Management at the Films Swimming with Sharks and Smoking Room - Movie Review Example

Management Movie Review Applying Management and Organizational Behavior Concepts to the films “Swimming with sharks”and “Smoking Room”. Plot 1: The film “Swimming with Sharks” (available at you tube) is about a young writer(Guy) who thinks he will make it big in Hollywood, but unfortunately he got assigned to a ruthless boss (Buddy) who made his life miserable in the office. Guy is a normal writer, trying to fit in and stand out in the executive world. As Buddy’s assistant, Guy was asked to do demeaning jobs, humiliated, and abused. The scene wherein Guy wants to go to the bathroom, and Buddy did not allow him certainly is an abuse of power. At one time, Buddy claimed the rights of the work of Guy to be his own. As Guy planned revenge, a twist in the ending showed Buddy confessing having had same bullied treatment before he became the manager, and this is his way of motivating Guy to succeed. Plot 2. Smoking Room is a movie about discrimination and culture.(The world of business in movies, 2009). It is about a middle level executive (Ramirez), who got enraged when his U.S. based office ban smoking in the office premises. If anyone wants to smoke, he has to go out of at least 20 ft. from the office premises, sometimes exposed to freezing cold or burning heat of temperatures. Ramirez who claims to have a Spanish descent, believes this rule is discriminating and disregards the acceptability of the Spanish smoking culture. He was alone in his campaign after his colleagues left him in his fight due to office politics, agenda and convenience.(The World of Business in Movies, 2009). Reflections: What are the management and organizational concepts involved in the film? Let us first identify the fundamental concepts of organizational behavior. These are individual differences, perception, whole person, motivation, desire for involvement, and human dignity. These concepts are transformed in the four models of organization that are described in the movie. Study looks at the concept of human dignity in “Swimming with Sharks” and Individual differences thru diversity in “Smoking Room”. “Swimming with Sharks” is a movie that reflects an organizational concept of boss-employee relationship that is defined in an autocratic manner. It is a movie shown in 1994 but continues to share its relevance in organizational behavior studies today. Although the movie is done in a comical way, the characters played perfectly the roles in a conflict situation in an organization; one that tries autocratic authority to compel obedience, and an employee-employer relationship based on fear. The movie gives credit to the saying “the end justifies the means”, wherein the finale of the movie shows the assistant elevated to a higher position and giving lectures that should make use of other behavior approaches other than autocratic, while image of his boss fades out, smiling. Organizations differ in operational behaviors, that could either be autocratic, supportive, collegial, or system (Mukhopadhyay, S.). A manager, in an autocratic manner, gets his authority from his position. His managerial orientation is authority. Obedience is the basic characteristic of this relationship, duties of employee depends on the boss. In such a situation, only basic needs of the employee are met as performance result is low. Seemingly, there is lack of motivation to grow. The employee in the film, follows everything the boss asked him to do, even if it is out of his job description. As the title suggests, the employee is forced to abide with the “shark” because of fear of losing his job and his ultimate hope to grow in the film industry. In custodial arrangement, the boss is profit oriented and his orientation is towards keeping the resources of the company. In a way, this keeps company and its employees financially secured, while employees participation is passive or lukewarm. The film failed to disclose this part as it was told from the start that it is a big one in Hollywood and financial security of employees is assured. The plot of the firm did not show supportive system because of poor leadership. Supportive system works through leadership, management support, and looks at job performance of employees. In return, interests of employees are stimulated to give their best performance, for which they expect to receive recognition. Guy was not given recognition for his work done that is one of motivational factors of performance. Employees work harder in anticipation of merits from management. A collegial system is one that calls for a partnership and teamwork. In this, employees are supposed to be responsible for his behavior, whose end results to self-discipline and self-actualization. The film shows one way relationship that could not be called a partnership or team work either. One scene in the film showed manager scolding his assistant for deviating on his instructions of sweetener and retorting ugly remarks. A system management style is built on trusts to each other, caring and compassion. Employee on its end, is self-motivated, works hard because of his passion and commitment to meet organizational goals. None of these styles is shown in the scenes of the film. The film show how brutal could an organization crush desires and motivations of an employee. Swimming with the Sharks failed to follow the value principles of an organization that imposes behaviors, diversity, recognition, ethical practices, and empowerment. The concepts of ethical practices and recognition, not being observed, are more pronounced in our subject film. Lying and falsification committed by the manager in the film is an unethical behavior that hurts people. The abusive treatment of the manager in our film is unethical that ultimately bred resentments and internal conflict. Guy who was passed on from recognition harbored ill feelings towards the boss, and planned revenge as retaliation. Retaliation is a form of unethical behavior and misconduct that could harm relationships. This feeling is a result of lack of open communication and from a feeling of being harassed by his boss. The second movie “Smoking Room” is an office dilemma that disregards individual differences and diversity. Ramirez claims to have a Spanish culture wherein smoking is allowed Ramirez was against the office policy that bans smoking in the whole building. At first, many of his colleagues supported his signature campaign against the no-smoking ban policy. But soon enough, he found out he was alone in his crusade as his colleagues changed mind due to office politics and convenience. In the movie, the rule of no smoking is an aftermath of government policy that bans cigarette smoking in public. A rule is made for general obedience. The rule offended here is managing diversity wherein managers should take immediate action when people they supervise behave in ways that show disrespect to others. Smoking inside office premises is a disregard or disrespect to non-smoking people in the office. Management must explain to the employee the unwritten rules and office culture that has to be followed. In working with diversity, Dr. Edna Chun, an authority on human Resources, suggested that in dealing with vocal resistance for diversity efforts, “managers must hear complaints of resistors; managers must actively address their concerns, make detractors understand that diversity efforts are inclusive that includes them, and help them understand the responsibility they share for making an inclusive environment.” (Diversity Insight 2011). For in winning diversity, managers must realize that it is not a sole responsibility. It needs also the cooperation of the complainant to participate in the change process. In both films, challenges that Organizational Behavior meet are improving ethical behavior, managing diversity and empowering people. Empowering people was done in Swimming with Sharks although it was done in an autocratic manner. The ruthless approach and stress made Guy, the writer a better person, and ready to face challenges in the position. However, Guy had a different attitude on management that corresponds to custodial, partnership and trust style of management. On the Smoking Room, managing diversity through communication seems to be an appropriate approach to end conflict. Managing diversity is challenging because it involves differences of experiences and perspectives of people arising from age, sex, race, culture, religion, and other characteristics. Based on my observations, it is important to understand these factors as they affect interaction and performance of others. In our movie “Smoking Room” the ban on smoking becomes a barrier to some actions of employees on the movie. These barriers are challenges that have to be studied, remedied, and removed if necessary. Works Cited Chun, Edna. Winning the Diversity Marathon.Insight into Diversity. 2014. Web. 27 http://www.insightintodiversity.com/diversity-inclusion/winning-the-diversity-marathon-by-dr-edna-chun. Web. 27 July 2014. Mukhopadhyay, Susmita. http://nptel.ac.in/courses/110105034/SM_Web/Module%20one-lec- 1.2.3.pdf Chapter One Understanding Organizational Behaviour (n.d.) web. 27 July 2014 Swimming with Sharks . Available at You Tube. Available. Web. 27 July2014 The World of Business in Movies. Smoking Room. 2009. Web. 27 July 2014 http://businessmovies.wordpress.com/ Read More