Essay on Thomas Edison

He was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio and did not acquire basic education (Tagliaferro 7-9) but his practical superiority made him emerge as one of the geniuses across the world. Edison’s mother, a former school teacher, equipped his son with basic lessons in core subjects. At the age of 12 years, Edison began working. He started as a candy butcher, selling fruits, newspapers, snacks, and candy in a train from Michigan, Port Huron to Detroit. His family relocated to Michigan in 1854 (Tagliaferro 17-23). While establishing the firm, he had vast experience altogether with capital to start the largest and well equipped laboratory. Neill (1-5) states, the innovator described his laboratory’s facilities as superior, fast, cheap and suitable for commercial purposes. He named the firm, West Orange-based in New York and worked till his last breath in 1931.

Industrialization Edison impact during the gilded ager across America and eventually the world cannot be ignored. His intelligence and innovation skills cuts across the board. Since the cost of production was low, the price of his products much lower as compared to other key players in the industry. The products appealed to more customers while mass production was adopted by other manufacturers. More manufacturing companies in America were constructed, an increase in products, drop in prices and more employment opportunities thus boosting the living standards of the locals. Edison strategy of designing the latest laboratory was aimed at envisaging industrial undertaking that would take care of manufacturing new products in the various laboratories (David 72-119). The West Orange manufacturing laboratory in New Jersey paved the way for what is considered as a plan of establishing more factories.

David 72-119) says close to 28 to 40 percent people migrated to the cities for railroad construction activities. The cities became a more attractive place and also manufactured products were on higher demand. Edison evaluated the entire scenario and focused on a wide range of products such as electric fan in addition to phonograph to be used in offices. Edison (527 -536) targeted to use phonograph and turn it into a more of dictating machine which is a recorded cylinder to replace the memo and also a letter in business operations across America. Edison finalized on the construction of Edison Phonograph in 1988. The great depression began in 1893 and almost crippled the electrical industry. Well established firms such as Westinghouse and the General Electrical had a lot of burdens. The firm’s profits dropped and experienced a major financial meltdown till 1900 (Edison 527 -536).

Change swept across and the decade proved to be moving towards the manufacturing sector. Money could be made through the consumer durables targeting the urban market. The motion picture proved to be profitable and led to the innovation of diverse products. Edison was more of a gambler and did not work on market research nor the much-needed preparation that most current entrepreneurs rely on. He set up an assembling line for new products and the first sales were very promising. Companies and eventually the factories were built (Fielding 34-47). Business projects have different challenges and Edison entrepreneurship career was not an exception. The process of controlling production entails a lot i. e. monitoring sources of raw materials. In the manufacturing process of batteries and phonograph, Edison production used unique chemicals (Edison 527 -536).

The raw materials determined the quality of the end products such that the sound would be easily destroyed by wax components. Teece (172-194) says the formation of Thomas A. Edison Incorporated focused on managing all the business concerns. The diversification policy was adopted, Edison created more business products and ensured that each is technology oriented. Also, he used each product to target a different market or clients. For instance, when he launched the batteries, he targeted the railroad sector, storage of batteries to industrial users in addition to the delivery companies. His innovation in electronics, business, inventing new ideas, modifying products, innovation, and business managerial skills are all attributed to Edison’s work. Works Cited Cowan, Robin, and Staffan Hultén. Escaping lock-in: the case of the electric vehicle.  Technological forecasting and social change 53.

David, Paul. Fielding, Raymond. Hale's tours: ultrarealism in the pre-1910 motion picture.  Cinema Journal 10. Tagliaferro, Linda.  Thomas Edison: Inventor of the Age of Electricity. pdf.