Who Killed the USFL Movie Critique - Assignment Example

The NFL is an exclusive club and is well-reputed throughout the world. In this context, the young guy was annoyed by the fact that he was unable to make his presence felt in the NFL. Hence, the young guy initiated a new football team named the USFL to compete with the NFL, as narrated in the movie. At the onset, characterized by the ups and downs of a normal individual, the movie depicts the inextinguishable popularity of football in the U.S. through the success and failure of the USFL (Murray).

Progressing towards its climax, the movie blames Donald Trump for the fall of the league. Mike Tollin in the movie displays the facts by interviewing various players of the league, as well as the owners, to get a proper understanding of the causes that have led to the rise and downfall of the USFL. The motive of Mike Tollin was to make people realize and witness the aspect of how mismanagement, inadequate strategic management, and lack of value-creating attributes altogether lead to the fall of a strong evolving association (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 97–119). Hence, it can be stated that the framework of Business-Level Strategy, lacked the managerial initiatives taken by USFL that affected its potential to succeed in the long term. Therefore, with concern to the movie, Chapter 4: Business-Level Strategy has been taken into consideration for the analysis of the same. As per the movie, the USFL had all the potential to reach new heights of success if the management and the controversial character of the movie, Donald Trump, had strategically analyzed the various aspects related to the game and its environment in the 1980s. It was observed in this context that due to the lack of strategic policies and proper planning, Trump was unable to sustain the glories of USFL in the long run. It was due to the lack of strategic vision (Who Killed the USFL). From the analysis conducted with the use of the business-level strategic framework, it can be revealed that USFL was unable to retain its success due to the lack of proper strategic management and leadership under Donald Trump, ultimately leading to its drastic fall.

Mike Tollin analyzes every minute aspect of the USFL in the movie. The video deciphers many occurrences that took place on the football field from 1983 to 1985. The portrayal of the facts is genuine and shows the love of Mike Collins for football. In the movie, he expresses his expert opinion regarding strategic effectiveness concerning leadership and the decision-making process. Correspondingly, the risks and effects of not having a firm vision and mission is another vital aspect, which has been strongly depicted in the movie by Tollin. To express the causes of the overall failure of the USFL, the director took the help of a football game between the USFL and the NFL. The victory of the USFL in the Heisman Trophy, in front of around 25,000 attendees, made them a star in the football community. The USFL was gaining a strong reputation and growth in the competitive environment due to its continuous success (Who Killed the USFL).

However, with the USFL’s inability to accept diversification and expansion, the USFL had to face demise ultimately. The movie vividly represents the fact that due to expansion and change in the leadership style USFL failed miserably. Tollin analyzed and well portrayed that because of the different strategic motives of the owners, USFL faced a decline after a few years of glorious success. Through its strong representation, the movie makes its audiences experience the true picture or the negative aspects related to the lack of strategic goals and missions (Murray).

In addition, Tollin portrays the implications of the anti-trust lawsuit and its implications on USFL's failure, signifying the importance of the legal environment to the strategic behavior of any organization. However, the verdict of the court was against the USFL, and hence USFL was forced to exit the football business. In the movie, through the proper portrayal of the facts, Tollin states that the reason for the fall of USFL is the lack of a strategic goal and vision. Furthermore, the lack of strategic leadership and improper implementation of the policies on time is also addressed as the undeniable causes of USFL's failure in Tollin. The director expresses the success of the USFL in an effective manner by portraying every minute detail. However, Tollin documents one fact to a considerable extent that the failure of the USFL is due to the mismanagement and lack of strategic alliance in principle, which accelerated with the influence of Donald Trump’s controversial character, indicating its internal political weaknesses (Who Killed the USFL).

Considering the findings of the analysis conducted in the study based on the business level strategic analysis, I take a stand against the strategic management initiatives taken by USFL, because its failure was due to the lack of strategic mismanagement. Hence, for the company to succeed in the long term, it had to take proper steps and strategize its plans beforehand, with due attention to its leadership strategies and managerial initiatives.