Film Studios Based in the United States between 1936 and 1965 - Article Example

Learning Journal Name: Institution: Course: Lecturer: Date: Part 2: Article reviews Article review: Miller, D. and Shamsie, J. (1996). The resource-based view of the firm in two environments: The Hollywood film studios from 1936 to 1965. Academy of Management Journal. 39, pp. 519-543. Content The core aim of the article is the focus upon the definition and testing of the view in regard to resource for an organization when it comes to studying the main film studios based in the United States between 1936 and 1965. Based on the article, it can be concluded that resource based on the property as being the exclusive contracts with theaters as well as the stars have contributed greatly in bringing the much-needed stability in terms of financial performance. The article has also contributed greatly into offering the difference that exists between the resources based on property and knowledge (Miller 1996). Resource based on property brings along stability and more so in the predictable settings. Resource based on knowledge is mostly used in uncertain situations and more so when there is changing and unpredictable environment. The article has also gone a step further, focused, and discussed various types of resources and this has been done in reference to various types of knowledge. Context A major article that has been used and which focuses on the idea of resource-based view, Danny Miller has contributed greatly by offering a different but a related article which he termed as “An asymmetry based view of advantage: Towards an attainable sustainability” (2003). This article has contributed greatly in that, if offers a way of commenting on and evaluating the resource based view and this has resulted to a better understanding of the concept. Nevertheless, it can also be observed that the citation of this article can be found in a wide range of articles conducted by other researchers. Process To achieve the results, sampling has been done to seven major film studios from the year 1936 to 1965 of which, various which had been chosen include The MGM, Warner Brothers, United Artists, Columbia, Universal, Paramount and the Twentieth Century-Fox. The study has used two different periods; one which has stability and this includes the studios from 1936 to 1950 and ones which have challenging uncertainty and this includes the years 1951 to 1965. The data used in the paper in relation to the revenues and the profits made by the studios are been gathered from an article by Moody and from the financial reports. Article review: Collinson, D. (1988). 'Engineering Humour': Masculinity, Joking and Conflict in Shop-floor Relations. Organizational Studies, 9(2), pp. 181-199. Content The article has greatly placed a lot of emphasis on the organizational significance that is related to shop-floor humor and the relationship that exists between the resistance towards the identity of gender and working class. Despite the research focusing more on offering a strong basis, it faces a lot of criticism when it comes to the tendency of romanticizing the culture among the working class beside humor and informal opposition. Extensive research exists that supports the idea of persistent feature relating to joking relations in business situations (Collinson 1988). The article has also included extensive literature by examining the interrelationships that are respect to masculinity and humor and more on in areas where men work alone in shops floors. The article has also highlighted the elements of collectiveness and explored the contradictions and divisions that contribute to the characterization of relations at the shop floor. In conducting this research, the factory of lorry production has been used as the setting as to have a clear and concise understanding of the research topic. Context The author of the article has offered no additional information in relation to this topic. Irrespective of these, since the topic in unique and different in a number of ways, it is very helpful and it have been cited by a number of authors and it has also been very helpful on competing other researches. The focus of the researchers that cited the article is mainly focused on the behavior of the employees and the workers in an organization. Process The author of the article has made use of both primary and secondary methods when presenting the article. The author of the article has also provided various different instances which can used as effective examples in this kind of research (Collinson, 1988). By looking for answers from the apparent search for workers, the article also had the ability of citing the negative side that is closely related to the culture of shop floor. This in a way underpins and undermines the collectiveness as well as the creative humor that is present in a factory. Reflection Introduction The reflection will mainly focus on the learning achieved through the successful completion of the learning journal and the literature review, with an emphasis also on the challenges experienced while carrying out the reflection. This will follow Gibbs’ Reflective model (Gibbs1988). Discussion My article review was based on two articles namely; Collinson, D. (1988). 'Engineering Humour': Masculinity, Joking and Conflict in Shop-floor Relations. Organizational Studies, 9(2), pp. 181-199 and Miller, D. and Shamsie, J. (1996). The resource-based view of the firm in two environments: The Hollywood film studios from 1936 to 1965. Academy of Management Journal. 