Geography of Desire - Essay Example

With this on hand, it is then essential to analyze the relationship of Silicon Valley, which is the San Francisco Bay Area, to its culture with the influence of technology. Prior to discussing the relationship of the geographical location and culture in Silicon Valley, it is vital to gain an overview of technology and its importance. In essence, technology is defined as the manner of constructing machines and attributing to it their capabilities and efficiency while being used by an individual (McLoughlin 6-7).

With this on hand, it can be inferred that the importance of technology can be determined in perspective of the user of the said technological machinery. Moreover, technology then can be considered as a great influencing factor to the user and even the environment of the user, which had occurred in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley, in the past 40 years, has been considered as the “birthplace of many of the largest and fastest growing electronics firms in the world” (Garud and Karnoe 127). In the past, there have been many technological experiments conducted in Silicon Valley, but one of the most crucial deciding factors for the technological hub was the establishment of the IBM laboratory in San Jose.

With this action done, Silicon Valley was able to open its doors to the different technological firms, including Zilog, a semiconductor fir, and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Garud and Karnoe). These fostered the beginning and the continuous of the technological innovation in the Valley. In addition, as the firms have been increasing in the Valley, it had also influenced the cultural activity in the area. As industrialization paved its way to Silicon Valley, it had also changed, and eventually broke the barrier between managers, employees, and function of corporations in the different technological sector present in the valley.

The culture of start-ups became the trend in Silicon Valley, which was anchored on the “trust in individual a high degree of professional autonomy, and generous benefits” (Saxenian 50). This type of corporate culture allowed the managers, supervisors, and the heads of the department to create a normal working environment in the organizational system. This meant that employees can easily approach their managers in an informal manner in the hallway, and even have a small lunch time with their coworkers and bosses.

The culture in Silicon Valley mostly anchored in the abolishment of organizational hierarchy in order to foster teamwork, camaraderie, and creativity (Saxenian 50-51). Aside from this, according to Martin Kenney “the Silicon Valley culture is based on establishing a company and then selling it to either public or a corporate acquirer” (“Lessons from the Development” 58). Therefore, aside from the non-hierarchical culture, Silicon Valley also became a breeding ground for entrepreneurs in the industry or technology.

The culture born from the economic activities in Silicon Valley is not considered as a unique one, but it is considered by many as “extreme entrepreneurship” (Kenney, “Lessons from the Development” 59). Looking back, in the beginning of the Silicon Valley, most of the employees were riskful and was able to pull through by transferring from one job to another. However, as the start-up