions in the marketplace is a priority for AMD employees.
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Initiative and Accountability: AMD employees are encouraged to take risks, be proactive, and accept ownership of the results.
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Fair and Open Competition: AMD welcomes and strives to participate in a market that allows the consumer to have the best technology.
AMD has very high expectations of their employees. To help employees achieve and work up to their standard, there are a variety of programs offered to the employee.
AMD’s website references over and over again that their employees are the difference. AMD must be able to recruit and maintain employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities that meet their high standards. To help current employees reach their potential, AMD offers career and professional development