39, pp. 519-543. The article by Miller &Shamsie (1996), introduced the various types of resources that are predisposed to an organization with references to the various types of knowledge. Miller and Shamsie (1996) helps to differentiate the difference brought about by the various types of resources. Those resources that are based on property helps to bring stability on the company more so in the organization’s predictable settings whereas resources based on knowledge are the ones that help an organization in uncertain situations especially in the ever changing and unpredictable business world. On the other hand, in the article by Collins (1988), is an interesting article that introduced the concept of shop floor humor and also highlights the three aspects of such a culture in an organization. In this article, the first use of humor is highlighted as helping the workers fight boredom in the workplace. The second use of shop floor humor is the conformity to working class manliness in an organization. The third function of shop floor humor in the article is the means by which others seek the control of other workers in the organization. I conducted the article reviews through thoroughly reading and carefully examining the contents of the articles, identifying their core aims, the contexts in which they are set and the process through which the authors used to collect data and come up with the content in the articles. Feelings Initially before I reviewed the articles, I felt confident that it was going to be a walk in the park by just looking at the titles of the articles. I felt that, I already knew or had read so much literature regarding the topics especially the article by Miller & Shamsie (1996). I thought that, when it came to any literature concerning organizations, I have had enough and there was nothing new that the article could introduce. However, the fresh literature concerning the resource-based view of the firm in two environments introduced so much content I never read about and I had to read the paper two times before I could grasp the content of the article and also differentiate the various dimensions of how resources bring value to the organization. This is the one article, I read word by word and pausing to internalize what the authors really meant when writing a particular point. It took me a great deal of time to know that, resources bring different values to the organization based on the view of whether they are based on property or knowledge. I would be lying to say that, I knew that such difference existed. On the other hand, the article by Collinson (1988) was interesting to read. I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy reading the article even before I reviewed it. However, it was even more interesting to note that, shop floor humor could also bring about conflicts in the organization. Before embarking on the review of this article, I had thought that, since the article was on shop floor humor, there was nothing negative that humor in the workplace could bring apart from positive interrelations between the employees of the organization. Only to note the negatives effects of humor in the organization and I must say that this one took me by surprise. I must admit that the two articles were worth a read and a review. Evaluation When reviewing the articles, I felt that, Millerand Shamsie (1996) article was a bit difficult to comprehend and I had to consult the work of other researchers on RBV (Research Based View) to fully comprehend the concept and then understand the work of Miller and Shamsie (1996). In this regard, the work of Bridoux (n.d.), AResource Based Approach to Performace and Competition: An Overview of the Connections between Resources and Competition was greatly helpful in helping me understand the importance of firms resources and the angle in which they help an organization compete with other firms. This aided me in understanding the reason as to why, Miller and Shamsie (1996) choose to differentiate resources on the basis of property and also knowledge and concluded that, resources in an organization bring about different values; property versus knowledge. Akio (2005) article also helped me to better understand the importance of the RBV concept in an organization and I must admit that, this helped me simplfy the literature in the work of Millerand Shamsie (1996). In reflecting the article by Collinson (1988), I initially thought that, the notion that humor could bring about some negative effects was a subjective view of the author and had to research more on the extant literature of whether humor brings about negative effects. Romero & Cruthirds (2006) view on the Use of Humor in the Workplace article cemented the findings of Collinson (1988). Lyttle (2007) article on The Judidious Use and Management of Humor in the Workplace and more so the subtopic of the dangers of using humor (65) settled the fight that I had with the concept that humor can bring negative effects in the workplace. The work of such authors was encouraging to dig further into my chosen article for review with the assurance that such effects occurs and they are not the subjective view of the author. I must say that, this was so refreshing to know that, there are other researchers who shared the same sentiments as the author. Field (2009) ascertained that, humor plays different roles in the organization in his article, Humor in Corporate Work Place Interactions: It’s Not What You Can Do For Humor, but What Humor Can Do for You was an enjoyable read especially in regard to what Collinson (1988) had pointed out that there are some employees