Chapter 6: Managing Culture: On the Political Ambivalence of Culture in Organizations

The 2012 film Work Hard—Play Hard, directed by Carmen Losmann, documents work conditions in large German businesses, and the viewer gets insight into the functioning of a now common practice in human resource management. We see a handsome young man in a room with two experts from a consulting company and one management representative who conduct an interview covering topics such as individual performance, perceived work conditions, personal strengths and weaknesses or—as is the current wording—potentials for further development. The scene is presented in a strict shot/countershot technique that confronts the perspective of the young employee with the perspective of the expert and management team.