who use humor to control other employees in the organization. I must also say that, Collinson (1988) work conflicted a lot with the beliefs that I commonly held of humor only bringing positive effects to the organization. It was like being in a battlefield and fighting the opponent, only that, in my case, I was fighting the opponent through researching on the extant literature of other authors on whether humor can actually bring negative effects in the organization. Analysis Reviewing other articles apart from the ones that I was doing article reviews on was a major strength on my part. I used other researchers work to better understand the stated articles for review as clearly indicated that, I had difficulty in understanding the article by Millerand Shamsie (1996). The predetermined mindset that I had was also a major setback; however, research from other authors helped me understand the topics a great deal. For Instance, I had already thought that the article topics were easy, only to realize that, I had no clue on the fresh concepts introduced by the authors. Shifting my mind to conform and understand the fresh insights of the contents of the articles was no easy task. I failed to approach the article’s contents with a fresh mind, and started with what I have always read on the topics which was a major setback in my literature review and article analysis. In comparing theory and real life experiences, I must admit that, through the literature review conducted, I now know how not to apply a blanket conclusion on any matter. For instance, not in my wildest imagination would I have thought that, resources in an organization play different roles based on whether they are properties or knowledge. The shift in thinking that knowledge resources helps an organization deal with uncertainties and properties help an organization gain stability is something new that I have learnt from the literature review. In this regard, I no longer see an organization whether a large or a small organization as having an overarching or blanket operations. For instance, when examining the resources of an organization, they fall in different categories and they bring about different benefits and competitive advantages to the organization. As Ismail, Rose, Uli & Abdullah (2012) ascertain that, it is important for a firm to gain competitive advantage over its competitors using its resources, as Miller and Shamsie (1996), also acknowledges that, a firm must know its potential, viable and valuable resources and with greater accuracy, acquire a firm’s wealth (540). Also learnt a great lesson on humour and that it is a deep topic that needs to be expounded and researched on. Conclusion I conclude that, my literature review and article analysis was successful. I learnt a great deal of information from the exercise. I can confidently ascertain that, I can critically analyze an article without the major hitches that I have experienced as I was reviewing the articles as I have improved in the way I conduct research and look at matters objectively rather than subjectively. I have also learnt that, the secret to a successful article and literature review lies in having an open mind and learning what researchers have published in regard to such an article. Action Plan If I am to do another assignment on article reviews, I will research thoroughly on the topics and get insights on what other authors say regarding the topic to get a greater insight on what I am to write and also reflect about (Kolb 1984). References Akio, T. 2005, The Critical Assessment of the Resource – Based View of Strategic Management: The Source of Heterogeneity of the Firm, Institute of Internationa; Relations and Area Studies, Ritsumeikan University. Accessed on 25th April 2017, from, http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/ras/english/publications/ria_en/03_8.pdf Bridoux (n.d.), AResource Based Approach to Performace and Competition: An Overview of the Connections between Resources and Competition. Accessed on 25th April, 2017, from, https://cdn.uclouvain.be/public/Exports%20reddot/iag/documents/WP_110_Bridoux.pdf Collinson, D. (1988). 'Engineering Humour': Masculinity, Joking and Conflict in Shop-floor Relations. Organizational Studies, 9(2), pp. 181-199. Field, Z. 2009, Humor in Corporate Work Place Interactions: It’s Not What You Can Do for Humor, but What Humor Can Do for You, Accessed on 25th April, 2017, from, https://cola.unh.edu/sites/cola.unh.edu/files/student-journals/ZachField.pdf Gibbs, G.1988, Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. London: Further Education Unit. Ismail, A. I., Rose, R. C., Uli, J. & Abdullah, H. 2012, The Relationship Between Organizational Resources, Capabilities, Systems and Competitive Advantage. Asian Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1, 151 – 173. Accessed on, 25th April, 2017, from, http://web.usm.my/aamj/17.1.2012/aamj_17.1.8.pdf Kolb, D. A. 1984, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Lyttle, J. 2007, The Judicious Use and Management of Humor in the Workplace, Busines Horizons, 50, 239 – 245, accessed on 25th April, 2017, from, http://www.jimlyttle.com/PDF/BH.pdf Miller, D. and Shamsie, J. (1996). The resource-based view of the firm in two environments: The Hollywood film studios from 1936 to 1965. Academy of Management Journal. 39, pp. 519-543. Romero, E. J. & Cruthirds, K. W. 2006, The Use of Humor in the Workplace, Academy of Management Perspectives. Acessed on 25th April, 2017, from, http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~mschnake/RomeroCruthirds2006.pdf Read More